Children are safer being driven by their grandparents than by their mothers and fathers.
US researchers discovered that children’s risk of injury was an astonishing 50 percent lower when riding with grandparents.
They found that in many cases grandparents drove more cautiously to protect their “precious cargo”.
Previous studies focused on the number of crashes involving drivers older than 65 - but the report by scientists at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia compared the number of injuries.
The study, published online in the Journal of Paediatrics, analysed insurance claims for car crashes in 15 US states over a four-year period involving 12 000 children under 15.
Only about 10 percent were driven by grandparents, but they suffered fewer injuries per kilometre travelled. Overall, 1.05 percent of children were injured when riding with parents, versus 0.70 percent of those riding with grandparents - a 33 percent lower risk.
The difference went up to more than 50 percent when researchers took into account other things that could influence injury rates, such as not using infant seats, and older-model cars. - Daily Mail