The number of cars on the road has suffered its steepest decline since records began, with many blaming the increasing cost of petrol.
Traffic volumes have fallen for three consecutive years - with a 1.6% decline in 2010, official statistics show.
And as the money raised from fuel tax in 2010/11 reached £27.3bn, many have blamed the cost of motoring for the decline.
Peter Carroll, of the campaign group Fair Fuel UK told HuffPost the government was "literally driving us back into rescession".
"The price of fuel remains a stranglehold on the whole economy. It is literally driving us back into recession and the government is missing a massive opportunity to stimulate growth and reduce inflation, that could be achieved in a cut of fuel duty," he said.
Although George Osborne shelved a planned increase in fuel duty for this January, he has been criticised for not going far enough.
Conservative MP Robert Halfon said fuel prices were "crushing businesses and families".
"We need to go further in cutting petrol tax, and we need to put further pressure on oil companies to reduce prices at the pumps," he told the Daily Mail.