Partners are best buds for romantic road trippers
Romance takes precedence over racy conversation in the car, with British preferring partners to racing drivers, comedians and politicians as their ideal summer road trip companion, according to new research.
The Euro-wide survey from Bridgestone Europe polled 3,000 people across the Continent and found that 50 per cent of us would choose to go on a road trip with our loved one over Lewis Hamilton, Russell Brand or Boris Johnson.
Despite being hesitant to replace partners with high profile personalities as their car share companions, Brits do prove to be adventurous in other ways. Exploring new places is what we most look forward to about going on a long journey, with the ultimate European road trip being between Barcelona and Monaco, although most of you would prefer a road trip outside Europe. The feeling of freedom, and spending time with friends and family, were also rated highly as the best benefits of hitting the road this summer.
But Europeans are also conscious of the flip side of a summer driving adventure, with other people’s dangerous driving being cited as the one thing people dread most. Here in Britain though, drivers are more concerned about long delays, with almost 60 per cent expressing concern about being stuck in traffic.
Andy Dingley, Communications Manager for Bridgestone North Region, said: “This poll has thrown up some really interesting and sometimes funny results to support our ‘Everywhere’ campaign, which taps into the urge we all have to go in search of new experiences. We were pleased to see from the survey that drivers are pretty good at preparing their road trips, as the top three items on their holiday checklist are filling up their tank, checking their tyre pressure and their oil levels.”
Poor tyre maintenance is likely to end up costing more money over time. Underinflated tyres not only wear out faster but are also responsible for an estimated 3.9 billion liters of wasted fuel and 9.2 million tons of unnecessary CO2 emissions per year. Which means increased cost for drivers and society as a whole. Bridgestone therefore urges motorists to check their tyres regularly, maintain correct inflation pressure and replace worn or damaged tyres before they become a problem.
Having a spare tyre on board was also rated to be very important to road users, although a phone was deemed to be the most vital object to have in the car along with Satellite Navigation. The majority of us think the best way to keep our passengers entertained is by playing a great selection of music, with the most popular road trip track being U2’s Beautiful Day. However 75 per cent of Germans would ditch the sound system in favour of a chat with their driving buddy, while more than half of the French, Polish, Spaniards and Italians surveyed also enjoy a good gossip in the car!
People are encouraged to interact with Bridgestone’s ‘Everywhere’ campaign to be in with a chance of winning some once in a lifetime prizes which include a meet and greet with 7-times MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi, and a road trip across Europe in an iconic VW campervan.
Entry is via beeneverywhere.eu where viewers can watch an engaging and inspiring movie about a man who quits his day job to explore the world.
For more information about Bridgestone Europe please visit bridgestone.eu, bridgestonenewsroom.eu or find them on Facebook and Twitter.
The ‘Everywhere’ survey was conducted for Bridgestone Europe by OnePoll from 25-27th June 2013. It involved 3,000 people who regularly drive long distances – 500 each from France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain and the UK.