|
By accessing/using The Crittenden Automotive Library/CarsAndRacingStuff.com, you signify your agreement with the Terms of Use on our Legal Information page. Our Privacy Policy is also available there. |
The Waning Joy Of Driving
|
|---|
|
|
The Waning Joy Of Driving
Geoff Maxted
DriveWrite
December 18, 2013
As someone who has just spent an exhilarating and slightly hair-raising week with a Jaguar XFR, I don’t count myself amongst those who are fed up with the whole business of motoring. A third of drivers simply don't enjoy driving anymore, at least according to the latest survey. It seems that the main reason given - according to fifty-one percent of those surveyed - for not enjoying driving on our roads was the cost of fuel.
This was closely followed by congestion which blighted the lives of forty-one percent. Others felt that they were no longer excited by driving (which could be as a result of all the technology added to cars making them safer but, for the most part, dull)or simply did not have enough leisure time, (25.9%).
Still, there is a brighter side. Overall thirty-nine percent of those who responded still consider driving and riding for fun as their hobby and one third of respondents still like to go out for a spin.
Fifty-three per cent of respondents think that, compared with other road users, they are good drivers, with just over forty-five per cent responding that they are very good. How very honest. We always though that everybody believed it was other people who always drove badly.
Yet more facts were revealed. Seventy-eight percent would usually drive when out with their partner yet half of respondents don't always feel relaxed when their partner is in the passenger seat. There are several comments that could be made here but in the interests of fairness and a quiet life, DriveWrite will hold his peace.
It seems that other road users are the problem with over sixty per cent of respondents stating that it's the behaviour of other drivers on the road that makes them feel the most nervous. This was followed by bad weather conditions and driving near to heavy goods vehicles.
It’s all very gloomy but remember this. Sometimes, once in a while, we all find a piece of open road and can for a while at least recover some of the joys of motoring. The best of our countryside is still the best in the world so the next time someone says ‘let’s go for a drive’, just do it.
