UK drivers suffer ‘green guilt’

Despite a heightened awareness of the green agenda in recent months, three-quarters of drivers climb behind the wheel every single day. But according to research from Prudential Car Insurance, this is beginning to play on our conscience with one-in-five admitting they feel guilty about driving in cities because of the potential environmental damage.

The younger generation of 18-24 year olds (14 per cent) is far less bothered about their urban driving habits compared to 35-44 year olds (22 per cent). Also, more men (20 per cent) are wracked with guilt than women (18 per cent). But if we feel this bad about it – why are we still driving each and every day?

Prudential’s survey reveals that six-in-ten drivers (57 per cent) reluctantly view driving in the city as a necessary evil, despite having access to a plethora of public transport links. According to drivers, the dependability of public transport is at the heart of the problem, as over half (51 per cent) of drivers think their own vehicle is more reliable to get from A to B.

Furthermore, not content with just one car, around 3.5 million drivers admit to owning more than three cars, thereby dramatically increasing their carbon footprint.

Phil Southgate, spokesperson at Prudential Car Insurance says: “The issue of carbon emissions and global warming has been hard to miss in recent months so it is somewhat surprising that the younger drivers are among the least concerned about the environment.

Although our research has shown that one in five (19 per cent) enjoy driving in our cities, it seems that many Brits have lost faith in our public transport system and prefer to use their cars, believing that is a far more reliable form of transport – so much so that 57% count their car as a necessity.”

Further research reveals that where you live can affect your green conscience:

Those living in the southeast (21 per cent) more likely to feel guilty about driving in the city than their northern counterparts in Scotland (17 per cent) and northern England (19 per cent).

Those living in Wales and the southwest (15 per cent) are the least likely to worry about the affects of their car fumes on the environment.

However, driving in the cities is not everyone’s idea of fun as 47 per cent of drivers say they actually don’t enjoy city driving and 18 per cent go as far as to say they deliberately avoid driving in the city.