10:18 am, November 30, 2012
UP TO three million cars are standing idle on Britain’s streets and driveways as hard-up motorists try to trim their motoring costs.
The RAC has estimated 2.9 million ‘ghost cars’ have been virtually abandoned across the country.
One in seven Britons said they were part of a household which owned a car that was only used occasionally in a survey conducted by the motoring organisation.
Unbelievably, a third of these cars are brand new, being only one or two years old. These cars are rapidly depreciating in value, sitting unused on people’s driveways.
The North East and London attracted the highest number of unused cars, with 22 per cent of people in the North East and 20 per cent of people in London leaving their cars at home to use other forms of transport.
According to the RAC, 40 per cent of car owners said that they now use their vehicles less than they did a year ago, compared to just 14 per cent who said they drove more regularly. Almost half (45 per cent) of those cutting down on their driving said that this was due to financial concerns.
With the festive season just weeks away, the RAC are now warning that trips to visit family, friends and other parts of the country could be being sacrificed just to save on fuel costs. They are calling on the Government to scrap the proposed fuel duty rise, which is due to be announced next week and come into force in January.
RAC technical director David Bizley said: ‘This research backs up our belief that reducing fuel tax would in fact help generate more revenue for the Treasury and act as a catalyst for the British economy as a whole.’
