Drivers in jams 'five days a year'

Britain today: Trends revealed in transport, traffic and getting away from it all

Jams are so bad that motorists spend an average of five days a year stuck in traffic, it was revealed today.

But congestion could worsen so dramatically that drivers might get caught in jams for the equivalent of a fortnight a year by 2005, the RAC and car map computer company Trafficmaster said. The two companies revealed:

More than 50 per cent of drivers experience congestion on more than half of their motorway journeys;

An estimated 1.2 billion hours are lost through congestion every year;

A ten-mile tailback can take as little as 35 minutes to build up, contains an average of 8,000 vehicles and take more than one and a half hours to clear.

The RAC and Trafficmaster are joining forces today to help motorists on "Keep Britain Moving Day". Drivers on the M25 in Hertfordshire can pull into the South Mimms services for the latest RAC and Trafficmaster congestion forecast.