Driving nation vote on UK's best roads

Recent Direct Line research amongst 1,700 UK drivers reveals that over half (54 per cent) of all motorists use leisurely drives as an ideal way to relax and take time out from everyday concerns.

Close to one in three (29 per cent) motorists use driving to relax, while a further one in five (17 per cent) report lower stress levels after a leisurely drive through the countryside.

The Direct Line research also asked motorists nation-wide to vote on their favourite roads for such leisurely drives and the top five were voted as follows:

1. B3306, St Just to St Ives, Cornwall
2. A592, to Ullswater, Lake District
3. A817, Loch Lomond to Garelochhead, Scotland
4. A35, Lyndhurst to Christchurch, New Forest
5. A537, Cat and Fiddle Road from Macclesfield to Buxton, Peak District - Derbyshire

And if it's a road trip rather than just a day's outing you're after, Scotland has been voted the most picturesque region to motor around (23 per cent), followed by the Lake District (16 per cent) and Wales (11 per cent).

Destination has a lot to do with our regard for the drive - just 14 per cent of motorists enjoy the trip to work, compared to 34 per cent who enjoy the drive back home again.

But when it comes to what makes a good drive there was almost unanimous agreement that coastal routes are the best followed by roads winding through picturesque villages and drives through scenes of rural idyll.
According to behavioural psychologist Dr Guy Fielding, these motorists are on to something:

"Contrary to popular belief, driving can be very good for you. Car drivers' tend to benefit from increased self-esteem, sense of security and control over their lives, which in turn leads to increased psychological well-being.
"And increased psychological well-being, in turn, leads to better general health and happiness. In fact, studies* show that drivers tend to have better general health and less depression than people who use public transport."

Direct Line spokeswoman, Emma Holyer, said:

"Driving often gets a bad rap, but our research shows more than two thirds (67 per cent) of UK motorists like driving with one in five (17 per cent) loving it.
"In fact, motorists spend an average 7.5 hours a month driving purely for pleasure, rising to up to 20 hours for an enthusiastic one in 10 (seven per cent)."

When it comes to driving holidays, Brits are prepared to go the distance with more than one in five (22 per cent) looking to cover more than 400 miles per trip.

-ends-

Notes to Editor:

Methodology

We ran one question on an oracle survey with YouGov which went to 70,000 people. From these respondents motorists were asked to select the most picturesque road per region. There were 180 routes in total and these were selected using Signpost Guides.
A second omnibus ran amongst 2000 motorists (16/17 July) running a shortlist of the 60 picturesque roads identified by the 70,000 oracle.
This was split up per region so that motorists were asked to identify the most picturesque road per region. The favourite road voted by all motorists was the B3306, St Just to St Ives in Cornwall - all questions were asked to all motorists' so if drivers did not know certain areas they did not have to answer.
On a second question (within the second omnibus) motorists were asked to identify the most scenic place to drive around from a total of 20 areas - motorists voted for Scotland as the most scenic drive followed by the Lake District.

* Research carried out by the Medical Research Council, Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Glasgow, 2004.

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