Three-quarters of drivers expected to travel under 50 miles this bank holiday – survey

Many drivers are expected to remain close to home this bank holiday weekend, avoiding the usually busy traffic.

A new survey of 11,235 people conducted by the AA found that while over 14 million drivers are expected to be travelling on the busiest day of the long weekend – Friday, August 23 – three-quarters of those heading out on the roads will be travelling under 50 miles, with only just over 10 per cent expected to get behind the wheel for up to 100 miles.

The quietest day, meanwhile, is predicted to be Sunday, though still over a third of drivers will be out on the roads.

However, a third of drivers don’t expect to travel on any of the days across the bank holiday weekend. Of those that are planning to head out on to the roads, just seven per cent are thinking of travelling to the coast while just under 10 per cent will be enjoying a long weekend away from home.

AA’s study also found that a petrol station on one of the UK’s busiest holiday roads – the A303 near Stonehenge – will be offering fuel for less than 140p a litre – the first time that this has happened this summer. Data supplied to the Competition and Markets Authority shows that petrol at the Solstice service area is selling petrol for 40p less than at most motorway service stations at 138.7p per litre.

Between July 16 and August 19, the average UK pump prices have fallen from 145p and 150p for a litre of petrol and diesel respectively to 142p and 147p respectively.