Fuel prices forcing drivers off road

Drivers are being forced out of their cars by soaring petrol prices, according to the AA.

The latest Government figures show the average number of car trips per driver has been dropping since 1997, and fell to just 960 a year in 2010.

The Department for Transport (DfT) says this is the lowest level it’s seen since the seventies. At the same time, the average number of miles driven per year has also tumbled, from a peak of 9,470 to 8,430.

But over the same period, the number of households with access to a car has increased. DfT data shows 75 per cent of Brits now have access to a car – more than ever before.

According to the AA’s fuel prices expert, Luke Bosdet, falling car use is down to one thing: record fuel prices. “Figures on car use jump out at you,” he said. “Our research has revealed that 75 per cent of motorists are cutting back on car use because of fuel prices.”

Petrol prices have almost doubled over the last decade. In 2001 a litre of petrol was 78 pence; it’s now £1.40.

And more recently, falling wholesale prices have not been passed on to customers in the UK. “Between 16 April and 7 May, petrol prices should have fallen by seven pence per litre, but the fall has been just 2.5 pence,” Bosdet explained.

He added the situation in Europe rams home the shame of fuel prices here, explaining: “Over the same period, from mid-April to 7 May, petrol prices fell nine per cent in Belgium and 8.5 per cent in Denmark. But in the UK they fell by just three per cent.”

Denmark uses a competitive pricing system where suppliers release a daily ‘list’ price each day which is the maximum price petrol can be sold at by retailers. Retailers decide by how much to undercut this, but must log their prices – which are posted online instantly for consumers to see.