Children take 27 minutes to get bored on long car journeys according to a worldwide survey by TomTom

~ In the run-up to the upcoming school holidays, TomTom investigates the reality of family car journeys ~

Malaysia, 14 May 2012. As students and parents look forward to the upcoming school holidays, TomTom unveils the road trip realities of 5,000 mothers worldwide. An independent global study reveals that it takes on average only 27 minutes for children to get bored on long car journeys.

Of those countries surveyed, children in Australia get bored the quickest at 23 minutes while New Zealand children appear the most patient, with boredom kicking in at 34 minutes.

The study revealed that the average holiday car journey lasts about five hours. With so much time spent in the car, mothers are resourceful at keeping their children amused - 74% make up games, 52% offer treats and rewards, and 24% admitted that they lie about the estimated time of arrival to make the journey seem shorter.

“Long journeys in Malaysia across the North-South highway mean boredom may be inevitable. Especially at times when traffic is heavy – during the school holidays, long weekends and the Balik Kampung exodus during the festive season,” says Valerie Cross, Public Relations Manager, TomTom Asia Pacific. “Whilst we can’t stop children getting bored, we can make sure long family journeys are the best they can be. From avoiding endless hours spent in traffic jams, to finding the best places to stop en route, TomTom is a must have travel companion for any road trip.”

Whilst 60% of mothers said that “being together as a family” is the best part of a long trip, they also found it could be stressful. 41% thought that being in the car with their children is far more stressful than being in the office; 37% said it is more stressful that visiting in-laws; and 36% said it is more stressful than the dentist, while 26% said it is more stressful that a job interview. 36% also admitted that being in the car with children on a long journey was the causes of arguments with their spouses.

TomTom aims to make family journeys better by reducing the time spend in traffic and by offering driver-friendly content and services to help families make the most of their time together. With thousands of points of interest (POI) pre-installed in all TomTom Via and Go series devices for an enriched navigation experience and to make trips more interesting, families can find and navigate to recommended places such as rest areas and restaurants along the way.

Average time for children aged 2-8 years old to get bored on a long car journey:
Australia 23 minutes
UK 24 minutes
Spain 25 minutes
Italy 26 minutes
Netherlands 27 minutes
US 30 minutes
France 30 minutes
Germany 31 minutes
New Zealand 34 minutes

The average time taken for children to get bored was calculated based on feedback from 3,295 mums with children aged 2 to 8 years old and based on journeys over 30 minutes in length, where children had no form of amusement such as a DVD player in the car. This sample was chosen out of the total interviewed women.

The survey was commissioned by TomTom and conducted by the research company Ipsos MORI in the period 1-19th of March 2012 in the UK, USA, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain. A total of 4,113 women were surveyed with children ranging in age from 2 to 8 years old. An additional survey was carried out in New Zealand by the company HorizonResearch in the period 31 March to 3 April 2012. A total of 1,117 women were surveyed, of which 632 had children aged 2-8.