New research has found that more than a fifth (22 percent) of UK motorists are currently ignoring a warning light on their car’s dashboard.
According to estimates by Halfords, this means a staggering 117 million lights are illuminated on vehicles across the country right now.
Almost a third (30 percent) of drivers admit to simply overlooking warning lights. Less than half of drivers are confident of knowing what they mean.
This is despite 18 percent of those surveyed saying they suffered a breakdown by failing to pay attention to an illuminated dashboard light.
No paradise by this dashboard light
Excuses for leaving warning lights lit included drivers not having the time to rectify them. Not believing them to be safety-critical was another key reason.
However, brake system problems accounted for 18 percent of warning lights left on, with 16 percent attributed to airbag faults.
MOT failures or fixed-penalty fines can result from ignoring certain lights.
To help highlight the scale of the problem, Halfords has released a limited-edition Christmas jumper for a special auction.
An illuminating opportunity
Decorated with illuminated warning lights, bids can be placed for the bespoke jumpers until 10 December. All proceeds will be donated to the IAM RoadSmart road safety charity.
Helpfully, each jumper comes with a Halfords guide to explain exactly what every warning light means.
Following the launch of the new jumpers, Tony Greenidge, CEO of IAM RoadSmart, said: “Dashboard warning lights should never be ignored. Not only will they lead to an MOT fail, but they are almost always a pre-warning that something is about to stop working and that you could suddenly be stranded in a very dangerous place.
“The last thing anyone wants over the festive period is a totally avoidable breakdown, so get everything checked before that big trip and your car will be one less thing to stress about during the holidays”
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