Yonder summary March 2025
The March AA-Yonder survey ran between 19 and 24 March 2025 and received 11,162 responses
In this survey
- *Car buying
- Car financing
- Signs of spring
- Parking issues
- Seat belts
- Car maintenance
- Easter travel
- Dashcams
- Car cleaning
- Perceived driving offences
Car buying
We asked respondents about their car buying plans. Four in five (79%) would pay the full amount up front if they had the money available. Less than one in ten would pay a deposit up front and the rest on finance. When asked about their car purchasing plans, 82% said they are not looking to buy a car. Only 6% are actively looking to buy one. Meanwhile, 4% want to buy a car but have delayed for up to a year, 3% have delayed for one to two years, and 5% have delayed for over two years.
Car financing
We asked respondents about their understanding of car financing terms. Respondents felt they knew what was meant by deposit (99%), personal loan (98%), credit check (98%), credit score (95%) and hire purchase (94%). Balloon payment (69%), loan to value (57%) and Individual Voluntary Agreements (IVA) (52%) were less understood in comparison.
Signs of spring
We asked respondents about their observations of spring. The majority (83%) agreed that spring is their favorite season for driving. Almost half (48%) said they enjoy the longer daylight hours, while 31% appreciate the milder weather. Less than one-fifth (18%) said they enjoy seeing flowers and trees in bloom.
Parking issues
We asked respondents about their parking preferences. We gave respondents a list of different parking spaces and most respondents said they are happy to park in the following places: A parking space where you have to reverse park/drive out (87%), a parking space where you have to forward park/reverse exit (84%), a town centre multi-story car park where you need to navigate tight spaces (ramps, pillars etc) (77%), and a street where you need to parallel park (77%). More than two-fifths are happy to park on a street where you have to park in heavy traffic condition (43%), but a similar proportion would try to find an alternative (46%).
Seat belts
We asked respondents whether penalty points should be introduced for people not wearing a seatbelt. Three in five (60%) believe penalty points should be introduced for people not wearing seatbelts, whilst half of this (30%) believe there shouldn’t be. Of those who believe penalty points should be introduced for not wearing a seatbelt, 74% think 3 points would be appropriate for not wearing a seatbelt, whilst 20% think 6 points would be appropriate.
Car maintenance
We asked respondents about their car maintenance practices. The majority (83%) agreed that their car is important to them, so getting it serviced at the correct time/mileage interval is important for peace of mind. Three in five (67%) think it’s best to get their car’s MOT and service done at the same time so that any faults are easily dealt with – with half actually doing so annually (47%). Despite this, for some respondents it could be quite expensive to do both at the same time. As two in five (37%) think that keeping the MOT and the servicing separate helps to spread the costs of running a car.
Easter travel
We asked respondents about their travel plans over the Easter holiday weekend. About half of those asked (49%) didn't plan to travel on Good Friday. However, a quarter (25%) had plans to drive somewhere but have not decided where, and 13% are planning to drive to visit friends or relatives. Similarly, on Saturday the 30th of March, two-fifths (44%) said they wouldn't be driving and just over a quarter (26%) will drive somewhere but are undecided and 13% will drive to visit friends or relatives. On Easter Sunday, half (52%) don’t have any plans to drive. Of those that do, almost a quarter (23%) have not yet decided where they will go and 16% will drive to visit friends or relatives. On Easter Monday, similar to the above, half wouldn't be driving (52%). More than a quarter (26%) of those who do plan to drive have not yet decided where and 11% will drive to visit friends or relatives.
Dashcams
We asked respondents about their use of dashcams. The majority (60%) said they use a dashcam while driving. Of those who use dashcams, 45% said they use it for safety reasons, while 30% use it to record incidents for insurance purposes. Less than a fifth (15%) said they use it for recording scenic drives.
Car cleaning
We asked respondents about their car cleaning habits. Almost half (48%) said they clean their car once a month, while 30% clean their car every two weeks. Less than a fifth (15%) said they clean their car once a week.
Perceived driving offences
We asked respondents about their perceptions of driving offences. The majority (89%) said they find driving with full beam lights on when passing other cars to be the most annoying. This was followed by drivers not pulling over for an emergency vehicle (86%) and not stopping at pedestrian crossings (85%).
Yonder summary February 2025
The February AA-Yonder survey ran between 25 February and 28 February 2025 and received 14,695 responses
Road incident reactions
We asked respondents how they would react in various road incident scenarios. The majority (92%) would turn on hazard lights if their vehicle broke down on a motorway. If broken down on a smart motorway, 85% would turn on hazard lights and 82% would call a breakdown provider. For incidents on A roads or dual carriageways, 93% would call a breakdown provider and 89% would turn on hazard lights.
