When It Comes To Teen Drivers, Nine in Ten (92%) Canadian Parents Rate Their Teen's Driving Ability as `Fairly Good' Or Better
Most Common Driving Faults: Directions (20%) for Teens, Speeding and Aggressiveness for Dad (19%), and Driving Too Slow (16%) for Mom
Although parents believe their teens to be good drivers, they also acknowledge that they are frequently distracted while behind the wheel. Eight in ten (79%) believe their teen is distracted while driving, compared to only two in ten (21%) who say that their teen is never distracted while driving. The following table outlines the factors that parents believe is the biggest distraction to their teens while driving:
Being distracted (15%) is just one of several common faults that parents notice from their driving teens. The top common fault parents see in their teens driving is `not knowing where they're going' (20%), while one in ten parents cite `being too aggressive' (12%) and `speeding' (12%), `not knowing the rules of the road' (9%), and `driving too slow' (8%). One-quarter (24%) believe that their teen has no common faults and that they're a terrific driver.
Teen Drivers Rate Their Parents Driving
When it comes to rating the driving ability of Mom and Dad, teens rate their parent's abilities resoundingly high, despite some common faults. Half (47%) of teens rate their Dad as an `extremely good driver', while four in ten (40%) rate him `very good'. One in ten (11%) rate their Dad's as being a `fairly good driver', while only 2% give their Dad a `not very good driver' rating. While four in ten (37%) say their Dad is a terrific driver and has no common faults, two in ten (19%) say their Dad's common fault while driving is `speeding' or `being too aggressive'. One in ten believe their Dad's common fault is `being distracted' (11%), `driving to slow' (7%), or `not knowing where they're going' (7%), while just 1% say `not knowing the rules of the road'.
Three in ten (29%) rate their Mom as an `extremely good driver' (lower than Dad!), while half (47%) provide a rating of `very good' and two in ten (21%) say `fairly good'. Just 3% rate their Mom's driving ability as `not very good'. When it comes to common faults for Mom's driving, the top faults differ from greatly from Dad's top faults. Of the two-thirds (66%) of teens who notice common faults in their Mom's driving, two in ten cite `driving to slow' (16%), `not knowing where they're going' (16%), and `being distracted' (15%) as the top three common faults they notice. Only one in ten say `speeding' (11%) or `being too aggressive' (6%) is a common fault, while 2% say the fault they commonly see in their Mom's driving is `not knowing the rules of the road'. The table below outlines the common driving faults seen with teens, Moms, and Dads:
Generational Differences in Teaching Teens How to Drive
It appears that Mom and Dad are taking a more proactive role in teaching their teen to drive compared to their own learning experiences at the same age, when mothers took the back seat. One-third (33%) of teens with drivers licenses say their Dad taught them how to drive or took them out to practice driving the most, while one-quarter cite their Mom (25%) as being this person or both parents did so equally (23%). Two in ten (16%) say they weren't taught by either of their parents and only learned from an instructor, while 2% learned from or practice with a friend or other family member.
For parents with teen drivers, their experiences in learning how to drive are quite different. Four in ten (35%) say they were taught to drive or practiced driving more with their Dad or an instructor, twice as likely an as their own teenager. Two in ten (17%) learned or practiced driving with a friend or other family member, while just one in ten (7%) parents with teenage drivers say they learned or practiced most with their Mom and only 5% learned or practiced with both parents equally. Interestingly, eight in ten (84%) parents with licensed teens `agree' (30% strongly/54% somewhat) that helping their teenager learn how to drive has got them thinking more about their own driving habits, although two in ten (16%) `disagree' (4% strongly/12% somewhat).
Most Teen Drivers Ticket and Accident-Free
Over nine in ten (92%) licensed teens have never gotten a speeding ticket, while one in ten (7%) have received one or two and 1% have received at least 3 speeding tickets. 90% of teens with their license have never received a parking ticket, while just one in ten (10%) have received one or two. Two in ten (15%) licensed teens cite they've had at least one accident, although a strong majority (85%) have never had one.
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between August 17th to 28th, 2012, on behalf of RBC Insurance. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadian parents of teenagers and 1,000 teenagers from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to +- 3.5 percentage points of what the results would have been had the entire population of Canadian parents of teenagers and teenagers been polled, respectively. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sean Simpson
Associate Vice President
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
416.572.4474
[email protected]
About Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.
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About Ipsos
Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. In October 2011 Ipsos completed the acquisition of Synovate. The combination forms the world's third largest market research company.
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