A third of parents let under-17s drive, research finds

A recent study has found that over a third of parents let their kids drive a car before they turn 17 years old and in most cases they even drive on the public road.

2,157 British parents aged 35 or over were surveyed by Voucher Codes Pro and 35 per cent of the respondents said they let their children drive before reach the legal driving age of 17.

Among those that admitted to letting their kids drive under 17, more than half allowed them do so on the public road network. Even more staggering, three per cent of those surveyed revealed they let their child drive when as young as nine years old.

Some let kids drive ‘just for fun’

The vast majority of those who let their children drive when under 17 say they allowed it in order to give their kids some experience before taking to the road the first time.

However, nearly a quarter of those that made the same admission says it was all ‘just for fun’. A minority of respondents said they simply let their kids drive so young to prove to them that driving is harder than they thought.

Nearly half of all the parents surveyed (47 per cent) said that the minimum driving age should be reduced to 16.

Check out our guide to the best first cars for newly qualified drivers