A third of Parents have Listened to Kid's Favourite Song More Than 100 Times on long car journeys - Traditional games beat electronic devices for kids on car journeys

Almost a third of parents who have been on long car journeys with their kids (32%) have listened to their child's favourite song over a 100 times during a car trip, according to a new YouGov survey, commissioned by iCarhireinsurance.com, the leading supplier of stand-alone car hire excess insurance, which asked parents with kids at home, what activities their children have done on long car journeys (2+ hours).

There is likely to be a lot of car journeys with kids this October half term, and the survey of parents found that listening to the radio took the number one spot (81%) of popular activities, followed by singing along to the radio (65%).

At number three of the list provided was playing traditional car games, like iSpy and Car Bingo (63%), beating the use of electronic devices surprisingly into fourth place, with over half of parents (52%) surveyed saying their kids have played video games on them during long car journeys.

Over half (57%) of parents with children at home admitted that they are grateful to electronic devices for keeping the children entertained during long car journeys, with almost a third (30%) saying they find it easier to have a conversation with their partner when the children are using them. However one in ten did admit to threatening to throw these out of the window during a journey!

The survey found that arguing came in fifth place (43%) with almost a third of parents (29%) saying that their children have argued about where to sit in the car, and 22% saying their children have argued about who is taking up the most room in the car.

Listening to music on headphones from the kids' own devices was in sixth place, while a traditional family sing song, such as 10 Green Bottles, was in seventh place (42%), followed by watching films (39%) and reading books (36%). Listening to audio books ends the list with only 14% of parents saying their children have listened to audio books when on a long car journey.

One thing that is common across the UK is the state of the car after a long journey with kids, with over half of parents (53%) saying they were amazed at the mess left in the car by the kids.

Ernesto Suarez, founder and CEO of iCarhireinsurance.com, said. "In my family car, with four children to entertain, I was surprised that it's only half of parents using electronic devices to keep their kids entertained, however I wasn’t surprised by the amount of arguing or the amount of mess!”

iCarhireinsurance.com has developed some free games for parents to download to keep their kids entertained whilst travelling.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,091 adults, 548 of which have children in the household aged under 18. Fieldwork was undertaken between 6th-7th May 2015. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Notes to Editors

Halo Insurance Services Ltd is a ground-breaking online insurance broker which was founded in 2009 by Ernesto Suarez, a leading insurance expert specialising in non-standard motor insurance. Its products include car hire insurance, van hire insurance and car club excess insurance all of which have been designed to offer more cover for a better price than the excess waivers offered at the rental desk.

Halo operates the retail brands iCarhireinsurance.com in the UK, insuremyrentalcar.com in the USA, leihwagenversicherung.de in Germany, Aseguramicochedealquiler.es in Spain and Huurautoverzekering.com in the Netherlands. It also provides insurance solutions to a number of commercial partners involved who provide software and booking services to car hire operators.

Awards won:

  • FINALIST – 2014 British Insurance Awards – Personal Lines Broker of the Year Award
  • WINNER - 2013 British Insurance Awards – Insurance Start-Up Award
  • FINALIST - 2012 British Insurance Awards – The E-Business Award
  • WINNER - 2011 Insurance Times Awards – Broker Innovation of the Year

Halo Insurance Services Limited is registered in England number 6929208. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Register No. 504629 for the sale and administration of general insurance products in the United Kingdom and throughout the European Economic Area (EEA).

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