Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on July 8, 2011
Soaring Costs Forcing UK Drivers Off Road
Some 1.3 million people have been driven off the UK’s roads this year as a result of rising motoring costs, according to new research.
The staggering figure, released by Sainsbury’s Car Insurance, suggests one in 30 drivers have given up their cars over the past 12 months.
The report found the average car owner is now spending around £1,720 annually to fuel their vehicle – a rise of almost 23% year-on-year.
It says three quarters of motorists have changed their driving habits in the last 12 months to accomodate the rise in bills, including 30% increases in insurance premiums.
Sainsbury’s puts the average cost of running a car annually at over £3,000 – a rise of 21% on a year ago.
The UK has 31 million registered licence holders with 27 million cars, according to the AA.
The motoring organisation believes the claim that there are now 1.3 million fewer cars on the roads is “unlikely” but it agrees with the findings that the vast majority of drivers have cut their costs.
AA President Edmund King said: “Although the AA figures broadly support the level of fuel-price hardship illustrated by this new survey, it is unlikely that one in 30 drivers no longer get behind the wheel.
“That in itself would be a growing disaster for retailers who rely on their customers to go to out-of-town superstores.”
In the study, 26% admitted not filling their petrol tanks while 45% were driving less often.
10% – that is 3.5 million people – had downgraded their car for one that is cheaper to run.
The squeeze on consumers – a result of rising inflation – is mainly down to higher oil prices feeding into the wider economy at a time of slower wage growth.
The average cost of petrol has fallen back from record highs earlier this year but the latest figures from Experian Catalist suggest unleaded currently stands at 133.68p a litre while diesel costs 137.59p.
Mr King said: “Clearly, petrol costing more than 130p a litre is more than a significant number of drivers can afford, but modern society depends on a high level of mobility.
“With alternative transport either being cut back or becoming more expensive, the AA thinks most drivers will hold on to their cars.”
He continued: “They may leave the more thirsty car in the garage or at the top of the drive, but families cling on to the hope that somehow things will get better.”
7 Comments on "Soaring Costs Forcing UK Drivers Off Road"
DC on Fri, 8th Jul 2011 7:24 pm
Good news, hopefully well see more of this in North America. It would be a great to see several million cars taken off the road here, but it will probably take several more ‘recessions’, or for the current one to just keep chugging along for a few more years..or decades. The writer above clearly does not understand the problem of car-dependency at all. Thats why he considers it vaguely tragic that people in the UK are finding it harder to get to out of town big-box stores in there polluting gas-powered trash-boxes. Really? I consider that a step forward. This is not to suggest the move to a car-less local economies will be smooth easy or seamless, it wont be. Global MNCs did a very through job of destroying local economies and skills-sets, but we have to start somewhere. And the quickest way to do this is make car-ownership prohbitively expensive. Only then will people(slowly) wake up from there suburban slumbers and realize theyve been sold a mirage.
Plantagenet on Fri, 8th Jul 2011 9:16 pm
High energy prices result in car ownership becoming more expensive AND it acts as a drag on the economy so most people become progressively poorer.
Anvil on Fri, 8th Jul 2011 9:26 pm
Or just one big depression which is more likely as the Fed has run out of cheap tricks to bail out the economy.
Let face it the world is all stimulated out.
DC on Fri, 8th Jul 2011 11:06 pm
Actually, car ownership is a net economic burden on pretty much everyone. Even if you rich and can ‘afford’ the costs easily, everyone rich and poor alike pays the costs of car-dependancey in myrida ways. Some obvious, some not. And all are in the negative. We dug ourselves, or GM and Chevron and there friends dug us into the car-dependency hole. Our challenge now, is to dig our way again, and create a new car-less economy. That is both our burden and challenge going foward.
Simon on Fri, 8th Jul 2011 11:11 pm
The private automobile has done more to destroy human society than anything since the plagues of the Middle Ages. Good riddance.
Harquebus on Sat, 9th Jul 2011 3:37 am
@DC. Not “several more ‘recessions’”, just one long one.
Kenz300 on Sat, 9th Jul 2011 6:21 pm
Unless your lucky enough to be part of the top 2% whose wealth has grown substantially in the past decade most people live on modest budgets. If you live paycheck to paycheck a rise in energy costs reduces the amount left over for other necessary items like food, shelter and clothing. The auto has been made into a necessity by the creation of suburbs and the long commutes to work or school. The lack of public transportation leaves few options for those outside the city. The high cost of vehicle ownership will result in changes to where we live, how we get to work, and what we drive. Public transportation has a long way to go before it becomes an option for most people. To get rid of your car you need options that are feasible. Walking, bicycling or public transportation is not an option for everyone. Will public transportation become a priority for governments?