Costs drive motorists to cut trips

22/06/11

By Emma Sword

Nearly half of drivers are using their cars less to cut back on costs, a survey has found.

Some 48 per cent of the 1,002 motorists polled by the RAC said they were cutting back on trips in their cars.

Drivers in rural areas were found to be cutting back their journeys more than their urban colleagues.

Some 40 per cent of rural drivers said they were using their cars less for short trips, and 34% for longer trips, in comparison to 32 per cent and 23 per cent of urban drivers.

As many as 86 per cent of rural drivers, and 69 per cent of urban ones, said they would find it very difficult to use their cars less, with two-thirds of rural drivers saying they had no option but to use the car for journeys to work.

Almost all those surveyed reckoned the condition of local roads had deteriorated in the last 12 months.

And 84 per cent thought road improvements should take priority over "big, expensive schemes" such as the Government's proposed HS2 high-speed rail project.

RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink said: "People's ability to live their lives and do the most basic of tasks, such as visit family and take their children to after-school activities, is being threatened - and it looks like it's only going to get worse."