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Half an hour to spare? What would you do?

Half an hour to spare? What would you do?

A study released today* by Green Flag, the breakdown specialists, shows that men in the UK would rather spend their free time reading a paper than getting amorous with their partners.

The research investigated how the British public would choose to spend a spare thirty minutes of their time both at work and at home. With 40 per cent of all respondents choosing reading, the nation’s next favourite past times are watching TV, gardening and DIY chores.

If presented with half an hour’s free time at home, only 11 per cent of males fancied spending it passionately with their partner, which rated the same as listening to their iPod. This is probably just as well, as only seven per cent of females opt for passionate time, which was eclipsed by going for a coffee with a friend 11 per cent. Sticking to stereotype, 13 per cent of males would watch sport in the free time, with a third of them choosing to watch Formula 1.

If people had the choice on how they would spend a free thirty minutes at work, the majority of people would choose to go home early. Five times as many men as women would spend the spare thirty minutes flirting with a colleague, whereas women would be more likely to spend time on social networking sites, such as Facebook or Twitter.

Dan Robinson, Head of Green Flag commented: “We wanted to find out how the public would spend the half an hour it takes Green Flag to get to a breakdown. It is quite surprising that top of the list for both sexes is to read, but after that, each group reverts to stereotype, with sport, sex and music topping the male list, whilst house proud females would rather improve their environment and socialise with friends.”


What men would do with a spare half an hour at home
Read a paper or book (34%)
Watch sport (13%) )
Get amorous with partner (11%)
Listen to iPod (11%)

What women would do with a spare half an hour at home
Read a paper or book (45%)
Clean the house (19%
Go on Facebook or Twitter (17%)
Get amorous with partner (7%)

Green Flag is part of the RBS Group, an official partner of AT&T Williams. Green Flag branding appeared on this season’s FW31 car, driven by Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima.

In the time it takes a Green Flag technician to arrive at a breakdown scene**, an F1 driver could almost complete an entire lap of the M25***.


Notes to Editors:

* Opinium Research carried out an online poll of 2,006 adults between 8th and 11th September 2009. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria.
** Green Flag reach their customers within a national average of 29 minutes (data based on 578,485 nationwide call-outs between January 2009 and September 2009).
*** The M25 is the longest ring road in the world at 117 miles long (source: Environment Agency.) The FW31 reaches top speeds of 220 mph (Monza circuit), with a racing start (0 to 100 mph) taking 3.8 seconds. The AT&T Williams team completes an average pit stop in 7-8 seconds. An F1 driver is estimated to take 32 minutes to complete a full lap of the M25.

Green Flag

With over 30 years experience, Green Flag provides customers with rapid breakdown cover 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Customers have access to a national network of thousands of independent recovery agents in the UK and mainland Europe
Green Flag is part of RBS Insurance, the second largest general insurer in the UK and is wholly owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Customers can find out more about Green Flag products or get a quote by calling 0845 246 1557 or visiting www.greenflag.com
Green Flag Motoring Assistance breakdown cover is underwritten by Direct Line Insurance plc which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Registered office: 3 Edridge Road, Croydon, Surrey, CR9 1AG. Registered in England No. 1810801. FSA registered No. 202684. The Financial Services Authority's Register.

For more information please contact:
Claire Foster
Green Flag Press Officer
Tel: 020 8285 8682
Email: claire.foster@rbs.co.uk

Regional times
Scotland, Northumbria and N Ireland – 34.37 minutes
Central/N England and N Wales – 28.99 minutes
Central/S Wales and SW England – 28.30 minutes
London, Kent, East Anglia – 29.05 minutes

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