FRVs on UK Roads Report 2007

A quantitative assessment of the extent of foreign vehicle activity in the UK, commissioned by the SPARKS Programme.

Overview

• Number of foreign goods vehicles visiting the UK has trebled over the last ten years
• Number of European nationals employed in the UK has trebled over the last five years
• Number of European visitors to the UK has increased by almost 50% over the last five years
• Over 3 million foreign registered vehicles (FRVs) enter the UK each year.

• At any one time 142,000 FRVs are in the UK = 0.4% of all vehicles in the UK; 90% are cars, 8% are HGVs, 1% are coaches
• At any one time 1% of all vehicles on the roads are foreign registered; of these 47% are cars, 43% are HGVs, 7% are coaches, 3% are light goods vehicles.

Regional Distribution

• London has an exceptionally high level of foreign vehicle activity – it accounts for 7% of all UK traffic activity, but 20% of FRV activity; 3% of all traffic activity in London is FRV
• London & the South East account for almost half of all FRV activity in the UK
• The further a region is from the South East the lower its level of FRV activity
• Channel Tunnel & channel ports carry most of the FRV traffic entering and leaving the UK
• Foreign HGV destinations are concentrated in London, the South East & North West
• Inward migration is concentrated in London & the South East.

Passenger Cars

Tourists

• Number of European visitors has increased by almost 50% in last five years
• 7.9m people visited the UK in 2005 via ferries & the Channel Tunnel; they travelled in 1.3m cars, 44,000 coaches, or on foot
• At any one time 37,500 FRVs are in the UK driven by tourists = 0.002% of total cars in UK at any one time
• 1,300 foreign coaches are on UK roads at any one time = 6.5% of coaches in UK at any one time
• Holiday travel in the UK accounts for 7% of total miles travelled annually; implies foreign tourists account for 0.2% of all activity on UK roads per annum.

Foreign Workers

• Number of European nationals employed in UK has trebled over last five years
• Estimate in 2006/07 600,000 migrant workers arrived from the EU bringing 60,000 dependents with them
• Estimate 1/3 bring a car with them = 200,000 cars
• 73% of migrants say they intend to stay for less than three months; 24% say they intend to stay for more than six months
• Estimate 15,000 foreign cars in UK (11%) that should have been registered but haven’t been; most remain for no more than a year in total
• Estimate 30% of vehicle owners are from Western Europe, 70% from new member states; 36% originally registered in Poland.

Heavy Goods Vehicles

• Number of foreign heavy goods vehicles (FHGVs) entering the UK has trebled in the last ten years
• 1.7m foreign FHGVs pass through UK ports each year for mainland Europe = 73% of goods traffic with mainland Europe; growing by 2.3% a year
• Foreign HGVs stay an average 1.7 nights in the UK
• On a typical day 13,100 foreign HGVs are in Great Britain
• 3% of all HGVs in the UK at one time are foreign registered
• 8% of HGVs on roads at any one time are foreign registered; foreign HGVs use roads three times more than UK registered HGVs.

Propensity to Ignore Traffic Laws

• FRVs are 30% more likely to be involved in an accident than a UK registered vehicle
• FRVs are 20% more likely to fail roadside tests
• FRVs are twice as likely to avoid the congestion charge in London
• FRVs are more likely to be caught speeding and to contravene bus lane regulations in London
• 11% of all FRVs are operating in the UK beyond the date they should have been registered with the DVLA.

Economic Assessment

• £75m in public expenditure on road network for FRVs per annum
• FRVs contribute £166m in fuel duties per annum
• FRVs make a net contribution to UK economy of £125m per annum, primarily through fuel duties.

About the Report