The document summarizes research into conversations that occur during car journeys. It finds that the car environment can provide a positive and informal setting for discussions. Cars allow for private conversations and may encourage less confrontational "safer talk". Certain topics are deemed appropriate for car discussions while driving safety is a priority. Overall, car talks can strengthen family bonds when handled carefully.

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2. INTRODUCTION
Want to plan your next holiday? Analyse your work colleagues? Find out who is part of your child’s social
influence network or decide what to buy grannie for Christmas? Then pick up your car keys and go for a
drive! In a recent Secret Lives of Cars poll by Allianz Your Cover Insurance, drivers revealed what they talk
about in their cars. With over half of family leisure car journeys taking more than an hour, there is a lot
of time which could potentially lead to useful conversations. Given the stresses of modern day living and
the pressure on ‘free’ time, the car offers a productive alternative environment to catch up with our loved
ones.
This report combines the Secret Lives of Cars poll with findings from in-depth semi-structured interviews
carried out by psychologists with over 40 families from around the UK. It focuses on the psychological
use, engagement and function of conversations held whilst on a car journey.
CARS CREATE A POSITIVE
COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT
Cars, and the journeys we undertake in them, are conducive to positive communication. The car journey
itself is an informal, comfortable and secure environment to converse with those closest to us and explore
and express ourselves. For example, when asked why some topics are easier to talk about in the car more
than one in three people in the survey admitted it was the more informal setting of the car environment. What
we say in the car is usually safe from prying ears, so remains slightly more psychologically confidential as
a result. Psychologically the conversation stays in the confines of the car. When you open the door you
open the conversation, you shut the door and the conversation stays inside. For example one in three
drivers reported that they regularly discussed their outgoings whilst on journeys in the car.
“When I think about it it’s quite weird really - I tend
“We regularly discuss the family’s spending in
to gossip about things we’ve talked about at home
the car” admitted one parent (mum of three from
or in the office but conversations I have had in the
Cambridge) who was interviewed, “it’s the only
car seem to stay there. Funny Now I think about it
time my husband and I can be sure that small
I don’t know why I do that.” Stated one driver
ears are not wiggling and that we get some
(female, single, from Manchester) interviewed
private focused discussion on the matter”.
as part of the follow up focus group.
The car journey lends itself nicely as a timeframe for conversation. Every journey has a beginning, middle
and end and research has shown that people map their conversations to progress in the car. A longer
car journey might lend itself to more ‘open’ conversations that might consider lots of information and
viewpoints. For example, planning family holidays would lend itself nicely to this and the survey showed
over 60% of families admit to planning their leisure trips whilst driving. Shorter car trips might encourage
us to get to the point or come to a decision more quickly and be more focused. For example the survey
found that one in three drivers planned their gift buying whilst driving.

3. CARS CAN “I had a health scare recently – but felt so much better talking about it to
my friend in the car. It just felt right to do it there – it felt private and safe”
OFFER offered another driver interviewed (female, married two children from
PRIVACY London).
In this sense the car resembles something of a confessional, or a doctor’s office on wheels!
For example younger children sit in the back seat, removed from the parent (confessor) by the barrier of a
seat, and a head rest. However certain intimacy, with distance, is still ensured by logistics and geometry.
The driver-parent in return is limited in the number of embarrassing visual or parental gestures that they
can make. They also will probably avoid confrontational speeches as it is too distracting to their driving.
The child is somewhat psychologically comforted by the feeling that they are ‘talking’ to a person who is
there physically, but not entirely present. The other huge advantage car conversations offer children is that
parents can’t hug awkwardly or give a painful judgemental parental stare!
“If I’m worried about something I’ll usually tell mum or “There are just some things I can say to the
dad in the car – there are some things I just don’t want back of my mum’s head that I can’t say to
everyone else to know about” stated one boy from her face to face” another male child from
London in the focus group. Devon offered.
“I told my dad about my first boyfriend on the “If I had problems with friends or bullying then I’d rather
way to school – that way it was short and tell my parents in the car – there is something less
sweet and he had little time for advice and confrontational about doing it there. If its advice about
embarrassing speeches!” revealed another homework etc then that’s better for indoors” admitted a
girl from Nottingham in the study. teenager from London.
CARS ENCOURAGE LESS EMOTIONALLY
CHARGED SAFER’ TALKING
‘
Car journeys also provide an environment that suits non-confrontational conversations. Driver and
passenger are sitting side by side. Psychologically, sitting next to someone is disarming as from a
non-verbal point of view it suggests ‘we are on the same team’. Unlike in other non-confined
environments, such as the home, conversationalists are not ‘faced against one another’, a non-verbal
stance that promotes conflict and confrontation. Indeed nearly 50% of the drivers in the study admitted that
they hold conversations in the car rather than at home due to ‘lack of eye contact’.
The position of the driver and passenger would then encourage them not to engage in emotive
conversations. The fact that the passenger is also helping the driver with directions and spotting potential
risks also suggests harmony rather than competition. These unconscious signals are important in guiding
what people talk about. This is supported by the fortunate (!) statistic that the survey found that under one
in 10 drivers had used a car journey to break up with someone and that one in three admitted they would
never discuss their relationships with their partners whilst in the car.

