Christmas drives women to distraction
A festive driving poll by Sheilas' Wheels, the car insurer designed for the female driver, reveals that women drive 2.5 billion miles during the month of December doing Christmas tasks, with the average woman clocking up 203 miles preparing for the festivities, visiting family, and getting to and from the multitude of Christmas parties1.
Christmas driving poll
|
Festive motoring activity |
Average mileage per female driver |
Percentage of festive miles |
Total mileage for all female drivers in the UK2 (million) |
|
|
1. |
Driving to visit family |
51 |
25% |
636 |
|
2. |
Driving to visit friends |
32 |
16% |
401 |
|
3. |
Buying Christmas presents |
27 |
13% |
335 |
|
4. |
Driving to Christmas do's |
18 |
9% |
229 |
|
5. |
Going sales shopping |
17 |
9% |
219 |
|
6. |
Driving kids around |
14 |
7% |
176 |
|
7. |
Buying Christmas food |
14 |
7% |
171 |
|
8. |
Taking your partner to/from their office Christmas party |
13 |
6% |
158 |
|
9. |
Going to church |
9 |
4% |
117 |
|
10. |
Picking up a Christmas tree |
9 |
4% |
110 |
|
Total festive mileage |
203 |
2.5 billion |
Over a quarter (29%) of all the festive miles are racked up on Christmas shopping trips, suggesting that online shopping still has a way to go, but the bulk (41%) are spent on visits to friends and family, with the associated time spent on the road due to festive traffic congestion.
Financially these Christmas miles puts an even greater strain on the festive purse strings with Christmas parking and petrol costing the average woman nearly £30 on top of her normal December bills. British women spend over £207 million filling up their cars to cover festive mileage3 and on top of that £148 million is spent on Christmas car park charges to pick up presents or festive food4.
The cost of women's Christmas driving is not only financial. The environmental impact of women's festive miles is 904000 tonnes of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere5.
A third of women (32%) admit to driving more than their partner at Christmas time with one in 12 saying they always argue with their partner about who should drive.
Jacky Brown, spokeswoman for Sheilas' Wheels said: "Christmas is known as being one of the most stressful times of the year, this is especially true for women as they spend more time behind the wheel rushing round to catch up with friends and family as well as tackling last-minute Christmas errands.
"Women need to keep calm and alert on the road at this very busy time to reduce the likelihood of having an accident. We would urge women to stay safer on the roads by avoiding alcohol entirely when getting behind the wheel, never driving when tired, and where possible share the driving with a partner, friend or relative to reduce the burden."
Editor's Note:
1. All research quoted is based on an ICM Poll involving the interview of a random selection of 1067 women drivers aged 18+, by telephone between the 29th November and 3rd December 2006.
2. There are 12597000 female drivers in the UK, based on the 2001 Census and the National Readership Survey 2005.
3. Petrol costs were based on filling up the most popular car insured by Sheilas' Wheels in 2006: a Fiat Punto, 1245cc. Details of the Fiat's fuel consumption were found on www.fiat.co.uk and the average petrol price was found on www.speedlimit.org.uk/petrolprices.html
Petrol cost for an average woman to drive 203 miles was £16.50 at 88.9 pence per litre: img.thisismoney.co.uk/calculators/calcPetrol.html
4. Christmas parking costs the average woman £11.71. This was multiplied by the female driving population ( 12597000)
5. Carbon emissions were calculated using the average woman's total Christmas mileage (203 miles) on: http://www.nef.org.uk/energyadvice/co2calculator.htm
The figure was then multiplied by the female driving population ( 12597000) and 918684094 kgs of CO2 was converted into tonnes on www.allconversions.com
Press contacts:
Laura Parsons, Communications Officer, Sheilas' Wheels: 01737 641304
(laura.parsons@esure.com)
Niki Bolton, Corporate Communications Manager, Sheilas' Wheels: 01737 235070
(niki.bolton@esure.com)
Asia Manzoor, Communications Officer, Sheilas' Wheels: 01737 641305
(asia.manzoor@esure.com)
