Times change, but no one has yet come up with a new technology that will replace dear old dad as the prime household driving instructor. According to a poll commissioned by InsuranceQuotes.com, dads might not be considered to be the kings of their castles, but they still bear the major responsibility for teaching teenagers and young adults how to drive. The recent survey -- conducted online by Harris Interactive -- showed that among licensed drivers, 32 percent of American men age 18 and older, and 26 percent of women age 18 and older, said that their fathers taught them how to drive. Overall, men and women named their fathers as their top instructors.
The survey also found that new drivers have been even more dependent on their dads for their driving instruction. For newly licensed drivers between ages 18 and 34, 38 percent of men said their dads were their primary driving teachers, while 21 percent of that same group cited their mothers. For 18- to 34-year-old women, 31 percent pointed to their dads as their main instructors, and moms ran a close second at 28 percent.
Going beyond family, there are other important sources of driver training. Among all licensed drivers polled, 25 percent of men and 23 percent of women said they learned how to drive through a school-sponsored driver’s education program. Private driving instructors taught 12 percent of women and 6 percent of men how to drive. Perhaps most interesting (and frightening) is that 13 percent of men and 5 percent of women said they were self-taught drivers. This survey was conducted among 2,410 U.S. adults -- a nationally representative sample.
