Well, we’ll give the folks at American Baby and Safe Kids Worldwide for having the courage to release a survey that announces, “Moms Make the Same Risky Driving Choices as Teens.” The theme is continued over at the AB sister site Parents.com with “6 Dangerous Driving Mistakes Moms Make.” And that theme, of course, is that women are bad drivers. Yes, we’re always up for a new study that fuels a new wave of Bad Woman Driver jokes.
And yet–we’re certainly interested in our children’s safety, so let’s calm our outrage and consider some cold hard facts from the recent study. After all, the first thing being stress-via the press release–is that moms can be delusional about their own driving: “A majority of new moms surveyed (63%) claim they’re more cautious behind the wheel since giving birth, but their responses to other survey questions suggest otherwise. ” Those italics are in the original press release. It’s like the researchers really don’t believe us. And maybe we can’t really blame them, considering the following scary statistics compiled from the survey:
- 78% of moms talk on the phone while driving with their kids, a habit that is as dangerous as driving drunk.
- 26% text or check email, which is twice as risky as drunk driving.
- 75% of new moms say that they’re more flustered in their daily lives since having kids.
- Moms log an average of 5 hours and 20 minutes of consecutive sleep nightly, slowing their reaction time.
- Two thirds of moms find it tough to concentrate on a single task, like driving.
- 55% of moms admit to driving above the speed limit with their baby in the car when they’re in a rush.
- Moms drive an average of 150 miles a week.
- Nearly 10% of new moms have been in a crash while driving with their baby.
- 64% of moms have turned around to tend to their child’s needs while driving.
- 77% of moms are more afraid of getting in an accident since having a baby.
Real nice, American moms. We’re sure glad this survey isn’t talking about us. Well, except maybe for that last statistic. Shouldn’t it really be 100% of moms who are more afraid of getting in an accident since having a baby? We’d love to be in that cheery 23% who’s managed to get so laid back about driving with a baby on board. Anyway, we guess we can’t get too upset over a reminder that we all have to be more careful when carrying our precious cargo to the supermarket, or wherever we get up the nerve to drive. Let’s just not hear any jokes about it, okay?