Tyre campaign
We asked respondents about their awareness and practices regarding tyre maintenance. Over half (52%) said they regularly check their tyre pressure, while 38% check their tyre tread depth. A significant number (20%) admitted they rarely check their tyres. When asked about tyre age, 60% of respondents were aware that tyres have a manufacturing date, but only 30% knew how to find it on the tyre.
Motorways
We asked respondents to rate their experiences on motorways. Signage (38%) and road markings (30%) were most likely to be reported as excellent, whilst congestion (32%), the amount of litter (30%) and conditions of the road (22%) were most likely to be reported as poor. Overhead gantry and “hockey stick” road-side signage is used to alert drivers to incidents ahead through information, changing speed limits or alerting of lane closures. We asked respondents about their experiences of these signs on the motorway. Three quarters (75%) have seen lane closure signs but didn’t see an incident happening when they passed. Two in three (66%) have seen signs correctly indicating a congestion blockage, however a similar proportion (65%) saw signs with information about debris but didn’t see anything when passing the affected area. In addition to this, more than half (54%) have experienced traffic and congestion but there was no sign signalling this. Two in five (41%) have seen speed limit signs being removed and changed to ‘end’ when the traffic is still stationary/slow moving slow. And lastly a third (33%), have driven past a breakdown or collision but there was no sign signalling this.
Private parking
We asked respondents about their experiences with private parking companies. More than a quarter (27%) said they knew they were in the wrong, so paid the fine straight away. A similar proportion (23%) said they successfully appealed at the first stage. Over one in ten (11%) respondents said they weren’t sure if they were in the wrong but ended up paying the fine anyway.
Near miss collisions
We asked respondents about their experiences with near miss collisions. Almost half (47%) reported having a near miss collision in the past year. The most common reasons for near misses were drivers not paying attention (35%), speeding (25%), and poor road conditions (20%).
Yonder summary February 2025
The February AA-Yonder survey ran between 25 February and 28 February 2025 and received 14,695 responses
Road incident reactions
We asked respondents how they would react in various road incident scenarios. The majority (92%) would turn on hazard lights if their vehicle broke down on a motorway. If broken down on a smart motorway, 85% would turn on hazard lights and 82% would call a breakdown provider. For incidents on A roads or dual carriageways, 93% would call a breakdown provider and 89% would turn on hazard lights.
Tyre campaign
We asked respondents about their awareness and practices regarding tyre maintenance. Over half (52%) said they regularly check their tyre pressure, while 38% check their tyre tread depth. A significant number (20%) admitted they rarely check their tyres. When asked about tyre age, 60% of respondents were aware that tyres have a manufacturing date, but only 30% knew how to find it on the tyre.
Motorways
We asked respondents to rate their experiences on motorways. Signage (38%) and road markings (30%) were most likely to be reported as excellent, whilst congestion (32%), the amount of litter (30%) and conditions of the road (22%) were most likely to be reported as poor.
Overhead gantry and “hockey stick” road-side signage is used to alert drivers to incidents ahead through information, changing speed limits or alerting of lane closures. We asked respondents about their experiences of these signs on the motorway. Three quarters (75%) have seen lane closure signs but didn’t see an incident happening when they passed. Two in three (66%) have seen signs correctly indicating a congestion blockage, however a similar proportion (65%) saw signs with information about debris but didn’t see anything when passing the affected area. In addition to this, more than half (54%) have experienced traffic and congestion but there was no sign signalling this. Two in five (41%) have seen speed limit signs being removed and changed to ‘end’ when the traffic is still stationary/slow moving slow. And lastly a third (33%), have driven past a breakdown or collision but there was no sign signalling this.
Private parking
We asked respondents about their experiences with private parking companies. More than a quarter (27%) said they knew they were in the wrong, so paid the fine straight away. A similar proportion (23%) said they successfully appealed at the first stage. Over one in ten (11%) respondents said they weren’t sure if they were in the wrong but ended up paying the fine anyway.
Near miss collisions
We asked respondents about their experiences with near miss collisions. Almost half (47%) reported having a near miss collision in the past year. The most common reasons for near misses were drivers not paying attention (35%), speeding (25%), and poor road conditions (20%).
