Are we making our children car dependent?

Abstract

Car use is increasing in Great Britain. Car use by children is growing considerably faster than that for the rest of the population. Children are making fewer, but longer trips than in previous years. Most trips by children are not to or from school, and only about one fifth of the car trips by children are to or from school. There are many reasons for the increase in car use by children: these include increasing car ownership, greater complexity in lifestyles, increasing time pressure, and parental concern about children’s safety, both because of traffic and possible abuse by strangers. The increasing use of the car by children has implications for their health and the amount of traffic on the road. It may also mean that they are more likely to be dependent on the car as adults. A number of initiatives to encourage children to consider the alternatives to the car are being taken in Britain with respect to the journey to school. However there is a need for further research into this topic to increase understanding of the relationships between children’s car use and their health and potential longterm car dependency. These are being investigated in a project being carried out in the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London (UCL) which is outlined in the concluding part of the paper.

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