With the United Kingdom looking forward to coming together to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III on 6th May, preparations for weekend street parties are well underway and Retailers are expecting a ‘Mega-May’.
Using previous Royal events such as the Jubilee weekend as a benchmark, The Floow have analysed at what this might mean for safety on the UK’s roads.
Overall, we expect the roads to be quiet compared to a normal day, especially on the additional Bank Holiday Monday with perhaps as much as 20% fewer drivers on the roads, thanks mainly to a significant reduction in the morning commuting between 8-10am (as shown in the chart below). However, those who are out are generally doing fewer, but longer trips probably due to people taking advantage of the three-day weekend to visit friends and families further afield.
If the past is anything to go by, we should see a reduction of up to 30% in journeys with a larger reduction in the high-risk commuting time leading to fewer accidents due to lower exposure. In addition, the reduced traffic provides the opportunity for people to drive more smoothly, and we expect to see around a 5% improvement in our smooth driving scores as a result (as shown in the chart below). However, for every positive there can be a negative and the reduction in traffic also tends to lead to a worsening of our speed score as drivers are no longer held up by other vehicles and, perhaps inadvertently, drive too fast. Unfortunately, this increase in speed, coupled with a slight increase in the proportion of trips undertaken in the highly risky period in the very early morning, are likely to lead to a worsening of our overall score suggesting an increase in risk per mile driven.
What-ever you are doing this weekend, enjoy the festivities but try to avoid driving between midnight and 4 am and keep an eye on your speed …. I know we are ….
If you would like more information on our scores or how best to use them to drive additional value, please contact
elisabetta.pizzini@thefloow.com
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