The year of taking it easy on the UK’s road network is officially over after it was confirmed that traffic levels have returned to their pre-covid highs.

A new report published this week has revealed that there are actually more car journeys being made in June 2021 than there were in February 2020, suggesting that roads are busier than ever.

The data, which has been collected by telematics firm, AX, found that the lockdown in the Spring of 2020 actually reduced traffic levels equivalent to a busy road in the late 1960s, with the average mileage of vehicles falling by 67 per cent in just two months from February 2020. Even the lockdown in January 2021 saw a major slump in road traffic, with average daily mileage dropping by 40 per cent - equalling traffic similar to what we might have experienced in the late 1980s.

But the traffic jam is certainly back with avengence, analysis of Department for Transport data suggests that on the busier weekends of May, traffic actually reached 113 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

“By looking at our extensive telematics data, we've been able to see just how drastic the impacts of the various UK lockdowns have been over the last 15 months,” said Vince Powell from AX Innovation.

“What's interesting to see is how the impact of each lockdown has differed and the various rates at which things have returned to relative normality as restrictions are eased.

“The first lockdown in April 2020 had by far the biggest impact on road transport, even when compared to January of this year when covid had hit the UK hardest.

“And with more vehicles spending more time parked up during lockdowns, we've also noticed a striking shift in the two most common types of accident we manage, with parked vehicles being hit now dominating over rear end collisions,” Powell added referring to the data suggesting that cars hitting parked cars had risen to No.1 spot as the most common collision type.

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