Millions Of Drivers Skipping Festive Journeys This Christmas
New research has revealed that millions of drivers are planning on skipping Christmas driving trips this year. Despite restrictions being relaxed…
Less Driving This Christmas
New research, conducted by the AA, has revealed that millions of drivers will be skipping Christmas road trips this year; despite pandemic-related restrictions being eased over the holidays. In a survey, less than a quarter of respondents said they planned to travel by car. For perspective, that means there may be just 8.1 million drivers on the roads in comparison to the 17 million who intended to drive last year. Overall, despite the second lockdown coming to an end, 46% of respondents said they had no plans to drive over Christmas. However, one in three said that they’d yet to make a final decision.
As it stands, travel restrictions are being eased between between December 23rd and 27th. Furthermore, tiered restrictions in England will be reviewed on December 16th; meaning some drivers may be waiting for further details before planning their car journeys. After all, it could make the difference between legal gatherings or not for larger families.
A Busy Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is set to be the busiest day for driving during the holidays. Just shy of half of those planning to make trips will do so on the 24th. The busiest day for shopping, however, is set to be on Saturday, December 19th; no doubt caused by last minute gift purchases. That said, the pandemic has had a broader effect on our shopping habits, too. Some 57% of us have modified our shopping habits in order to avoid large crowds of people. A further 46% have done their shopping early in order to avoid anticipated delays with deliveries.
Edmund King, AA president, hopes that local authorities will suspend road works to help avoid congestion. He said, “with tier restrictions in place, many may opt to stay local, so we’d like to see councils remove as many road works as possible to help ease the flow of local traffic”. He added, “on balance, despite the reduced use of public transport and the five days of festive freedom, we don’t predict a total free for all on the roads…More ‘driving home for Christmas’ than ‘road to hell’ as Chris Rea sang”. To ease delays, Highways England will be removing 750 miles of road works from major routes.
Defrosting Your Car: Everything You Need To Know To Do It Right – https://autoserveclub.co.uk/blog/defrosting-all-of-the-dos-and-donts-you-need-to-know/
Second National Lockdown: Car Use Has Declined By 30% – https://autoserve.co.uk/motoring-news/second-national-lockdown-car-use-has-declined-by-30/