4. “The shouting happens at home – there is no real
effect of shouting at someone who isn’t even
looking at you!” admitted one married female
driver from London.
“We just don’t do heavy conversations in the car
“Funnily enough we tend to have our more
– we don’t earn enough money to keep getting the
productive conversations in the car” said
car repaired!” said another married female driver
one male in a long term relationship from
from London.
Hertfordshire “we leave the adrenalin fuelled
stuff for when we can face one another
indoors!”.
SAFETY FIRST
Another advantage of car conversations between fellow passengers is that they are far safer than
conversations over a hands-free in-car phone. Scientific research has clearly indicated that passenger
conversations differ from in-car mobile phone conversations and require less cognitive input.
“As a driver I do notice that I tend to dictate the topics of conversations in the car. Some topics require
a lot of attention and that wouldn’t be so good when I’m trying to navigate this heavy moving object!”
confessed one driver who was a mum of three from Kent.
Psychologically this is because the surrounding
traffic not only becomes a topic of the conversation,
helping driver and passenger to share situation
awareness, but the driving condition also has a “Talk about holidays or what we might be
direct influence on the complexity of the conversation. doing over the weekend is good – it keeps
In other words passenger and driver are selective me alert, allows me to engage in some
about what topics of conversation they hold in the family planning but also lets me focus on the
car as they know the driver needs most of his/her driving. Politics, what I think of my boss and
attention to drive safely! mother in law are definitely off limits!” offered
one male interviewee from London.
SUMMARY
Overall this report suggests that car journeys can be a place where useful conversations are held. The poll
findings clearly indicate that drivers utilise their car journeys positively for useful communication. They are
generally conscious of the topics that are acceptable/permissible for such trips and so aware of safety
issues. It would also seem that car journeys might actually suit certain discussions better. Certainly the
families and children interviewed seem to suggest that car conversations are less psychologically charged,
due to concerns of driver distraction etc. For parents car journeys also offer an environment that doesn’t
hold too many other distractions for kids – there are usually no TV or no toys, so chats can be more
focused and less threatening for the parent/child interaction.
The emotionally safe environment allows couples to discuss elements of their relationships calmly and
effectively. Any environment that encourages people to talk safely is good from a psychological perspective
– it acts as a useful verbal venting system as well as building up our social bonds with who took part in
the survey said that conversations held during car trips brought their families closer together. Scientific
evidence strongly suggests that these things can act as buffers to the negative effects of stress on our
psychological and physiological wellbeing.

5. TOP TIPS FOR HOLDING
CONVERSATIONS IN A CAR,
BY DR SIMON MOORE PRINCIPLE
CHARTERED PSYCHOLOGIST, LONDON
METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
1 Think carefully about the issue that needs
discussing and make sure you have the time to
Try to match the pattern of your conversation do it justice within the confines of the length of
with that of the journey – so that the beginning, the car journey.
middle and end match that of where you are
2
driving to.
3
4
Car journeys are a great way of trying
to improve your speaking ability. Get the
driver to choose a topic and the passenger has to speak
on that topic up until a defined point on the route. This
Car journeys are also a good way to improve is an especially good way to get children confident in
your listening skills. Many people think that they opening up and speaking in front of people e.g. you
have to be able to be good at talking to be a good have to talk on ‘what do you like about our family’ until
communicator, but you also need to be able to we pass the next petrol station.
listen. You can learn as much about yourself just
by listening, and this is a good safe exercise for
5
the driver.
6 If the conversation starts to get heated there are
a number of ways to diffuse awkward moments.
Suggesting a break for coffee or a snack,
Play fair! It’s not really good form to raise a topic of lightening the mood with a quick game of eye
conversation that you know the driver can’t fully engage in. spy or changing the topic and agreeing to talk
While the conversation might go your way – it will just create in more depth once you are out of the car may
resentment and bad filling that will come back to haunt you all help. Pre-load your car’s music system with
when the driver finishes driving! your partner’s favourite tracks and hit play if the
conversation becomes too heavy!
7
If a conversation can’t be resolved during the course of the journey, suggest putting it to one side and
continuing the discussion later when everyone has had more time to think. Remember that emotional
conversations do not suit car journeys – they are too distracting.

6. Research methodology and author
A research report was undertaken by Dr, Simon Moore, CPsychol AFBPsS of London Metropolitan University in September 2012. The research
team spoke to 45 families from across the UK about their attitudes to conversations in the car. This was incorporated into the report with a survey
of 1000 UK car drivers which was carried out in August 2012 by 72 Point on behalf of Allianz Your Cover Insurance.
Families were recruited via a combination of social network resources and opportunistic face to face recruitment. Interviews were either held over the
phone (with conference call facilities) or face to face within the family home. All participants were informed that their responses would be anonymous
and confidential and that they could withdraw their input from the research at any point. A set of semi structured questions that focused on general
driving behaviour were asked to initially encourage families to start to think and discuss what they did on car journeys. The questions became more
focused as the interviews progressed. Families were interviewed together and random members of the family group were also interviewed alone (consent
was obtained by parents for the interviews with children). Thematic analysis was applied to the interview output in an attempt to identify the main themes
emerging from the narratives.
Dr Simon Moore is a Chartered Psychologist who is an official media spokesperson for the British Psychological Society. Dr Moore has over 15 years
applied research experience and has worked with such companies as Bupa, Sony, Universal Film Studios etc. He specialises in personality, emotion
and human communication and has published books and journal articles as well as presented at International Psychology conferences.