Love in the slow lane
Sep 12 2008 By Jackie Violet
I WAS told years ago that three bodies make up a relationship, husband, wife and religion. Well, it appears a fourth is lurking in the background - that of a great big lump of metal called your car.
The over-crowding is having a devastating effect and is causing break-ups, as new figures from an AA/Populus panel survey of 18,547 AA members revealed that three per cent of male drivers would consider giving up their wife or partner rather than their car.
Talk about trading in for a younger model. What sort of man would ditch his partner for the car? My money would have to be on the quiet ones – always the most dangerous. You know the ones who are out there every Sunday morning washing, waxing and polishing – their cars that is. If only they could show similar affection to their partners.
Yet women are not far behind in this quandary with two per cent admitting they would consider ditching their husband or boyfriend rather than their car. Well I can sympathise here for how else are we to shop till we drop, listen to our favourite music on our own without interruptions and have no one next to us nagging or whinging about our elite driving skills?
The results from the UK’s biggest dedicated motoring panel showed that drivers are still very dependent upon their cars. Other things that AA members would consider giving up rather than the car were: drinking – 15%, holiday – 15% and flat screen TV – 14%.
Wow! So despite all the doom and gloom for motorists, our love-affair with the car continues to grow.
Unfortunately, by keeping the car we still have to put up with other drivers’ anti–social behaviour. The research also revealed our worries about safety. The top pet hate was tailgating which was cited by 30%, closely followed by talking on a mobile phone whilst driving. I am pleased to say that my pet hates of middle lane hoggers came in next followed by ‘swoopers’ – those who cut across motorway lanes at the last minute.
I guess in life you cannot have everything so the choice is yours. Partner or car?
