New research has revealed that large numbers of motorists are making changes to their driving habits in response to the ongoing increase in petrol and diesel prices across the country.

A new survey by Aviva Insurance showed that 34% of motorists have reduced their driving habits, with 10% reporting a significant reduction and 24% a slight reduction to combat the impact of rising fuel prices.

13% of responding motorists are now using public transport more frequently, 11% are opting to walk more and 6% have switched to an electric vehicle to mitigate rising fuel costs.

Co-Chair of the European Green Party Ciaran Cuffe told The Hard Shoulder that "there is some good news" in this.

"Obviously it's not good news, the price of fuel is going up, I think that's one of the reasons why people are moving towards public transport" he said.

"But I think another reason is that there's a reduction in public transport fares over the last few years thanks to the Greens.

"And also there's been an expansion in rural and urban bus routes - so that's the good side of it."

You can listen back to the full interview here:

Main image: Traffic on motorway UK. Image: eye35.pix / Alamy. 11 January 2012