Watch out! Some North West traffic out to get you
Someone squirreled away deep in the bowels of the RAC Foundation has put their anorak on and analysed how healthy it is to commute in the UK.
Using regional statistics from the Department for Transport and DEFRA the study discovered that seventy-one percent of UK workers commute by car. Dividing the UK into regions and ranking each by travel times, collision rates and CO2 levels, the study concluded that the worst travel region for overall commuter health is the North West of England.
Unsurprisingly London has the highest travel times and CO2 levels, but the North West takes top spot because it has the highest casualty rate as well as above average travel times and CO2 levels. If you’re after an easy life, the North East poses is the least hazardous commute, followed by the East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside.
The study also discovered that the average commuter will travel two and a half times around the world during the course of their working life, and that while the average commuter travels for 54 minutes a day, one in ten commuters have a daily journey in excess of 2 hours. Three percent of UK workers are “extreme commuters”, travelling at least 3 hours every day.