Researcher: Busy roads yield fewer friends

BRISTOL, England, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- A British researcher said his work indicates residents of busy roads tend to have 75 percent fewer friends than those who live on quiet streets.

Joshua Hart, who conducted the research for his master's degree at the University of the West of England, said residents whose homes experience constant noise from passing cars suffer "considerable deterioration of their local social lives," The Daily Mail reported Friday.

"Interviews with residents indicate that growing motor traffic has forced people to make major adjustments in their lives, to shield against the nearly constant noise, pollution, dust and danger outside their front doors," Hart said. "Many residents revealed that they experience sleep disturbances, no longer spend time in the front of their homes, and curtail the independence of their children in response to motor traffic."

"This study shows that the deterioration of neighboring in this country may well be down to our own travel habits. We created this problem, and now we have a responsibility to solve it," he said.