Almost half of UK drivers think the cost of motoring will rise in the wake of the Brexit vote to leave the European Union.

A survey of IAM RoadSmart members showed them to have a pessimistic view of how the country's exit from the EU will affect them as drivers.

The road safety charity conducted a poll of more than 1,000 members and visitors to its website between June 27 June and July 12, asking their views of how the decision by UK voters to leave the EU would affect them as drivers.

Of the 1,093 who replied, when asked if they thought the exit would have an impact on drivers and riders in terms of costs, nearly 50% said prices would rise. In contrast, less than 4% said they would fall while nearly 38% said there wouldn't be any difference.

Drivers were slightly more positive on the subject of road safety, as only 16% thought road safety would deteriorate and nearly 12% believed safety may actually improve. But the majority – 65% – were of the opinion that leaving the EU would have no great effect.

When asked if the UK would have a better influence over other key issues affecting motorists and riders, again they were not convinced leaving the EU would improve the situation.

More than 41% thought there would no change in the UK's ability to control prices at the fuel pumps as a result of our exit, But more than 30% said we would be less able to control them and 20% said we would be more able to.

Again, slightly over 40% thought there would be no change in vehicle emissions when we leave.

And 52% of those surveyed through there would no change in standards of driver and rider training and testing but nearly 14% said we would be less able to improve standards and 27% said we would be more able to do so.

Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research, said: 'It appears that UK motorists are not fully convinced that they will benefit from us leaving the EU. At the very best they feel nothing will change, but at worst they think they will lose out.

'Although our survey paints a rather downbeat picture of how UK motorists feel it does give us a strong remit to represent their needs as key Brexit issues are debated in the months ahead.

'Ensuring that past road safety and air quality gains are maintained will be a key challenge but we can now explore new ideas to regain the downward trend in road deaths and serious injuries on British roads.

'Ideas such as reduced VAT on safety kit, incentives for training and embedding good road safety practice into procurement rules are all now firmly back on the table. It's an interesting time to be in road safety.'

Do you think the Brexit vote will affect motorists? Email motoring@archant.co.uk