Continental Tyres recently surveyed Irish motorists and discovered that 90% of those questioned planned to holiday in Ireland and expected to spend between €500 and €1,000. In an interesting twist, one in three have plans to visit a greenway, so maybe cars and bikes can co-exist peacefully after all.
Unfortunately, a quarter of respondents indicated that they plan to drive off on their staycation trip without carrying out any safety checks on their car, including checking tyres, oil and coolant levels, windscreen wipers and lights.
The survey discovered that just 42% of all motorists carry out these essential and simple safety checks only every three months to a year.
These checks, which can be carried out in just a few minutes, should ideally be scheduled every few weeks and especially should be done before heading off on a staycation.
This is particularly important as any of us haven’t been driving all that much due to working from home during the pandemic.
Cars thrive on regular usage and being parked up for long periods can introduce problems, be they niggling or serious.
In terms of staycationers’ plans, 58% said they are simply looking forward to the pleasures of enjoying good food and drink. 50% said they wanted to spend their leisure time with family and friends and 38% just want to sleep and relax on their holiday.
With one third of respondents planning to visit a greenway, either on foot or on a bike, it shows that the investments made in this area haven’t gone to waste.
I drove past one of the newest greenways in Limerick, which links the towns of Abbeyfeale, Rathkeale and Newcastle West with 40km of traffic free, pedestrian and cycle friendly paths and the route was buzzing, with new cafés and other businesses catering to the needs of holiday makers.
For the forseeable future, most of us will be holidaying at home and if you’re bringing your car, it pays to carry out regular safety checks.
