Philadelphia - Children are safer being driven by their grandparents than by their mothers and fathers, according to a study.
US researchers discovered that children’s risk of injury was an astounding 50 percent lower when riding with grandparents.
They found that in many cases grandparents drove more cautiously to protect their “precious cargo”.
Previous studies had focused on the number of car accidents involving older drivers, mostly over 65.
But the report by scientists at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia compared the number of injuries. The study 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. Overall, 1.05 percent of children were injured when riding with parents, versus 0.70 riding with grandparents – a 33 percent lower risk.
The difference was 50 percent lower when the researchers took into account other things that could influence injury rates, including not using infant seats, and older-model cars.