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

  • Global pressures driving bitumen developments
    June 19, 2015
    A raft of global pressures is driving developments in the materials and equipment we use for the handling, storage and treatment of bitumen. The goal is to achieve better performance and longer life for less financial outlay, and at the same time overcome the challenges of inconsistent and varying bitumen supplies. Kristina Smith reports.
  • England’s A14 project River Great Ouse Viaduct completed
    February 28, 2019
    Construction of the biggest bridge in Highways England’s €1.73 billion A14 Cambridge-to-Huntingdon upgrade has been completed. The River Great Ouse Viaduct stretches for 0.8km and when opened to traffic next year will take the new A14 road over the floodplain and the East Coast Mainline Railway line. Work began in November 2016 on the bridge that is part of a new 27.4km bypass under construction to the south of Huntingdon and away from the existing A14. The road is being widened to three lanes in both
  • The strangest things are found spread across motorways
    December 1, 2015
    It’s often a messy business cleaning up a motorway after a truck has shed its load, and the strangest of loads have been accidentally spread down the blacktop in the UK, according to Highways England. The most recent incident was a slippery affair for maintenance crews – 24tonnes of lard that took a day to clean up, closing the motorway for 24 hours. From toilet roll and toxic waste to wine and washing up liquid for dishes, clean-up crews sometimes must tread lightly as they go about their business. They
  • Not gone in 60 seconds
    June 10, 2019
    Our Skidmarks page is highly rated by readers. Your input could help make this page even more entertaining. If you come across any amusing road-related stories or pictures email me at [email protected] NOT GONE IN 60 SECONDS A bungling young car thief in Norway found one vehicle too tempting, and also too difficult for his (lack of) skills. The man managed to break into a Volvo saloon but then discovered to his horror that not only was he unable to start it, he was also unable to get out of it. The car