Soaring fuel bills have seen motorists ditch the car and walk more, new research shows.
Just over three in ten motorists plan to use their cars for essential journeys only, while the same proportion intend to walk more in order to cope with the rising petrol and diesel pump prices.
A large majority - 57% - of motorists surveyed say they have either changed or plan to change how often they use their car.
However, almost a third - 32% - of women surveyed and 22% of men said they are unable to make any changes to their driving habits and therefore have "no choice" but to spend their current amount of time on the roads, a survey of 1,000 adults for Aviva found.
The average monthly spend on fuel is €180, with one-third of those surveyed spending more than €200 every month.
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Aviva's Billy Shannon said: "With rising fuel prices seeing no sign of abating, there's no doubt that people are taking concerted action to limit the negative impact on their finances where they can.
"The petrol pumps are one of the hardest-hit areas in terms of inflation having seen significant increases in the last 12 months.
"Where once people might take the car out on the weekend for trips and travel, or use it for shorter journeys around their locality, many are now having to think about how they can economise and find alternative modes of transport where possible."
A 55-litre fuel tank - found in many cars - now costs almost €100 to fill up with petrol and €105 to fill for diesel cars.
The most popular change people intend to make is to reduce their car journeys to only the essential ones. This is the case for three in ten people, rising to almost four in ten with people aged over 55, The survey found:
- Young people aged 18-24 are most likely to walk more (80%) and to increase their use of public transport (78%), while one in ten will use a bike more.
- Men are four times more likely to say they will cycle more - 20% against just 5% of women - but four in ten have not and will not change their driving behaviour.
- The percentage of people who cannot reduce their car usage simply because they have no choice but to use their car rises as you move from predominantly urban to predominantly rural provinces, with 14% in Dublin unable to reduce their usage, compared to 41% in Connacht and Ulster ?A third of people spend more than €200 per month on fuel - rising to 50% of those falling into the 25-to-34 age bracket, and 39% amongst those aged 35-44.
- People living in urban areas spend far less at the pumps, with people in Dublin being the least likely to shell out €200 per month on motor fuel.
Mr Shannon added: "Many of these motorists are probably in households where there are one or more children, so aside from the commutes to and from work, there are probably multiple trips per week to classes, camps, courses, training, social events etc, all of which ramp up the fuel consumption."
He continued: "€180 a month is not an insignificant amount of money - and more than a third of people are spending well above this.
"Just as rising costs of fuel are heavily impacting people's pockets, cutting back on this expenditure, if possible, could make a big difference to household budgets.
"While the impetus for change may be primarily down to financial constraints, it is nonetheless encouraging to see that lots of people are willing to get on their bikes and to walk more as it will have a positive knock-on effect on traffic congestion, the environment and on people's overall physical health and wellness."
He added: "The one in five intending to use public transport to a greater degree is another positive, in terms of the environmental payoff of reducing carbon pollution and congestion on our roads."
