Drivers spend 32 hours a year stuck in traffic

BRITAIN gridlockedwith drivers is countries spendingone of theon 32 Earth hoursmost a fic year jams, on a averagereport revealsstuck in today. traf

And the time spent going nowhere costs the economy an estimated £30billion a year.

The UK is ranked as the third most congested country in Europe – after Russia and Turkey – and the 11th most gridlocked overall. Motorists in London are hit the hardest, spending 73 hours in jams, accounting for an eighth of their total driving time.

The capital is the second most congestedand is city the in seventhEurope after most Moscow, gridlockedAveragethe accordingcity speeds centre cityto droptheat on peakthe reportto 4mph planet. times, byin traffic data specialists INRIX.

Our most congested road is the A406 Northbound from Chiswick Roundabout to Hanger Lane. London accounts for six of the ten most jammed roads in Britain.

INRIX monitors traffic flows globally and provides real-time information for millions of car sat-navs across the world. Its ‘Traffic Scorecard’ analysed traffic flows across 87 cities and large urban areas in the UK, 628 in Europe, and a total of 1,064 cities across 38 countries worldwide. Los Angeles was the world’s most gridlocked city, while Thailand was named the most congested country. Manchester, Aberdeen, Birmingham and Edinburgh were the other most congested UK cities. Drivers in Manchester spent 39 hours and nearly 10 per cent of their driving time in gridlock, while Aberdeen was the most congested Scottish city with drivers wasting 35 hours in jams last year.

Surprisingly, Guildford in Surrey took sixth place with motorists stuck in traffic for 29 hours last year.

Making up the rest of the UK’s top ten traffic jam hot- spots were Luton with 29 hours and Bournemouth, Hull and Bristol all on 27 hours.

Graham Cookson, chief economist at INRIX said: ‘The cost of this congestion is staggering, stripping the economy of billions, impacting businesses and costing consumers dearly.

‘Despite Brexit, 2016 saw the UK economy remaining stable, fuel prices staying low and employment growing to an 11year high, all of which incentivises road travel.’