Misery for Britain’s frustrated drivers

Have you ever found yourself losing your cool in commuting traffic? If so, you’ll be relieved to hear your frustrations are shared by the nation.According to Kia Motors’ Cleaner Driving Report, commuters spend more than two days a year (49.5hours) stuck in stand-still traffic on Britain’s roads with daily jams and queues blighting 71 per cent of the UK workforce. Indeed the average commuter spends 47 minutes on their journey, 12 minutes of which is spent crawling below 5mph or totally stationary.All of this mounts up to the average Brit spending 91 days of their working life grinding to a halt with the worst affected being the commuters living in Greater Manchester who are forced to use the heavily congested A556.The research also revealed that two thirds of Brits will speed to make up time; while 62 per cent grow angry when they hit queues with a third admitting to experiencing road rage in heavy traffic. Almost half admitted to only narrowly avoiding a traffic-related accident while one in five admitted to suffering a minor accident or bump on their way to work.According to Sue Mulcaster, a Kia Motors spokesperson, car manufacturers have a duty to ensure their vehicles are environmentally friendly in these conditions.“For many, driving to work is the only option – a lot of people need to use their car at work, while some live in areas where public transport just isn’t viable,” she said.“Taking this on board, car manufacturers have a duty to ensure the cars that are on the road are as environmentally responsible as possible. By investing in green technology such as Intelligent Stop and Go (ISG), where the car’s engine switches off when stationary, the environmental impact of stop-start driving in heavy traffic is reduced, with fuel consumption and emissions significantly.”

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