user
Create a My Moto account
This is a danger alert—check it out!
Your fullname
Your email address for registration.
Your password for registration.
Confirm your password for registration.
Register Close
Skip to content
Find a services Search site My Moto Menu
google social login facebook social login windows social login
Sign in

Not yet registered? Sign up now | Forgot password

Overlay menu Close Close menu
  • Home
  • Services
  • Journey planner
  • My Moto
  • Brands
  • At Moto
  • Help and support
  • About us
  • Motorway services near you
  • Map of motorway services
  • View all motorway services
  • Business
  • Coach
  • HGV
  • Leisure
  • BP
  • Burger King
  • Chow
  • Costa
  • Greggs
  • KFC
  • Krispy Kreme
  • M&S Food
  • Pret
  • Tesla Superchargers
  • West Cornwall Pasty
  • WHSmith
  • Accommodation
  • Covid-19
  • EV
  • Changing places
  • Fuel
  • Gaming
  • Parking
  • Wifi
  • FAQs
  • Contact us
  • Feedback
  • About Moto
  • ESG
  • Careers
  • News
  • Moto Foundation
  • Home
  • Services
    • Motorway services near you
    • Map of motorway services
    • View all motorway services
  • Journey planner
  • My Moto
    • Business
    • Coach
    • HGV
    • Leisure
  • Brands
    • BP
    • Burger King
    • Chow
    • Costa
    • Greggs
    • KFC
    • Krispy Kreme
    • M&S Food
    • Pret
    • Tesla Superchargers
    • West Cornwall Pasty
    • WHSmith
  • At Moto
    • Accommodation
    • Covid-19
    • EV
    • Changing places
    • Fuel
    • Gaming
    • Parking
    • Wifi
  • Help and support
    • FAQs
    • Contact us
    • Feedback
  • About us
    • About Moto
    • ESG
    • Careers
    • News
    • Moto Foundation

Everywhere you go, take a smile with you moto smile

moto waves
HomeNews When is the best time to travel on the motorway?
wave

When is the best time to travel on the motorway?

When trying to figure out the best time to travel on the motorway, you’re likely to find yourself facing a dilemma.

A quick browse through the internet will turn up a multitude of websites and forums advising you to travel at night or during the early hours of the morning to avoid motorway traffic jams.

This is sound advice as far it goes but overlooks one crucial factor – safety. Motorway driving is far more dangerous at night.

So, in this blog we’ll be considering the best time for motorway driving from a safety perspective as well as looking at when traffic is lightest.

Best time to avoid motorway tailbacks

Motorway traffic is considered to be lighter on certain days of the week, namely Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, particularly from 8pm to 6am.

On the other hand, Fridays are more congested than any other weekday. They’re also more dangerous, with nearly 20 per cent more accidents. Weekday rush-hours to be avoided if possible are 6am-10am and 4pm-8pm.

The best time to travel on a motorway to avoid weekend congestion is early morning Saturday or after 6pm, before congestion becomes more likely around 11am Sunday.

How to avert a bank holiday motorway nightmare

Bank holiday weekends can be a nightmare on motorways as millions of leisure-seekers hit the road for a mini-break.

The problem is often aggravated by increased railway engineering works. Network Rail plans major improvement jobs for bank holidays in order to cause the least disruption to passengers. However, that’s little comfort for motorists as even more people are forced to take to the roads.

Based on historic traffic records, TomTom, the navigation and map technology specialists, have compiled a list of the UK’s busiest bank holiday motorway routes, so you might want to avoid:

  • M1 between Sheffield and Luton.
  • M5 between Bristol and Exeter.
  • M6 between Preston and Penrith.
  • M40 between Oxford and Uxbridge.

The RAC recommends avoiding heavy bank holiday traffic by using less-used roads at peak times and busier routes at their quietest. Traffic analytics company INRIX says the best time for bank holiday weekend travel to avoid the worst of the traffic is as early or as late in the day as possible.

Ensuring your car is in good condition can help to avoid running into trouble on the motorway, but research by car repair and servicing experts Kwik Fit shows that 90 per cent of motorists fail to check their vehicle before setting off on holiday journeys.

