Kids in Europe spill their parents' driving secrets

Kids are often blamed for being a disruptive influence on car journeys, but according to a new Ford survey parents are creating just as much tension while on the move.

Having to endure parents singing is the number one pet hate for children on family car journeys, the survey shows. Kids also complain that badly-behaved mums and dads shout at other drivers, swear, and pick their noses.

The survey of 2,000 children across Europe reveals that 66 percent say their parents are annoying on car trips; mums and dads serve up snacks, TV shows and movies to get them to behave; and dads get the thumbs up for being the better drivers – especially from boys. Regardless of snacks, smartphones, and tablets, the most likely response from children to a boring car journey is not surprisingly:  “Are we there yet?”

The Ford survey was conducted in order to better understand what children like and don’t like about travelling in cars and reveals surprising differences from country to country:

Parents in Europe
Singing parents are least popular in the U.K. where 39 percent of children ranked this their biggest pet hate. Children in France, the only country that didn’t rank singing as the worst habit, were twice as likely to complain about their parents shouting at other drivers

Across Europe, 61 percent of children revealed parents got angry or used “naughty words”, with French parents the worst offenders (74 percent). Italy is the only country where less than half of parents lose their temper (39 percent)

Asking: “Are we there yet?” when bored is the most likely response overall (63 percent). Children in the UK and Italy are more likely to ask mum and dad to put on some music

“Ford cars feature many ingenious technologies and features – but unfortunately nothing designed to improve the singing abilities of out-of-tune parents,” said Roelant de Waard, vice-president, Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford of Europe. “Our C-MAX and Grand C‑MAX cars do offer technologies that help find a space and park, and voice-controlled navigation that can find somewhere to eat through the simple command ‘I’m hungry!’”

When it comes to getting children to behave, 26 percent said mum and dad hand over their smartphones for them to play with, and 20 per cent get to watch a film or TV show. UK parents are most likely to offer a snack (29 percent). And the best‑behaved children apparently are in Germany, where 38 percent claim their parents don’t need to make them behave in the car.

Though both boys and girls across all countries identified dad as the best driver (61 percent), it was Italian dads that got the biggest thumbs up (67 percent), and UK mums who came closest to being the favourite (45 percent). The children most likely to highlight nose-picking as the worst parental habit are in the UK, then Italy and Germany.