Highways England is promising to keep 97 percent of its road network free of roadworks during the forthcoming Bank Holiday weekend.
More than 480 miles of roadworks will be lifted or completed on motorways and A-roads, as motorists head home on the last Bank Holiday before Christmas.
“We’re doing everything we can to make journeys as smooth as possible and that’s why we’re keeping 97 percent of the road network we manage free from roadworks,” said Melanie Clarke, Highways England’s customer services director.
“Safety is our top priority and we know from experience that almost half of breakdowns can easily be avoided if motorists carry out simple vehicle checks before setting off over this period.”
Highways England has produced a guide to carrying out safety checks on your vehicle, so there’s no excuse for leaving home without giving your car the once over.
The guide covers six key areas: oil, lights, tyre pressures, water, tyre tread and fuel.
‘Breakdowns still too common’
Richard Leonard, head of road safety at Highways England, said: “Breakdowns are still too common. We’d urge motorists to check their vehicles on a regular basis.”
Former F1 champion Nigel Mansell is a strong advocate of checking your vehicle before a long trip. He said: “It should be a weekly task for the driver to make sure all lights are working on his or her car, all glass areas are clean, wipers clear the windscreen properly, tyres at least meet legal requirements and water and oil levels are topped up.
At the start of the summer, Highways England said it was expecting to respond to an extra 700 breakdowns a week over the holiday period, taking the average number of motorway breakdowns each week to almost 5,000.
Motorists are warned to expect delays on roads in and around the nation’s tourist hotspots, with the A30 and M5 out of Devon and Cornwall likely to be busy, along with the A303, M25, M6, M40 and M1.
For the latest traffic and travel information, use the AA Traffic News website or tune into your local radio station.