Tag: motoring

EDINBURGH IS HOME TO SOME OF THE UK’S MOST IMPATIENT DRIVERS

• Poll of European motorists reveals a third of Scots regularly feel angry when driving, with Edinburgh home to the third most impatient drivers in the UK
• Drivers across the UK say they are angrier, more stressed and more impatient than many of their European neighbours
• Swedish motorists say they are least likely to feel angry at the wheel, whilst Italians say they are the most likely to suffer road rage reveals Ikano Bank

Two thirds (69 per cent) of drivers in Edinburgh confess to feeling impatient when driving, while more than half (55 per cent) said they regularly feel stressed. Almost a third (30 per cent) also admit to regularly suffering from road rage, according to new research released today by Ikano Bank.

The Swedish bank commissioned the Europe wide survey to explore the differences between attitudes to driving in different nations.

Just under half (45 per cent) of Scottish drivers say they’re stressed behind the wheel and over half (57 per cent) saying they feel impatient.

The survey also covered the UK’s 14 biggest cities. Drivers in Newcastle declared themselves the angriest with four in 10 (41 per cent) drivers admitting to regularly feeling cross, followed closely by Sheffield (40 per cent) and Manchester and Cardiff (both 39 per cent) tied for third.

Liverpool led the way as the calmest driving city, with one in six (16 per cent) regularly feeling angry, followed by Bristol (27 per cent) and Nottingham (31 per cent).

Sweden topped the Europe wide table for the least angry, impatient, anxious and stressed drivers. A third of Swedish drivers (30 per cent) said they regularly got angry in the car and less than half (48 per cent) said they sometimes felt impatient. Stress levels are also lower, with half of women and just a third (37 per cent) of men affected.

This is despite Swedish drivers spending the most amount of time stuck in traffic than any other nation. Almost half (46 per cent) of Swedish drivers said they spent more than four hours in traffic jams each week and one in ten (11 per cent) said they spend more than 10 hours. This compares with just 13 per cent and one per cent respectively in the UK.

Italy’s drivers admitted to being the angriest (45 per cent), most impatient (67 per cent) and most stressed (60 per cent). The UK was second in the table with Spain in a close third.

Simon Ripton, Head of Direct to Consumer at Ikano Bank, said: “In the UK, we have long been famous for our capacity for waiting patiently in queues, but these results show that we could learn something from Sweden.

“With one in 10 Swedish people saying they sit in traffic for more than 10 hours per week, it’s obvious that they are not having an easier time of it on the roads – so it’s clearly something to do with the Swedish attitude towards driving.

“Sweden is often cited for offering an excellent work-life balance with fewer people working long hours and more of an emphasis on family life as a priority, and this could have a lot to do with the way people feel when they get behind the wheel.

“At this time of the year, when the new car registrations are released, we see an increase in applications for personal loans from those looking to buy new cars. With our Swedish heritage, we want to make things as simple as possible for our customers, hence we were interested in comparing the experience our customers are having on the roads.

“We think there’s a lot to be said for the Swedish way of life. With that in mind, we’ve launched our ‘Drive Like a Swede’ competition, where we’re giving away advanced driver courses to 100 motorists with the aim of making their experience on the road just that little bit better.”

For more details on how to enter to win one of 100 advanced driver courses with IAM Roadsmart, please visit www.ikano.co.uk/like-a-swede.

Research overview:

UK Cities

	Liverpool	Nottingham	Dundee	Sheffield	Aberdeen City	Leeds	Edinburgh
Angry	16/100	31/100	36/100	40/100	36/100	31/100	30/100
Impatient	60/100	46/100	59/100	62/100	67/100	62/100	69/100
Stressed	47/100	49/100	44/100	43/100	47/100	51/100	55/100
Anxious	35/100	47/100	39/100	35/100	31/100	37/100	30/100
Average	39.58%	43.22%	44.49%	44.64%	45.14%	45.44%	45.70%

 

	London	Birmingham	Cardiff	Greater Manchester	Bristol	Newcastle upon Tyne	Glasgow
Angry	34/100	33/100	39/100	39/100	27/100	41/100	35/100
Impatient	62/100	59/100	68/100	66/100	70/100	68/100	71/100
Stressed	50/100	56/100	52/100	52/100	61/100	59/100	64/100
Anxious	40/100	43/100	37/100	41/100	41/100	40/100	40/100
Average	46.39%	47.67%	48.81%	49.33%	50.00%	51.84%	52.60%

 

 

 

	Dundee	Edinburgh	Cardiff	Sheffield	Glasgow	Liverpool	Aberdeen
Relaxed	95/100	94/100	92/100	95/100	87/100	92/100	86/100
Happy	97/100	94/100	92/100	88/100	96/100	90/100	94/100
Average	95.76%	93.75%	92.06%	91.67%	91.56%	90.83%	90.28%

 

 

	Bristol	Greater Manchester	Leeds	London	Newcastle upon Tyne	Birmingham	Nottingham
Relaxed	88/100	87/100	85/100	86/100	87/100	80/100	80/100
Happy	89/100	89/100	91/100	87/100	81/100	82/100	81/100
Average	88.28%	88.00%	87.96%	86.11%	83.82%	81.01%	80.51%

 

 

Countries

 

	Sweden	Germany	Netherlands	France	Spain	UK	Italy	Wales	Scotland
Angry	30/100	30/100	31/100	38/100	43/100	38/100	45/100	31/100	33/100
Impatient	48/100	56/100	52/100	61/100	57/100	62/100	67/100	59/100	57/100
Stressed	43/100	46/100	35/100	43/100	51/100	50/100	60/100	45/100	45/100
Anxious	18/100	18/100	19/100	35/100	37/100	41/100	47/100	36/100	34/100
Average	35.13%	37.76%	39.06%	44.51%	47.05%	47.92%	54.53%	42.89%	42.15%