UK motorists are so scared of breaking down that they account for 61% of global Google searches. This is only likely to get worse as the ‘cost of living crisis’ puts people off general vehicle maintenance and servicing.

However, even more striking is that drivers are four time more worried about parallel parking than they are about car theft.

These are the conclusions of recent research by vehicle leasing company Vanarama. They have analysed over 5 million Google searches to map the number one driving fear in 50 countries, including the UK.

Key findings:

  • UK drivers are four times more scared of parallel parking than they are of car theft.

  • However, breaking down is the number one driving fear for UK motorists, with their help-related Google searches accounting for 61% of the global total.

  • Cosmetic damage, reverse bay parking and car theft finish off the top five most feared driving aspects for Brits.

 

 

Mechanical failure

UK motorists are so scared of breaking down that they account for 61% of global Google searches.

Each year, a huge 419,000 UK drivers search for tips on avoiding and dealing with car breakdowns – making it far and away the most feared driving aspect for Brits. The UK’s number of searches for help with breakdowns represents 61% of the global total.

The country with the second-most breakdown searches, India, is way down on 51,000 – despite having five times more drivers than the UK (150 million compared to 32.9 million).

Good looks

Cosmetic damage is the second biggest driving fear in the UK (and the number one globally).

In second place is cosmetic damage, such as minor scrapes and scratches, with 273,600 drivers looking for help with this kind of superficial damage each year.

When you compare these figures to the rest of the world, 56% (28) of countries named cosmetic damage as their number one fear. In total, 1.9 million users looked for tips and products to help with bumps and scrapes.

As cosmetic damage has no impact on the performance of a car, this suggests drivers around the world fear the opinions of other road users more than anything else.

Parking the car

UK drivers are FOUR times more scared of parallel parking than car theft.

Parallel parking is the third most feared driving aspect for UK motorists, generating 170,160 Google searches every year. Shockingly, this is four times (42,480) the number of drivers searching for car theft-related queries, such as anti-theft devices and fully comprehensive insurance products.

Shockingly, car theft doesn’t seem to be a cause of concern across the world with only three (Italy, Angola, and Ethiopia) of 50 countries fearing car theft above the other driving aspects analysed.

In fourth place, is another parking type but this time it’s reverse bay parking, generating 116,160 annual Google searches.

You can see the full research by Vanarama at:  https://www.vanarama.com/blog/cars/what-drivers-around-the-world-fear-most