Car ownership increases

There are now only 25% of households without a car, according to the Department for Transport and people over the age of 70 years of age holding a full license has also increased to 52%. This rise in the elderly motoring population has led to calls from the RAC Foundation for road signs to have larger lettering and the Government is shortly to unveil proposals for how to improve the assessment of older drivers.

More females are driving now than ever before, it was once considered that it was not necessary for a woman to drive, as the husband saw to that! Of course times have moved on since the Second World War and women now represent a major proportion of the workforce and driving a car is an essential part of life, as seen by the fact that buses were used mainly by people under 30 and over 60, with 28 per cent of the population making at least one such journey every week.

The increase in the number of households that own, or have use of a car, has given rise to concern about safety on the roads. This is reflected in the travel pattern of children with the number of 7-10 year olds accompanied to school rising to 85 per cent last year, with the once common sight of children crossing the road dropping to 13 %. Times have indeed changed.