Research suggests Scottish car insurance customers could save around £370 million a year and 900,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of one motorist driving from Edinburgh to Glasgow 60 million times, or to taking 300,000 cars off the road for a year – if they practised greener driving.

To underline the point, environmental organisation the Energy Saving Trust has held a two-day event in Hamilton to let motorists in the area try out its eco-driving simulator and find out more about reducing their fuel costs and cutting carbon emissions.

Its representatives pointed out during the event that individual drivers in Scotland stand to save between £200 and £250 per year on fuel costs by following the principles of green driving.

Michaela Wright from bank and car insurance provider first direct, whose staff were some of the hundreds of Scottish motorists to try the simulator, affirmed that boosting awareness of the cost of wasted energy was a key benefit of the event.

"The eco-driving simulator is a great opportunity for our staff to help them change their driving behaviour and reduce the impact on valuable resources," she concluded.

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