When your on your way to an important job, the last thing you want is to be stuck at the back of a traffic jam.
As you sit in your van (hand picked from Aspland’s wide range of quality used vans and light vehicles), you may wonder why this frustrated feeling is so familiar. The answer? You’re on the M25, officially the slowest motorway in the UK.
According to a report by Satrak, a vehicle tracking company, the London motorway clocked up an (un)impressive average speed of just 25.05 miles per hour in 2016. That’s equal to the fastest recorded speed of a Bearded dragon! The M4, located between London and South Wales, fared little better. Coming in second place, it managed a measly average speed of just 30.46 miles per hour.
“But of course these are the busiest roads,” we here you cry. “It’s London!”
Well, you may be surprised by the rest of the data. Of the top five slowest motorways, three of the most congested were actually located further north. In West Yorkshire, the M606 averaged just 40.68mph, while drivers in Leeds found themselves trundling along the M621 with an average speed of 42.35mph. Rounding up the top five, the award for the slowest motorway in Scotland went to the M73. The motorway between Glasgow and North Lanarkshire clocked up an average speed of just 43.71mph.
In fact, Satrak concluded that it’s actually Cambridge that has the slowest city traffic in the UK, not London. With average speeds of 13.73mph, it seems to be quicker to go by bike. Indeed, in figures obtained in 2013, 47% of Cambridge adults cycle every week. Phew!
Wondering where Norwich factors into all of this?
Well, it is officially the seventh slowest city in the UK, reaching an average driving speed of just 16mph. This may be due to the increase in vehicles in Norfolk and Suffolk: there are currently 400,000 more cars on our roads than in the year 2000!
Finally, Aspland thought you might be interested how many hours (on average) you spend sitting in traffic a year. According to traffic analysts Inrix, the average UK driver spends an incredible 32 hours a year stuck in traffic! And while that sounds bad, the UK is only the eleventh worst country for traffic. In first place is poor Thailand, clocking up an incredible 72 hours sitting in traffic. That’s three days!
So, no matter where you go, you’re probably going to get stuck in some sort of jam.
That’s why you should make sure the vehicle your stuck in is of the highest comfort to make your journey a little less stressful. Aspland has a wide range of vans for sale that you can choose from. From vans to 4x4s to minibuses, we are sure you will find a vehicle to satifsy your needs. Give us a call on 01603 787811 or email norwich@asplandvancentre.com to find out more.
