A fifth of motorists rationing car usage due to the costs involved

According to a research carried out by the leading money saving brand in UK, only 20% of motorists use their car for a certain period within the month, the main reason being that they are not able to afford the motoring costs.

According to this research, it is quite clear that motorists in UK cannot use their vehicles any time they may want to. The research indicates that one out of every five people who own a car are only able to use their car for a specific period within the month due to their inability to afford the petrol, meaning they can’t just jump into their car when they fancy.

The study revealed that, instead, motorists regularly rely on ‘public transport’ (48%), ‘lifts’ (32%) and ‘cycling’ (23%) instead. Just 14% claimed to walk instead of using their car.

 The study, conducted by www.vouchercloud.com, polled 1,432 UK residents who all owned a car and had a full, valid driving license as part of ongoing research into personal finances and transport decisions.

 Respondents were initially asked ‘In the average month, how often do you use your car as your chief means of transport?’ and gave them a list of options to choose from, with the following results:

 –         All the time – 39%

–          The majority of the time – 28%

–          Sometimes – 22%

–          Rarely – 11%

 The study then focused on those that only used their car sometimes or less, asking, ‘What alternative methods of transport do you use when not using your own car?’ which revealed ‘public transport’ to be number one at 48%, followed by ‘getting a lift’ (32%), ‘cycling’ (23%) and ‘walking’ (14%).

 These respondents were then asked, ‘What are your reasons for not using your car all of the time?’ which revealed ‘the cost of motoring’ to be the main cause, with 62% saying that they ‘couldn’t afford’ to use their car as a constant means of transport. This therefore means that 20% of the motorists taking part in the study couldn’t afford to drive throughout the average month.

 Of these respondents, ‘the cost of fuel’ was amongst the worst offending costs when it came to driving for 54%, whilst 22% blamed the ‘high cost of insurance’ for not being able to afford the cost of motoring all of the time.

 Furthermore, of those who claimed the cost of motoring prevented them from driving their car all of the time, 71% explained that they tended to use their car in the first half of each month as it was ‘closer to payday- so finances allow it.’ Furthermore, 38% claimed that they regularly borrowed money from friends or family to be able to afford the cost of running their car.

 Respondents who said that they used public transport were questioned as to whether or not they felt that it was financially worthwhile, to which 42% admitted that ‘public transport was too expensive’. A further 54% claimed that they thought that public transport should be made ‘more affordable.’

 Matthew Wood of vouchercloud had the following comment:

 “A lot of us rely on our cars to get everywhere. If you live in a relatively rural area, public transport can often be a bit hit and miss when it comes to getting you to your destination. So, a good number of us have no choice when it comes to getting in the car.”

 He continued:

 “However, running a car isn’t cheap and the cost of fuel seems to rise inexorably, so it’s not surprising that a number of us are struggling to afford to run a car for the full month. Living in a city or a large town makes using public transport a much easier process. And if you live close enough to work, why not ride or walk in? It both saves money and provides worthwhile exercise. For those in the countryside though, it’s often the case that there’s little alternative than to depend on the car.”