Dangerous driving runs in the family, a new French study says, suggesting that most motorists "drive like their parents", mirroring their behaviour on everything from road rage to speeding and drunk driving.
About 65% of younger motorists, aged 18 to 25, said they were influenced by the behind-the-wheel habits of their mother or father - both good and bad.
Parental influence weighs far more heavily than that of one's driving instructor and young drivers are more likely to ape their father than mother, said the Ipsos study, conducted for the Vinci Autoroute group, which runs French motorways.
After speaking to 993 motorists, Ipsos concluded that 75% of motorists who admitted to suffering from bouts of road rage said their parents hurled insults at others from behind the wheel. The rest said their parents kept their cool.
The study said 77% of those who admitted to "driving too fast" said their parents did likewise.
"For 18 years the child, then the adolescent, sees how his parents drive from the back seat. In primary school, notably, he or she observes and compares what the law imposes and what adults really do," said child psychologist Daniel Marcelli who co-ran a conference on "parenthood behind the wheel" at the release of the study.
A disregard for pedestrians is also a family matter, the study suggested, with 72% of motorists whose parents don't stop for people trying to cross the road saying they did likewise.
Only 28% of motorists whose parents slowed down for pedestrians were less civil than their mum or dad.
The study also found that 71% of drivers whose parents kept on going despite extreme fatigue, did the same.
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