Carting the kids to and from school clocks up an average of at least 40 kilometres a week, putting around $131 on the family meter if charged at taxi rates of $2.26 a kilometre and $4.10 flagfall.

That’s running costs of around $5187 a year, worked out on the 198 days kids are at school.

You could add taxi waiting time of 96 cents a minute – or $57.60 an hour – that would add another $1900 a year while parents sit in their cars or wait at the school gates for 10 minutes for their kids to come out.

So acting as unpaid chauffeurs costs families an average of $7087 a year.

That’s worked out on only driving eight kilometres a day to and from school in the morning and afternoon.

It doesn’t include the rip-off petrol prices we pay in Orange that would add who-knows-what to the bill, particularly because many mums drive those big fuel-guzzling four-wheel-drives to pick up little Billy or Mary.