With the school holidays approaching and the possibility of lengthy family road journeys, Skoda research revealed the three most distracting family activities that lead drivers to lose attention behind the wheel.
According to the brand's study, the most off-putting activity in the vehicle by their children was fighting, followed by crying, with shouting in the back seat as the third most off-putting behaviour while driving.
To cope with these distractions, 53% of drivers reported taking their eyes off the road to discipline their children. The majority (79%) stated they had done so for up to 10 seconds, 11% for 11-20 seconds, and most concerningly, 4% confessed to not paying attention to the road for up to half a minute.
While many drivers understand that dealing with rowdy, weary, or rebellious passengers is a part of family driving, the distraction produced by resolving conflicts and breaking up fights has major ramifications for road safety. According to the Department of Transport accident statistics, there were a total of 2,336 collisions with a contributing cause of 'distraction in car' in 2021, an average of more than six per day.
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