My Driving Story and Yours #ad

Do you drive?

How old were you when you learned?

Do you drive differently now that you are a parent?

How does being a parent affect the way that you drive?

Does it affect your speed, the routes you take?

I am 42 years old

In December I will have been driving for 8 years

I learned to drive as a pregnant mother of baby twins

I knew that with three children under the age of two

Public transport was not going to be an option anymore

We lived in a rural village

And though I had managed on the trains with the double buggy

Transporting a trio of babies did not sound like much fun

And so I learned to drive

I passed my test in December 2011

Just over four months before our third baby was born

It was wonderful in the last months of pregnancy

To be able to drive to all our classes and activities

We gained so much time!

By the time the baby came

I was feeling confident enough after a couple of weeks

To drive my babies around

Now 8 years later I am a much more confident driver

On roads that I know

But I avoid new roads

Do not drive on the motorway

And I do worry excessively about parking

And reversing!!

Perhaps I am not that confident a driver

But I am better than I was

And I am not alone in my anxieties

Baby Driver - Parents and their driving habits

Baby Driverby All Car Leasing

All Car Leasing have created the above infographic

After conducting a survey with 1200 parents

Who can drive, own a car and have had a baby in the last 5 years

I tick all of those boxes

I have four living children

Two of whom have been born in the last 5 years

The Baby Driver survey produced some interesting results

And these are well worth a read

The survey found that

Older parents are quicker to get back on the road but drive less than younger parents

Shopping is the most common reason parents drive with their baby in the car

42% of all respondents said they drove specifically to soothe a baby with no destination in mind

I have found that through necessity I started driving again

Much quicker after Edie than Bea

As we are now home educating

We use our car every day

We drive to classes and activities and social meets

We drive to visit friends and family

I have to say that I rarely take my children shopping

Our car journeys are mostly for educational purposes

Though I have never gone for a drive solely to get a baby to sleep

I do often plan our day trips and excursions around baby’s naptime

Hoping that they will sleep in the car

This does not always work

Worse is when you do not want the baby to fall asleep

And everyone in the car

Is on Operation Keep Baby Awake!

The survey asked parents about their driving worries

Other drivers are the biggest worry of driving parents

Women are twice more likely as men to be worried about getting lost

Older drivers were a lot less worried about driving with a baby in the car

Drivers from central or north UK most worried about other drivers whereas drivers from the south were most worried about their own ability

I found this really interesting as I would say that my biggest worry on the roads

Is other drivers

Fast drivers, distracted drivers

Other road users terrify me

We have had some car related crime in our area recently

And it does worry me that someone might stop the car

And perhaps try to get in

I also worry about my own driving ability

Especially with regard to parking and reversing

Where we live many of the lanes we have to drive

Are very narrow single track roads

I hate having to reverse

And have been known to cry while trying to do so

With all my children in the car

But what is a mummy to do

As with all tough parenting things

You just have to keep on keeping on

Forwards and back!

The survey asked about car journeys and car seats

Standard car seats are the most popular but ISOFIX gains popularity with older parents

37% of parents aged 25-34 have been in an accident while the baby was in the car

89% of parents use some form of distraction during the journey

Scottish parents the most chatty with northern parents most musical

Our children are in Maxi Cosi and Cosatto car seats

Esther and William have high back boosters

Bea and Edie are, as of this week, both forward facing

In our very old Maxi Cosi Tobi seats that we have had for years

If finances allowed I would get them all better car seats

Especially Bea and Edie

As having the children safe and secure in the car is a huge priority for me

I would never ever forgive myself if something happened to any of them

As a result of my driving

Having the very best car seats you can afford is so so important

In my opinion

We had a lie flat car seat from Jane for Edie

And have only just this week taken her out of it

Our in car entertainment consists of

Audio books

Absolute Radio

Talking to each other and playing games

Lots of singing

Daddy also tells awesome stories

And this has led to the children becoming great storytellers too

We also take food wherever we go

Our children are ALWAYS hungry in the car

There is lots of information in the All Car Leasing Baby Driver Survey

It is definitely worth a read

It feels good to know that we are not alone

On this journey

Driving and parenting

This is a collaborative post

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