Cars remain “vital” to families with 18m trips planned this bank holiday

Traffic now back to pre-lockdown levels, latest data shows

Cars remain “vital” to families with 18m trips planned this bank holiday
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An estimated 18m leisure trips will be taken by car this weekend, 1.8m more than last year as drivers seek to make the most of what is the last bank holiday before Christmas in most of the UK, new research from RAC Breakdown suggests.

The figures suggest a slight increase (up 1.8m) in trips compared to 2019, most likely as a result of more people returning from UK-based holidays this year.

Friday is expected to see the largest volume of cars on the road with an estimated 5.6m separate trips planned, followed by Saturday (4.7m) and bank holiday Monday itself (4.4m).

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Sunday looks a little quieter with the equivalent of 3.7m leisure journeys by car expected.

Separate RAC research conducted at the start of August suggested a total of around 45m daytrips would be taken by drivers this month, with more than a quarter of drivers (28 per cent) saying they planned on taking more daytrips than last year.

The latest research suggests a large proportion of these trips might well be being taken this coming weekend.

RAC breakdown spokesperson Rod Dennis said: “Both official government statistics and our own data from insurance customers show that weekend traffic is now back to pre-lockdown levels.

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“The numbers of people breaking down are also around where we would expect them to be for late August.

“It’s clear therefore that despite the pandemic, the car has been a vital part of making sure many people have been able to enjoy the summer safely.

Melanie Clarke, Highways England’s customer service director, said: “Safety is our priority and we know from experience that breakdowns can easily be avoided if motorists carry out simple vehicle checks before setting off over this period.”

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