Navigating back-to-school driving

It’s getting interesting out there.

According to experts, U.S. families drive tens of billions of miles a year – that’s right, billion with a ‘b’ – to get their kids to and from school, accounting for an estimated 10% to 14% of traffic in the mornings alone. An estimated 43% of children who reside less than a mile from school, a relatively easy distance for walking and bicycling if conditions are safe, still are driven, says the Safe Routes Partnership organization.

With the school year seeing the return of more than 50 million children, we thought it would be helpful to remind motorists of the many challenges of driving that are not typical during the summer months.

We came up with 27 challenges as shown in the accompanying infographic – everything from getting a late start in the morning to mobile phone calls and text messages to crowded and busy school zones.

Back-to-school driving challenges infographic