Lancashire motorists warned of 'weekend of woe'
Millions of families are set embark on getaway journeys after many schools in England and Wales broke up for summer this week.
People in Lancashire are being warned to expect extremely busy roads this weekend, with what is now being dubbed the 'weekend of woe'.
The RAC estimate that 13.8 million motorists in the UK will embark on leisure trips between Friday and Sunday.
This would make it the second busiest summer getaway weekend since 2015, behind 2022 when 18.8 million hit the road amid a heatwave and after two years of coronavirus lockdowns.
Congestion could peak on Friday as commuting traffic will compete for road space with at least 3.2 million drivers making leisure journeys such as to airports, for holidays within the UK, or day trips.
A further 3.6 million and 2.9 million trips are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday respectively, with around four million more expected at some point between Friday and Sunday.
Transport analytics company Inrix warn drivers wanting to avoid the worst delays not to travel between 12pm and 5pm on Friday or Saturday, and between 11am and 1pm on Sunday.
In Lancashire, delays are likely to start on the M55 westbound from Preston to Blackpool at 1.30pm
Dee Murray is the operations manager for National Highways North West.
He's urging people to prepare before they head out on their journeys: "Do the basic checks, its great if you can get it in for a service but if not do check your tire pressures, check your oil and wiper fluid levels.
"Just spend a little bit of extra time to make sure everything is running okay on the car because it is going to be under a lot more pressure the longer the journey you do."
Dee added: "Make sure your care is prepared for the hear and make sure your radiator is topped up, just prepare for a little bit of everything.
"Give yourself a little bit more time and you'll find your journey should go a little bit easier."
It’s not just the other drivers we have to contend with, as part of an EU safety regulation mandate, new vehicles will need to have Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) systems fitted as standard and although the law does not apply in Britian, most new cars will have it.
Almost half (43%) of drivers are already familiar with ISA and many 72% believe that the technology could be effective in reducing road accidents - latest road casualty statistics show that in 2023 there were 132,063 casualties on UK roads and 1,645 people died.
While in 2019 the European Parliament agreed to mandate ISA technology to combat excessive traffic collisions and injuries on roads across the continent, the current government currently has no plans to mandate speed-limiting tech in the UK.
However, three in five of drivers would support the mandatory inclusion of ISA technology in new cars sold in the UK and 61% say they’d feel comfortable driving a car that included the tech.