Most Indians and Chinese are taking short, leisurely weekend road-trips to go out and spend their time with their family. As per the Ford Driving Habits Survey, eight out of 10 Indian and Chinese (83 per cent) have admitted going on a short, recreational trip at least once a month. This is higher than the counter parts in Australia, Philippines and Thailand.
Around 55 per cent of the drivers in both India and China claim to take more than one road-trip every month whereas 28 per cent drivers travel to weekend destinations at least once in every four weeks. This shows that with sizable youth in workforce and increased incomes both Indians and Chinese are becoming more mobile and are exploring new places more than ever before.
According to the survey, 49 per cent of the respondents in India are spending 12-hours or more every week or more than 100-minutes in their cars every day. The figure is higher than the average in Asia Pacific region where 42 per cent of the respondents claimed that they spent the same amount of time in driving. This includes a large number of drivers in India (14 per cent) who are devoting up to three-hours behind the steering wheel every day.
As per Ford Driving Habits Survey, majority of respondents cited accident or driving in congested traffic as the most common cause of anxiety. Some other trends for anxiety across drivers in AP region included;
– Hitting an animal caused anxiety among 40 per cent Australians, while finding a parking spot stressed 60 per cent Chinese drivers
– While 32 per cent Indians were stressed about hitting a pedestrian, 70 per cent respondents in Philippines are worried about the rising fuel prices
– Over 46 per cent drivers in Thailand find it taxing to drive at night and 43 per cent to deal with riders on two wheelers
– Most loved features in the car: Drivers across the region are inclined to constructively utilise the long hours spent in commuting and looking for several intuitive features.
– Entertainment focused features such as in-car stereo systems are the most sought after fitments in vehicles with 70 per cent respondents in India calling it as their favorite in-car feature
– Lack of adherence to traffic rules: Nearly a fourth of the drivers also admitted to excessive use of mobile phones to either take selfies or browse social media websites during driving