Almost one in every five elementary school students serves as a daily ride-for-hire for parents

In a recent survey commissioned by the ADAC Foundation, it was found that a significant number of primary school students are driven to school every day or every other day. However, the survey did not directly address the reasons behind these statistics.

The survey was conducted on 1,000 parents of children aged between 5 and 15, and the results were reported by news magazine "Der Spiegel". The head of the ADAC Foundation, Christina Tillmann, stated that the foundation finds it difficult to reduce the number of 'parent taxis' given the reasons provided.

Despite this, Tillmann recommends that children make their own way to school. She believes that this approach strengthens children's safety, independence, and mutual respect in traffic. Tillmann also stated that children do not learn about road traffic from the back seat.

The survey found that 58% of parents who can, do not drive their children to school. Instead, the majority of these children can walk, cycle, or use a scooter to get to school.

The most common reasons given by parents for driving their children to school were having appointments after school (40%), the school being on their way to work (30%), and hoping to save time (22%). Only 12% of parents reported driving their children to school due to safety concerns.

On the other hand, 32% of parents cited bad weather as a reason for driving their children to school. Tillmann's recommendation is to trust children to manage their school journey independently, even in adverse weather conditions.

The ADAC Foundation's stance is that children should be encouraged to travel to school independently. By doing so, children will learn valuable skills and gain independence, which will benefit them in the long run.