1 in 10 mums would rather give birth again than be driven by their child

Letting your little one walk to school on their own for the first time, picking them up from their high school leavers’ dance or waving them off to university – parents overcome lots of daunting milestones as their children grow older.

But there’s no learning experience more unnerving than a child learning to drive and, for many mums, trusting kids in the driving seat is just one step too far.

New research by car manufacturer Vauxhall shows one in 10 mums would rather go through the age-old pain of childbirth again than let their children drive them around.

The survey also finds around 40% of parents are terrified at the thought of getting in the passenger seat with their child driving.

Worried over nothing?

Parents’ worries about sitting in the passenger seat are not unfounded.

Some 20% of driving lessons instructed by a parent result in damage to the car, according to the driving habits poll of 1000 children and their parents.

Road safety charity Brake reports similar results, saying motorists aged between 17 and 24-years-old are at a much higher risk of crashing than older drivers.

Young drivers make up just 1.5% of UK licence holders, but are involved in 9% of fatal and serious crashes where they’re the driver, the charity reports.

Mum vs Dad

Although 20% of dad-taught lessons resulted in a crash, compared with just 8% of lessons with mum, more than half (53%) of young motorists believe their dad is the better driver of the two parents.

And parent-led lessons are not much fun for the kids either, with a quarter of mums and dads braving the role of driving instructor admitting to having snapped while being in the passenger seat.

This is probably why 27% of young drivers say they wouldn’t trust mum or dad to teach them to drive and a massive 70% of them think they’d be better at driving than their parents if they had a bona fide instructor had been instructing them.

Think learning to drive is as stressful as it gets in a car? Here are 10 of the most stressful car journeys.