Giving a boost to Father’s Day, Dad’s Taxis receive positive reviews.

Without stereotyping, it seems that the public generally agrees that Dads are better than mums behind the wheel.

Safe and sound

A survey of 2,000 Brits conducted by GoShorty, reveals that Brits feel twice as confident in their Dad’s driving abilities than their Mum’s.

While 17% trusting their Dad to drive them around, only 8% prefer their Mum behind the wheel.

A fifth (20%) said they’ve asked their Dad for a lift at least five times so far this year.

Over a third (36%) have asked their Dad for a lift late at night. Of those in need of a late night lift, the majority were female – reinforcing that women travelling after dark feel greater concern for their personal safety than men do – preferring to pester their Dad for a lift than walk or opt for public transport.

Common considerations

Surprisingly, almost a fifth of 35 – 44 year olds (24%) have asked their Dad for between 2 – 5 lifts in the last year.

It suggests that a parent’s job as cheap taxi driver never over!

Furthermore, 35% of respondents (parents themselves) admitted to asking their own Dad for a lift up to five times in the last year alone – proving that Dad’s taxi service is a family business, through and through.

Whilst Brits might prefer Dad’s taxi’s – when it comes to driving themselves, they prefer having Mum in the passenger seat, with only 7% claiming to feel confident driving their Dad around.

Interestingly, learners typically cited Dads as their main driving teacher.

Almost half (49%) of learner drivers prefer to practise with their Dads, compared to only 21% choosing their Mum as an instructor.

Learning to live with it

Founder and Managing Director of GoShorty Andy Moody, commented: “It won’t come as a surprise to parents across the UK that Brits typically rely on their Dads when it comes to lifts – late night or otherwise. The fact that there’s such a disparity between the confidence we feel in the driving of our Dads versus our Mums is interesting though – and potentially reflects some outdated attitudes towards gender and motoring…

“We know from our own internal data that learners taking out short-term cover to practise their drivingare far more likely to be male (79%) than female (21%), and with the survey finding that three times more women than men claim that they’re ‘not confident’ in their driving ability, it might be that the correlation between driving confidence and gender is purely related to practice.

“Examining more of our GoShorty data, we found that women are 15% less likely to be involved in an accident than men – including both learners and fully licensed drivers – suggesting women are actually significantly safer drivers than their male counterparts, despite feeling less than confident behind the wheel.

“Whilst Dads might be the go-to when your local cab firm isn’t picking up, there’s nothing to suggest Mums aren’t just as reliable behind the wheel. Learners saying they prefer to practise with their Mums might actually reinforce the idea that Mums are more conscientious road users, able to impart their wisdom from the passenger seat more effectively than Dads – even if you think he’s the better driver.”