A national survey has found that north-east motorists think aggression is the worst driving trait they pass on to children.
The Scottish Government and Road Safety Scotland launched a safety campaign to raise awareness among parents and carers of children across Aberdeenshire and Angus of the influence their driving behaviour can, in turn, have on their children’s driving behaviour.
To coincide with the launch of the Kids in the Car campaign, a poll was conducted by YouGov in Scotland to investigate the behaviours shown by drivers travelling with children.
The results revealed that in the north-east, 80% of drivers thought that acting aggressively behind the wheel with children under the age of 12 in the car was the worst driving trait.
The campaign draws on early years and road safety research that shows children’s future prospects are greatly influenced from a young age by their parents’ and carers’ behaviour.
Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown said: “This activity is so important in helping parents and carers keep their children safe here and now by exercising safe driving behaviours, but it is also critical to their future safety when they get behind the wheel, given what we now know about children’s crash risk mirroring their parents’ crash risk.”
Mairi Blair, assistant director at Road Safety Scotland, said: “The positive examples we constantly aim to set for our children can be forgotten when we’re driving. Most people think they’re good drivers, but in a rushed or more stressfulsituation, on the school run for example, these pressures can sometimes mean people act in ways they usually wouldn’t.”
The social marketing campaign incorporates television, cinema, radio and online advertising, and is complemented by social media.
The Kids in the Car campaign will see an eight-week roadshow, running until August 20, visit 30 locations around Scotland.