11% of us forget the presents - the facts about festive journeys

This year, Britain’s population will travel over 5.9 billion miles at Christmas. That’s according to new research by webuyanycar.com, which carried out its own survey about our Christmas commutes. The company used the data to make some pretty interesting insights into how we spend our time on the roads at Christmas, so if you're thinking about taking advantage of our car hire or flexi hire services over the festive period, you might be able to relate to some of the below! For example, here’s what they found out about… 

The distance we travel

The Christmas drive has become such an integral part of our annual festivities, but it can be easy to forget that wasn’t always the case. Back in 1952 - well within living memory for lots of people - less than 30% of the distance travelled in Britain was done by car, van or taxi. However, as the population got richer and cars became cheaper, more and more of us started to rely on our vehicles as our means to see the family at Christmas. 

By the late 1980s, that 30% figure has risen to 85%, and stayed more or less constant until then. That means now, each UK family will spend, on average, 11 hours on the roads this Christmas. That's one and a half working days! We’ll be travelling around 300 miles to have three separate Christmas dinners - in case you're keeping track, that's just under the distance from London to Edinburgh. Make sure you’ve got more than one Christmas playlist!

The family we go to see

As we touched on above, we’ll spend all that time travelling to fit in as many family members as possible, which means we’ll have about two or three separate meals this Christmas. The research says they won’t all be smooth sailing, either - on average we’ll have at least two family arguments. (No details on how explosive these will be.) 

However, take heart - 90% of us say that seeing family is vital at this time of year, so apparently the vast majority of us are willing to take it on the chin. And let’s be honest - most of us are happy to endure the occasional bit of passive-aggressiveness for the chance at a few pigs in blankets. 

Our top 5 festive fears

The survey also uncovered the top worries preying on our minds in the Christmas season, too. Perhaps unsurprisingly, icy roads topped the list, closely followed by the fear of being late due to traffic. (And with the roads being what they are during the festive season, it's no wonder!) The worry of getting stuck in a snowdrift appears to be another major feature, but since we only rarely get a white Christmas here in the UK, you could argue that's one of the less rational! 

Here's the full breakdown:

1. Icy roads (70%)
2. Traffic (33%)
3. Breaking down (24%)
4. Snowdrifts (18)
5. Forgetting something (17%)

That last one is particularly understandable - forgetting something important is annoying at the best of times, but with the long journey times involved at Christmas, a slip of the mind can be particularly problematic. Apparently it has some grounding, too - the same research says 11% of us will forget some or all of the presents!

Here at Intack Self Drive, unfortunately we can't help with forgotten presents - but we can provide a wide range of vans and cars for daily or weekly hire! Alternatively, if you need a car to tide you over throughout the entire festive period, you can choose a vehicle from our flexi hire service, which allows you to enjoy all the benefits of long term hire at reduced prices! If you've got any further questions, our team are only too happy to help - feel free to give us a call on 01254 57811, and we'll see what we can do!