You are here

Study: Kids Safer in Cars Driven by Grandparents


Have you ever worried about letting your child ride with a grandparent behind the wheel, since older people are generally at a higher risk for severe crashes? Now you can let them buckle up in Nana or Poppy’s car without worry. A new study in the August issue of Pediatrics found that kids are actually safer in cars driven by grandparents. The authors of the study hypothesize that grandparents drive more carefully with “precious cargo” on board, resulting in fewer accidents.
Plus: What Grandparents Wish You Knew

The study examined five years worth of crash data including more than 200,000 children. Grandparents made up 9.5 percent of drivers in crashes (the rest were parents), but resulted in only 6.6 percent of the total accident injuries. Nearly all the kids were restrained in car seats or boosters at the time of the crash, but kids of grandparent-driven cars were more likely to be less than optimally restrained. So it’s a good idea to double-check any seats you install in another car, or to review proper car seat installation with anyone else doing it for you.
Plus: Parents are From Mars, Grandparents are From Venus