Skip to main content

Kids in Cars: from curious to furious during the summer road trip

Kids start to complain about the amount of time in a car after two 2 and 23 minutes of driving, according to research in the UK. Around that time, the driver will hear from the back seat the first of a long list of complaints: “Are we nearly there yet?” And by 2 hours and 37 minutes, angry rows have broken out. These squabbles are almost inevitable, noted the study from the UK’s Highways England. Nearly 80% of families say kids quarrel during long-distance summer trips. Many parents said this ha
August 20, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Here at last, and about time, too.
Kids start to complain about the amount of time in a car after two 2 and 23 minutes of driving, according to research in the UK.

Around that time, the driver will hear from the back seat the first of a long list of complaints: “Are we nearly there yet?”

And by 2 hours and 37 minutes, angry rows have broken out.

These squabbles are almost inevitable, noted the study from the UK’s Highways England. Nearly 80% of families say kids quarrel during long-distance summer trips.

Many parents said this happens within the first hour of a trip. For that reason, Simon Sheldon-Wilson, Highways England’s director of customer operations and a father of four, urged driving dads and moms to take a break sooner rather than later.

“A decent break should help stop kids being bored and hopefully prevent arguments from stressing your family before you’ve reached your destination,” he said. “Our survey suggests parents should plan a break around two hours in, to help young passengers cope with the boredom.”

In total, 291 drivers completed the online survey, which showed the average summer journey would last 3 hours and 49 minutes.

Despite the length of the journey, 55% of drivers said they didn’t plan to take any breaks during the trip, other than quick toilet stops.

Around a quarter of respondents said their summer journey would take more than 5 hours and 16% said they planned to travel non-stop.

“Drivers who plan their trips tend to have better journeys,” said Sheldon-Wilson.

“They factor in time for rest stops, so the driver can re-focus and the kids don’t get bored. They also spend time choosing the best route – rather than blindly picking the fastest option in their satellite navigation system, only to find it’s anything but.”

Related Content

  • New guidelines to improve highway emergency response
    July 6, 2012
    New guidelines have been introduced to improve how the Highways Agency (HA) and emergency services work together. Under the guidelines, part of a Government strategy to reduce the US$1.5billion (£1bn) cost of motorway incidents, the police, fire and ambulance services and the HA have signed up to the CLEAR booklet - drawn up by Agency to tackle congestion caused by lane closures. Launched last year by Roads Minister Mike Penning, The CLEAR (Collision, Lead, Evaluate, Act, Reopen) initiative aims to get tra
  • AECOM seatbelt and phone use trial expanded
    March 8, 2024
    More police forces in the UK are joining the National Highways’ trial of safety cameras that automatically detect motorists breaking seatbelt and mobile phone use laws.
  • Clever approach to reducing bridge vibrations
    November 14, 2013
    Reducing vibrations on a bridge, supplying high-quality binders to emerging countries and helping small and medium players with warm mix, this month’s stories showcase some innovative bitumen technology solutions - Kristina Smith reports The Kessock Bridge in the Highlands of Scotland has become the third bridge in the UK to be resurfaced with Gussasphalt. A dense mastic asphalt containing Nynas Endura N5, a polymer modified binder, Gussasphalt has been designed to have a longer life than standard mastic as
  • Rebuilding a historic bridge linking the US and Canada
    March 8, 2016
    While many road authorities in North America are finding it difficult to stretch their bridge assets beyond half a century, one bridge is closing in on its centenary - David Arminas reports The international Peace Bridge, connecting the Canadian province of Ontario with the US state of New York, is 88 years young this year, and still going strong.