Study: Kids safer in grandma's car

Let Gramps or Grandma drive the kids: It's safer.

That's the finding of a new study by researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who say that the risk of injury to children in crashes was 50% lower when grandparents were behind the wheel.

Hospital researchers studied data from State Farm insurance claims covering 11,859 children 15 and younger in motor vehicle crashes from 2003 to 2007 in 15 states and the District of Columbia; they also conducted telephone interviews with drivers.

The findings were counterintuitive, because previous studies have found that drivers over age 55, and especially those past 65, have a higher risk of motor vehicle crashes.

"It was the exact opposite of what we expected to find," says Fred Henretig, lead author of the study and a staff physcian in the emergency department at the hospital. "(Why) is the million-dollar question."

Henretig speculates that the reason might be quite simple: "Grandparents, when they have the opportunity to interact with their grandchildren find that to be the primary focus of their time together," he says. "They're perhaps not as distracted by trying to do a million errands, or get the dinner on the table, or wonder about their response to the latest e-mail.

"Speaking as a grandparent, about the worst thing that could happen is one of your grandchildren getting hurt on your watch, and trying to communicate that to your children," Henretig says.

He says it's also possible that automobile trips with the grandparents involved shorter distances and less time on interstates. He says the surprising results require more study: "Let's figure out what the grandparents are doing right, and get everybody to do it."

The study was published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

"I'm really happy to see this study that debunks some of the myths about older drivers," says Amy Goyer, AARP's family expert. "A study last year by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that older drivers tend to self-regulate. When grandchildren are in the car with grandparents, they're motivated to self-monitor the danger."