Traffic hotspots revealed as 19.5m trips planned for Jubilee bank holiday

Sarah Tooze, Consumer Editor
Wed, 01 Jun 2022

• Almost 20m leisure journeys by car predicted over the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday period.
• Friday, 3 June set to be the busiest day, with 3.6m trips planned. 
• Delays expected on the M25, southbound M5, A303 and A720 Edinburgh city bypass. 

Drivers will make an estimated 19.5 million leisure journeys by car over the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday period, research from RAC Breakdown suggests.

An estimated 2.6m drivers will take to the roads today (Wednesday, 1 June 2022) ahead of the bank holiday, followed by 3.3 tomorrow (Thursday, 2 June 2022), with Friday (3 June 2022) the busiest day at 3.6m. Saturday is expected to see 2.6m leisure trips by car, with Sunday the quietest day with 2.3m. 

An additional 5m will use their cars at some point over the full five days, according to the study of 1,460 drivers’ travel plans, as day-trippers combine with families making their way back home at the end of the half term break.

The M25, southbound M5, A303 and A720 Edinburgh city bypass are all highlighted as roads to watch for potential delays.

Transport analytics provider INRIX predicts that traffic conditions could be worst in the mornings of the bank holidays and advises drivers to set off as early as possible or delay their trips until much later in the day to skip any jams.

RAC traffic spokesman Rod Dennis said: “Drivers clearly see a double bank holiday this close to the summer as a gift with so millions eager to make the most of it – although many appear keen to keep their car journeys short, perhaps mixing a daytrip or two with a Jubilee celebration at home.

"The fact the bank holidays coincide with the end of half-term in many places has the potential to put some extra pressure on the road network, so planning a journey carefully is important to beat the worst of any queues."

The RAC is advising drivers to make sure their oil, coolant and screenwash are all at the right levels and that their tyres are free of damage and are inflated properly to help avoid breaking down. 

Ask HJ

Is my cruise control faulty?

I have a Golf Mk8 Style 1.5 eTSI with DSG gearbox. If I set the cruise control to, say, 50mph, the car will keep to this speed until either the camera or GPS recognises, for example, a 60mph speed limit, when the car without any input from me increases speed to 60mph. I cannot believe that Volkswagen intends this to happen. I have informed the dealership and disappointingly they are not willing to investigate. Do you think there is a fault in the software?

This is actually a feature of the adaptive cruise control known as 'Predictive' cruise control, which will also slow the car for reduced speed limits. It can be turned off by entering the 'Assists' menu section (one of the four shortcut keys below the centre air vents) and unselecting speed limit preview and road recognition in the adaptive cruise control sub-menu.

Answered by Lawrence Allan

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Cars joining a motorway - who has right of way?

Who has right of way when cars enter a motorway/dual carriageway? I usually move to the centre lane to accommodate cars entering from my left but where there is no opportunity to do this am I obliged to give way to cars joining the inside across broken lines? I am happy to give way to avoid an accident but many joining the inside carriageway seem to simply show a right indicator light and drive onto the carriageway without any consideration for those doing a higher speed who are already on the carriageway.

The traffic already on the motorway has priority. The driver joining the motorway should make sure their car matches the speed of the motorway traffic so they can join the left-hand lane safely. (See rule 259 of the Highway Code.)

Answered by Sarah Tooze

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