Four years lost to car commute
New research by OSV, an independent vehicle supply professional, has revealed that motorists are now spending approximately four years of their life in their car commuting to work.
A further finding from the research shows how workers without an allocated business parking space have to add an additional 20 minutes to their commute time daily, simply to find a place to park. That’s the equivalent of two full days a year, or 110 days throughout the average career.
Fifteen per cent of these drivers admitted to parking in residential streets around their workplaces. Of those who admitted to parking where they ‘strictly speaking shouldn’t’, nearly a fifth (19%) had received parking fines in the region of £50-100 in the last 12 months, while more than a third (37%) said that they had received abuse or been on the receiving end of negative behaviour from residents who had returned home only to find that their own parking space had been filled by a commuter.
OSV joint-company director, Andrew Kirkley, commented, ‘There are very few people who don’t have to commute to work, and few of us object to doing it, but it’s depressing how much time is wasted due to delays, both on the road and finding a place to park.
‘The annual hours lost thanks to common road delays really add up, resulting in 34 hours spent stuck in traffic every year. What an incredible waste of time. I’d like to think that the Government is looking into ways of resolving the situation.’
