Road traffic levels are still on the rise in the UK, with a new study finding that commuter numbers are contributing heavily towards rising numbers.
In fact, 40% of drivers say that they have no other option other than to commute by car other vehicle, with public transport or walking not being a viable alternative for them.
That’s despite key objectives for the government to encourage more people to use public transport.
But the reality is that for many who don’t work in city centres, the door-to-door journey is either impossible or would simply take too long to make it realistic on a day-to-day basis.
How Do Rising Traffic Levels Affect Road Safety?
It might seem an obvious thing to say that as traffic density increases, the likelihood of a collision or incident also increases.
With more and more people becoming dependent on vehicles as their main mode of transport, resulting in more journeys being taken every week, traffic levels on motorways, A-roads and even local roads are increasing all the time.
And the more people on the road, the bigger risk it is towards the safety of your drivers and of other road users.
Data gathered by Satellite Navigation companies has found that average congestion levels rose by 9% in 2024, with almost every major city in the UK seeing an increase in traffic levels.
That impacts route planning and poses a safety risk to all fleets – and London has officially been crowned the ‘slowest’ city in Europe, too.
Traffic levels have risen every year except for 2020 and 2021, during the pandemic, and the rate of incidents on the road is also increasing.
Because at the same time as traffic levels are increasing, speeding offences and other motoring offences are also reaching record levels.
Offences include the use of handheld devices while driving, which have risen by one-third, while a record number of speeding fines have been dished out, according to the Home Office.
Staying Safe On The Road
Mitigating risk is something we all want to do as drivers and when you’re looking after an entire fleet, that is heightened.
It’s something we can help with, both in mitigating risk for your vehicles (through Fleet Monitor which you can find out more about here) and through Driving Monitor, to ensure you’ve got full oversight on everything from licence checks to training monitor, telematics integration and even accident monitor.]
It’s unlikely that we’ll see a reduction in road users in the near future despite the challenges we all face, such as moving to EVs and coping with new clean air zones across the country.
Which means road safety is a constantly evolving challenge as authorities look to use technology to improve the situation over the next few years.
Do you think more needs to be done to improve road safety as traffic levels continue to increase? Let us know in the comments below…
