91 Days in a Traffic Jam

New Kia research shows that the average driver spends up to 91 days in traffic over a lifetime.

The South Korean car manufacturer, Kia, has been busy doing some research and has calculated that over the average persons lifetime we spend up to 91 days sat in traffic.

The figure comes from some basic assumptions they calculated. The average journey to work is 47 minutes, but 12 of those are spent either completely stationary or crawling at up to 5mph.

This also has a worrying effect on the rest of our driving habits as well as two-thirds admit to speeding to make up for time lost in traffic queues once the jam clears, and one third claim to have experienced 'road rage' in heavy traffic.

The research comes as Kia try to promote the benefits of the start-stop engine technology. Using the technology these 91 days of idle engine running would be eliminated and massively save on carbon emissions.

Kia claims fuel savings of up to 15 percent in city driving with its ISG system, and is one of a few makers with start-stop on the market already including the initial champions of the cause, BMW.

E. Dooley

11/11/2009