Official figures show car use down 30% in second lockdown

Road use is down 30 percent in the UK's second 2020 lockdown, as travel restrictions continue to have an impact on car use and traffic.

Stay home road sign UK

Car use is around 30 percent lower on weekdays during the second lockdown. This is according to new data released by the Department for Transport.

Weekend road use is also down 40 percent since tighter measures were introduced at the beginning of the month. The restrictions will remain in place until Wednesday 2 December, when a tougher three-tiered system of local restrictions will come into force in England.

Under current measures, people living in England must stay at home and avoid travel in the UK or overseas, unless for work, education or other legally permitted reasons. There are no travel restrictions in place within Wales, but travel to England is only allowed under limited circumstances, such as for work or education. There are regional restrictions in Scotland.

Compared to the year ending June 2019, car and taxi traffic decreased by 15.2 percent to 234.1 billion vehicle miles in the year ending June 2020. Analysis shows that without the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, car traffic would have gone up by 0.7 percent.

In the same period, motorway traffic decreased by 17.3 percent to 57.9 billion vehicle miles. Meanwhile, A-road traffic decreased by 14.1 percent and minor road traffic went down by 11.1 percent.

Before the second lockdown, car journeys in Great Britain had recovered to about 80 percent to 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

‘Far more cars on the road’

August bank holiday 2019 traffic

Responding to the latest data, Greg Wilson of Quotezone, said: “It’s interesting that although traffic decreases drastically with each lockdown, this time around there are far more cars on the road – perhaps due to our understanding now around social distancing measures, which were relatively new to all of us back in March.

“Of course, school runs are likely to be a contributing factor since schools aren’t currently closed this time. But it’s also possible that the fragmented nature of the new restrictions in different parts of the country are also causing confusion, which could in turn result in some motorists making journeys that they perhaps wouldn’t have been inclined to make during the first lockdown.”

Click here to check how the latest lockdown measures have an impact on your car insurance.

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Gavin Braithwaite-Smith
Gavin Braithwaite-Smithhttp://www.petrolblog.com
Writer with a penchant for #FrenchTat. Owns 15 vehicles of varying degrees of terribleness. Also doing a passable impression of Cousin Eddie in an Italian-German beige motorhome. Doesn't get out much.

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