What are the Top Online Driving Searches?

It can be infuriating when you’re stuck behind a slow driver on the daily commute to work, see someone constantly cutting up other drivers or nearly get in an accident that’s not your fault. Many of us will shout out or mutter under our breaths something along the lines of “do you even know how to drive?” Well, according to some of the most popular things people are searching for online, the answer may be no!

At Shelbourne Motors, we decided to research what some of the most popular search phrases are around driving, to see if there are any common themes. Regular auto complete searches were also examined, which threw up a bizarre range of rather odd searches that people are making.

Top Driving Searches

Based on the average searches per year, the top five queries were all related to practical aspects surrounding driving and car maintenance. These were:

  • How to parallel park (52,800 average searches per year)
  • How to drive a car (52,800)
  • How to start a car (19,200)
  • How to change a tyre (12,000)
  • How to park a car (7,200)

This provides an interesting insight into not only what people are searching for, but what they struggle with.

Strangest Searches on Google


Some of the searches get a little concerning, unless they are queries being made purely by learner drivers (we hope so anyway!). These include ‘what is a roundabout’, ‘how to use a handbrake’ and ‘what do traffic lights do’, to name a few.

Weird and Wonderful Auto Complete Searches

The auto complete function offers an array of wonderful options when making car related searches. Top ones that followed the starts of specific of phrases included:

  • How to drive round a roundabout
  • How to deal with slow drivers
  • Can you drive after tiramisu?
  • What happens if you get caught having sex in a car
  • Why can’t I park?

Various other odd searches from auto complete included ‘can you drive a car without fuel?’ and ‘how do I drive with one foot?’ amongst others.

It also threw up some strange original searches such as:

  • ‘What is a motorway’ (with 240 average searches per month)
  • ‘How cars work’ (480 average searches per month)
  • ‘How to drive in the dark’ (30 average searches per month).

Hopefully not all of these searches were serious or made by those looking for actual advice, but it does provide an interesting insight into what kind of answers people are searching for about driving.