Many parents starting the school run again next month would do well to brush up on their driving skills, according to the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), writes David Duffy.

The IAM says that the school run sees over a million children a day driven to school in private cars instead of using public transport. Rush hour traffic is bloated by an extra 20 per cent as a result.

Yet only a tiny fraction of the parents at the wheel on the school run have ever done anything to improve their driving skills. Instead they rely on their general driving experience complete with bad habits and good luck to avoid causing a rush-hour crash.

Although in an ideal world, parents and children would make the relatively short school trips on public transport, on foot or by bicycle, the IAM and other experts such as the AA say that the school run is here to stay until cultural attitudes change and key barriers are removed.

Chief examiner Bryan Lunn said: "With heavy traffic comes heavy responsibility. Some of the school run drivers are a menace.

"They cause danger, not only to themselves, but to their children and everybody else on the road. So parents should make sure their driving skills are up to the mark.

"Car sharing on the school run is good for the environment but it's useless from a road safety point of view if the driver is prepared to cut corners to try and get there before the bell rings," Mr Lunn added.

"Tailgating, abrupt braking and impatience at junctions and bad parking are too common near our schools.

"Plus of course speeding, which is particularly unforgivable on residential streets.

"Before they even start the engine, parents should ask themselves how they would feel if their child was one of 221 killed on the road last year and commit themselves to improving their driving if only to avoid the worst excesses of others."