Safest time to travel on the motorway

The Road Safety Foundation says motorways are seven times safer than A-roads. However, motorways become far more hazardous as it gets darker, although traffic becomes lighter. From a safety point of view, the best time to travel on a motorway is from 6am to midnight.

A major problem of driving at night or during the early hours is fatigue. Using a motorway is monotonous at any time but less traffic during the hours of darkness can lead to lack of focus and resulting tiredness.

A 2017 survey by RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) revealed that one in five serious motorway accidents was caused by falling asleep at the wheel. Other risk factors of motorway night driving include reduced visibility and difficulty gauging distance and speed.

If you decide the best time to travel on a motorway is during the evening or overnight, you’ll want to minimise the safety risks. See our guide on how to stay safe on the motorway after dark.

Staying safe on the motorway at all times

No matter what time of day you drive on a motorway, a breakdown can potentially put you in danger, particularly on smart motorways with no hard shoulder.

To keep you and your passengers safe on the motorway, the RAC recommends regular inspection of your car’s:

  • Engine oil levels.
  • Coolant levels.
  • Brakes and disc pads.
  • Air conditioning, which also often powers essential components.
  • Tyre tread and pressure.

Keeping an eye on your car’s fuel gauge can also help to keep you out of trouble.

If you suspect your car may be failing during a motorway trip but is still driveable, exit at the next junction or pull over at the first service station.

wave

Share this story

  • twitter
  • facebook
  • linekdin
Use of your location

Can we use your location to list services near to you?

moto waves
Moto logo

Our purpose is to brighten people's journeys through life

Motorway services
  • Motorway services near you
  • Map of motorway services
  • View all motorway services
Journey planner
  • Plan your journey
Help and support
  • FAQs
  • Contact us
  • Feedback and chat service
Brands
  • BP
  • Burger King
  • Chow
  • Costa
  • Greggs
  • KFC
  • Krispy Kreme
  • M&S Food
  • Pret
  • Tesla Superchargers
  • West Cornwall Pasty
  • WHSmith
At Moto
  • Accommodation
  • Changing places
  • EV
  • Fuel
  • Gaming
  • Parking
  • Wifi
  • BookAPod
My Moto
  • Business
  • Coach
  • HGV
  • Leisure
About Moto
  • ESG
  • News
  • Careers
  • Moto Foundation

Copyright 2022 © Moto Hospitality Ltd

  • Legal - Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Modern Slavery Statement
  • Gender Pay Gap
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • facebook
moto logo

Our purpose is to brighten people’s journeys through life

moto waves
  • Motorway services
    • Motorway services near you
    • Map of motorway services
    • View all motorway services
  • Journey planner
    • Plan your journey
  • Help and support
    • FAQs
    • Contact us
    • Feedback and chat service
  • Brands
    • BP
    • Burger King
    • Chow
    • Costa
    • Greggs
    • KFC
    • Krispy Kreme
    • M&S Food
    • Pret
    • Tesla Superchargers
    • West Cornwall Pasty
    • WHSmith
  • At Moto
    • Accommodation
    • Changing places
    • EV
    • Fuel
    • Gaming
    • Parking
    • Wifi
    • BookAPod
  • My Moto
    • Business
    • Coach
    • HGV
    • Leisure
  • About Moto
    • ESG
    • News
    • Careers
    • Moto Foundation

Copyright 2022 © Moto Hospitality Ltd

  • Legal - Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Modern Slavery Statement
  • Gender Pay Gap
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • facebook

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Privacy overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly necessary cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie are enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

These essential cookies do things like:

  • remember the notifications you've seen so we do not show them to you again
  • remember your progress through a form

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Insight and analytic cookies

This website uses insight and analytics cookies, such as Google Analytics, to collect anonymous information about site usage.

Keeping these cookies enabled helps us to improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!

Marketing cookies

We use marketing cookies to help us improve the relevancy of communication and marketing campaigns you receive.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!

Cookie policy

More information about our cookie policy

How was your visit?