AA to use scooters to beat jams

AA patrols are to use electric scooters and motorbikes to beat traffic congestion and get to breakdowns in central London.

The three-month trial coincides with the publication of figures by the AA that showed the average central London traffic speed is just 10mph.

The new patrols trial is the first time the AA has used bikes to attend breakdowns since the mid-1990s.

It says the bikes will be able to reach breakdowns up to 25% quicker.

The AA has compiled a city speed league table, with the Bristol average worst at 16.8mph, followed by 16.9mph for the whole of London.

The next-slowest cities were Glasgow - 17.3mph - followed by Southampton and Liverpool, both 17.8mph, and then Manchester with 18.8mph.

AA president Edmund King said: "By cutting through traffic, AA bike patrols will reach breakdowns more quickly and get our members and other drivers back on the move with the minimum delay.

"We need radical action to beat record slow traffic in our cities and decided that two wheels are quicker than four.

"Our analysis of traffic speeds in major cities shows that congestion is not just a London problem, with Bristol bottom of the league, and Glasgow, Southampton and Liverpool less than 1mph quicker than London."

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