New research has shown that irate children could be as bad for your driving as being over the legal limit for alcohol.
The study, carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), revealed that with squabbling kids in the backseat, drivers’ reaction times were slowed by an average of 13%. This was the same delay as for those who were over the alcohol limit (80mg/100ml).
This delay in reaction times was enough to add 4 metres to stopping distances when travelling at motorway speeds. The study also showed that bickering children led to 40% more instances of hard braking and increased stress levels by nearly a third.
These findings may not surprise parents, but what is the solution to the distraction of arguing kids? The most important thing is to keep them entertained. Many new cars now come with entertainment systems for the backseat, so keeping them occupied with a film or a (non-violent) computer game could be the answer to keeping them happy and keeping your stress levels down.
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Katie Dickinson
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