A new study has revealed just how busy the roads will be this Easter weekend, with 87 percent of Brits saying they expect to travel at least once, amounting to over 27million cars on the road and drivers spending up to 111million hours behind the wheel this weekend alone.
Brits are going everywhere and anywhere this weekend, with 84 percent seeing friends or family at some point, a third (32 percent) also enjoying a day trip and 16 percent taking a short Easter break. With an average Easter journey of 111.4 miles, Britain will clock up 3.1bn miles cumulatively from the Friday to Monday – the equivalent of travelling around earth more than 124,000 times!
And with two thirds (65 percent) of motorists expected to refuel in preparation for their Easter travels, costing an average of £70 per car, Britain will wrack up a fuel bill of over £1.2bn between Good Friday and Easter Monday.
The study of 2,000 motorists by webuyanycar found that during each journey this Easter, drivers will spend an average of 12 minutes packing up the car, six minutes returning home for something they forgot, and four minutes trying to pacify a crying child. Over the weekend, each car on the road will encounter two traffic jams, 36 minutes of static traffic, at least one toilet break, one wrong turn and we’ll doubt the satnav at least once as well.
So, it’s no surprise that 65 percent of British motorists admit they wish they didn’t have to drive anywhere over Easter.
Richard Evans, head of technical services at webuyanycar, said: “While it may not be a surprise to learn that Easter is a busy time on UK roads, it is surprising to see just how many of us will be out and about in our cars across the holiday weekend. It’s also interesting to find that 49 percent of drivers wish they had a bigger or newer car when thinking about getting everything packed and heading out over Easter and other busy times of the year.
Although we might not be able to reduce the traffic chaos on the roads this Easter, we can take the stress out of selling your old car with webuyanycar, so you can upgrade to one that makes getting out on the road a little easier.”
Over the course of the weekend there will be over 16million beeps of the horn, 36million cries of ‘are we nearly there yet’ and 27million arguments in the car.
And while 87 percent of us love to take snacks on car journeys, just 32 percent will be loading their cars with chocolate eggs over the weekend, but, of those, a shocking nine percent admit they’ll probably eat all the eggs before arriving at their destination!
The study also revealed the Easter traffic plays havoc with the nation’s timekeeping, with over three quarters (78 percent) saying they’ve been late because of it. The chaos also brings out our impatient side, with a third (33 percent) admitting to having an argument with a partner or child on the journey and nine percent confessing to getting into a row with another driver.
However, it seems the pandemonium of busy roads, traffic jams, arguments and fuel costs are worth it, with nearly a quarter (23 percent) of Brits agreeing the reward of spending quality time with family or friends make it all worthwhile, and for 29 percent of motorists, driving at Easter is ‘enjoyable chaos’.
