Brits are Europe's biggest car lovers say Europcar

While a great effort is made on getting people in the UK out of their cars it would appear that, for the majority of Brits at least, they just love having their car too much. According to a new study by Europcar, 73 per cent love having their own car.

In the annual Europcar Observatory, an independent survey covering seven countries in Europe and more than 5000 drivers, this compares to 60 per cent in the rest of Europe. And when pushed to consider giving up a household car, 67 per cent said they just couldn’t do without their car compared to 61 per cent in Europe.

However it’s not all doom and gloom because due to the cost of owning a car 65 per cent are driving less and switching to other transport or walking for short journeys, and 63 per cent have changed the way they drive to conserve fuel while a third have opted to car share.

But when it comes to alternatives to using the car it would appear that two legs are better than two wheels. Around 95 per cent of Brits would walk more if they gave up their cars, where as just half would consider cycling, compared to two thirds of Europeans.

Catriona Lougher, marketing director for Europcar, said: “There’s no doubt that with the current transport infrastructure in the UK combined with a deeply ingrained mindset towards car ownership, parting the British motorist from their motor is no mean feat.”

In another victory for the car, but possibly not for the planet, energy saving campaigners Future Foundation, on behalf of Energy Saving Trust, recently released research showing that two-thirds of the UK population who travel just one or two miles every day choose to use their cars rather than walking, cycling or taking the bus.