Shoppers go the distance for Christmas gifts
More than 22 percent of Christmas shoppers have driven over 50 miles to get the latest ‘must have’ Christmas gift and almost one in ten have embarked on a 100 mile round trip, according to a survey by leading used car website motors.co.uk.
The survey, which polled 1015 Christmas shoppers on their festive driving habits, also revealed that 5 percent of motorists were prepared to travel up to 200 miles to track down a ‘Jetpack Buzz Lightyear’, ‘Lego City Airport’ or ‘Monopoly Revolution’ which are set to be this year’s sell-out Christmas toys.
And it wasn’t just the ‘must have’ Christmas gifts which have compelled drivers to go the extra mile. Over half (52 percent) of respondents have sat in traffic queues for more than an hour in an effort to get into town to buy their Christmas presents, with 25 percent of Christmas shoppers reporting to have spent two hours or more in traffic jams.
Despite this, one in three (36 percent) of those polled said they preferred doing their Christmas shopping on the high street as opposed to out of town shopping centres.
More than 17 percent of shoppers said Leeds was the worst city for congestion at Christmas time, followed closely by Manchester which was voted the busiest by 13 percent of respondents. London, Birmingham and Liverpool were also among the worst offenders for traffic during the festive period.
Katie Wardle, Head of Marketing at motors.co.uk, said the survey showed motorists were willing to endure very difficult driving conditions at Christmas.
“Christmas is one of the worst times of the year for traffic congestion and we wanted to find out how far drivers were willing to go for the perfect gift. The results show that motorists have come to accept traffic congestion as the norm during the festive period, with drivers enduring traffic queues for up to 2 hours to get to the shops,” she said.
Motorists were also asked what they would rather be doing other than sitting in traffic queues of Christmas shoppers. Over 36 percent said they would rather be spending time with friends and family, while 25 percent said they would prefer to be on holiday. 13 percent of those polled said they were rather be at work or at the gym.
Earlier this year motors.co.uk launched the UK’s first in-car Tai Chi guide to help drivers stay calm behind the wheel. The video guide features 10 simple exercises ideal for drivers to perform from the comfort of their car seat to help shoppers remain stress-free this Christmas.
Top Ten Worst Cities for Congestion during the festive period:
1. Leeds
2. Manchester
3. London
4. Birmingham
5. Liverpool
6. Nottingham
7. Reading
8. York
9. Bristol
10. Leicester