Drivers in a tangle over Spaghetti Junction

Press release 27 November 2009

Birmingham's 'Spaghetti Junction' has been voted Britain's most intimidating road junction, according to motorists.

Road rescue company Britannia Rescue asked drivers to vote on the UK's most hair-raising intersections[1] and Spaghetti Junction was revealed as the most intimidating, followed by the M8 junctions 13-21 through Glasgow. London's Marble Arch, Swindon's 'Magic Roundabout' and the Hanger Lane gyratory system complete the top five.

The Britannia Rescue research revealed that one in twelve motorists (8%) avoid scary junctions, driving on average an extra 238 miles a year on detours to avoid having to use them. Some particularly nervous motorists (2%) even admitted to avoiding taking right turns at all costs, because they are so concerned about their safety.

Large cities came under fire generally from anxious drivers, with one in seven (14%) saying they avoided urban driving altogether. The complex road systems in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds were labelled by motorists as particularly difficult to navigate.

Drivers also identified specific features of urban roads which are confusing and have a negative impact on their driving. Large roundabouts are considered the most problematic (by 30% of drivers), followed by one way systems (14%), speed humps (11%), cameras (9%) and box junctions (7%).

The Britannia Rescue findings show that one in five motorists (21%) are more concerned about breaking down at an intersection than in any other driving situation. These drivers may have a point as almost six out of ten accidents[2] take place at junctions, often leading to traffic jams and delays.

When asked about their views of driving in the UK, a quarter of motorists (25%) said they thought many road junctions were badly designed. Two out of five drivers (40%) said that although they believed they were capable drivers themselves, the driving habits of other motorists at complex junctions left them worried for their own safety.

Simon Stevens, general manager of Britannia Rescue, said:
"All drivers have to deal with particularly hairy intersections from time to time. But what this research shows is that badly designed and confusing junctions are spoiling the driving experience for many motorists. Some will even drive hundreds of miles out of their way every year to avoid difficult junctions. We urge motorists to familiarise themselves with tricky road junctions so that they are better prepared when they have to use one - and we also warn all drivers to protect themselves with road rescue cover in case they should break down."

Britannia Rescue

Britannia Rescue is the UK's fourth largest road rescue organisation and is part of the LV= group of companies. Britannia Rescue's network has over 3,000 breakdown professionals nationwide and average response time is under 40 minutes. The company has been awarded a Which? Best Buy and offers breakdown assistance throughout the UK and Europe. The company has just been named top provider of road rescue in the Auto Express Driver Power Survey for 2009.

LV=

LV= employs more than 3,800 people, serves more than 3.6 million customers and members, and manages around £7bn on their behalf. We are also the UK's largest friendly society (Association of Friendly Societies Yearbook 2006/2007, total net assets) and a leading mutual financial services provider.

About the research

All research unless otherwise stated carried about by Opinium Research. The research was undertaken through an online poll of 3,225 British Drivers from 5th -10th November 2009. Results have been weighted to be nationally representative.

[1] 2,008 drivers were asked to nominate the most intimidating road junctions in the UK. All responses which appeared more than once were included in a shortlist put together by Britannia Rescue. 3,225 drivers were then asked to vote on the most intimidating junctions from this shortlist.

[2] Department for Transport Reported Road Casualties 2008: Annual Report. Of the 170,591 reported accidents in 2008, 100,436 took place at junctions. 100,436/170,591 x 100 = 58.87 (58%)