Motorists clock 10,500 miles a year, figures show

IRISH motorists clock up an average of almost 10,500 miles a year on the country’s roads, figures showed yesterday.

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) found the average annual mileage of Irish cars was lower than commonly believed at 10,498 miles (16,894 kilometres).

But the research shows the consumption of petrol and diesel to fuel the growing numbers of vehicles in Ireland grew by 151% between 1990 and 2005.

David Taylor, chief executive of SEI, said: “Transport, and in particular car driving, has a number of negative environmental impacts. Transport is a major contributor to CO2 emissions in Ireland and emissions from transport are growing at a faster rate than any other sector.

“In this context the figures place more accurate information into the public domain, to facilitate a more accurate understanding of the factors affecting energy consumption in transport.”

SEI calculated the average annual mileage of private cars based on the odometer readings from the National Car Test (NCT) data of the half a million private cars examined during 2005.

The study found petrol cars have an average annual mileage of 9,923 miles (15,969km). Diesel cars had a higher figure of 14,799 miles (23,817km).

The average mileage of a motorist’s private car was previously believed to be around 12,000 miles (19,000km), with some estimates putting it as high as 15,000 miles (24,000 km).

The research revealed the average mileage per car may be lower than previously believed, but the overall distance travelled was increasing due to the growing numbers of cars on our roads.

Between 2001 and 2005 total private car mileage for petrol cars increased by 11%, and the mileage travelled by private diesel cars grew by 23%.

SEI said both of these contributed to a 17% increase in overall use of transport fuels during the four-year period.