Yonder summary January 2025
The January AA-Yonder survey ran between 16 and 28 January 2025 and received 14,695 responses
Refuelling and Recharging
This month’s survey began by asking AA panel members about their primary method for measuring fuel spend when refuelling or recharging their vehicles. More than half of respondents (51%) use the “total cost to refill tank” as their main tool to gauge fuel spend, while almost a quarter (22%) use “miles per gallon (MPG)” as their principal measurement. As of November 2024, there are 8,353 fuel forecourts and 72,594 publicly available EV devices.
When asked if there were more fuel forecourts or publicly available EV charging devices, four in five respondents (80%) believed there are more fuel forecourts. Only 6% thought there are more EV charging devices, with this belief slightly more pronounced among men (8%) and London residents (8%).
We also asked respondents how many nationwide EV charge points would be needed to instil confidence for them to switch from petrol/diesel to an EV. Almost half (44%) said they would never buy an EV regardless of the number of chargers. More than three in ten (34%) didn’t know, and exactly one in ten believed between 400,001-500,000 UK EV chargers would be sufficient.
In previous surveys, panel members indicated hesitation to switch to EVs due to a perceived lack of charging points. Over half (56%) believe a clearer universal sign would help, 52% think Sat-Navs in petrol/diesel cars should include EV charge points, and 51% believe totem poles with pricing like fuel forecourts would help.
When shown two images of EV charging point signs, almost eight in ten (77%) selected image B as the most effective.
Vehicle Fires
This section asked respondents about concerns when considering an electric or petrol/diesel vehicle. Respondents showed more concerns for EVs compared to petrol/diesel vehicles. The top concerns for more than half (53%) were the risk of the vehicle catching fire following a crash, lack of vehicle noise alerting pedestrians/cyclists, and software malfunctions. Fewer respondents were concerned about these possibilities for petrol/diesel vehicles (22%, 14%, and 19% respectively).
Close to half (47%) were worried about harming the battery in an EV when driving through a flooded area, compared to 28% for petrol/diesel vehicles. Other concerns included the risk of an EV catching fire while parked (42%), mechanical malfunctions (41%), and the threat of remote hacking (41%). Lesser concerns included the vehicle's weight (38%), complicated infotainment systems (37%), safety at public charging stations (36%), and personal safety when charging in public (30%).
Motorway Insights
We asked drivers to rate motorway features like road markings, conditions, signage, lighting, congestion, and litter. Signage (38%) and road markings (30%) were most likely to be rated as excellent, while congestion (32%), litter (30%), and road conditions (22%) were most likely to be rated as poor.
Regarding overhead gantry and “hockey stick” road-side signage, three quarters (75%) have seen lane closure signs without an incident, two in three (66%) have seen signs correctly indicating congestion, and 65% saw signs about debris without seeing any. More than half (54%) experienced traffic without a sign, 41% saw speed limit signs removed while traffic was still slow, and 33% drove past a breakdown or collision without a sign.
We also asked about observed driver behaviours on motorways. More than four in five (88%) witnessed speeding, middle lane hogging, driving too close, and undertaking. Similar proportions saw swooping (83%), tailgating (83%), changing lanes without signalling (82%), and changing lanes during heavy traffic (79%). Using mobile phones while driving was observed by 63%, with 35% seeing phones in cradles. Crossing chevrons towards the exit was seen by 61%, and 47% saw others crossing chevrons back to the motorway. Not using seatbelts was seen by 15% of drivers and 14% of passengers.
When asked about behaviour at joining slip-roads, 73% would pull into lane 2 to make it easier for merging traffic, 18% would stay in lane 1 but adjust speed, and 4% would hold their position/speed.
Cost of Parking
Statistics indicated that Town Centre High Streets with paid parking saw a decline in footfall, while retail parks and out-of-town shopping centres with free parking saw an increase. Two in five (37%) respondents would be discouraged from trips if parking costs were between £5 and £10, 21% if costs ranged from £10 to £15, and 12% if costs were £5 or less. Another 12% said the cost of parking is irrelevant due to poor shopping experiences in major towns and cities.
Speeding
We asked panel members about the acceptability of using average speed cameras and static speed cameras. The majority found both acceptable (84% and 82% respectively), with a small proportion finding them unacceptable (14% and 16%).
Most respondents (86%) have not attended a speed awareness course in the last three years, while 13% have. Of those who attended, 80% feel more aware of their speed, 68% are driving more slowly, and 65% think they are generally safer drivers. Despite this, 19% felt the course had an initial effect but have lapsed back into bad habits. Four in five (79%) would recommend the course to others.