Parents and pensioners denied priority lane passage

Priority lanes have been given the green light by 93 per cent of UK motorists according to the latest survey by motors.co.uk, but parents and pensioners have been banned from using them!

The used car website polled 1,023 UK motorists to canvass their views, following the announcement that London is to get a network of dedicated traffic lanes for the sole use of Olympic athletes and officials in the lead up to 2012.

Car owners showed their compassionate side when asked about who should be able to use them and a massive 91 per cent named the emergency services. Over half (52.2 per cent) voted for breakdown vehicles and 43 per cent opted for congestion crushing car sharers.

Parents on the school run were named by almost three quarters (73 per cent) of motorists as the least deserving to use priority lanes. Caravans were put on the hard shoulder by two thirds (70 per cent) closely followed by OAP’s who were not considered VIP’s by almost half (45 per cent) and the royal family were denied the right to priority passage by 8.7 per cent.

When quizzed about their own use of priority lanes, a crafty quarter (26 per cent) admitted to having used them when they shouldn’t have to avoid sitting in jams, with almost half (47.8 per cent) saying they would consider paying to use priority lanes if the price was right.

Katie Armitage, Marketing Manager for motors.co.uk said: “When conducting our poll we found UK motorists were outspoken in their support of measures to reduce congestion including priority lanes, but were especially opinionated when it came down to who should and shouldn’t be allowed to use them. Even though the cost of motoring has increased during the credit crunch, it was interesting to see that almost half of those polled would be prepared to pay to use one if it would make a difference to the volume of traffic on the roads. It is also great to see that we are becoming more conscious of our carbon footprint with 1 in 4 supporting car share schemes.”

The results also found that when asked about additional traffic taming methods they would support to beat congestion, almost half (47.8 per cent) of all drivers would like to see increased investment in public transport and car share schemes were hailed by 1 in 4 people (26 per cent).