Make sure you are safe and seen on ‘Breakdown Day’

As millions of people prepare to drive home for Christmas this Friday, car care specialist, Comma, is urging people to carry a high visibility vest in their car as one of the busiest days of the year for Britain’s breakdown services coincides with the shortest daylight hours of the year.

Earlier this year, Comma highlighted the dangers of not being seen clearly by the side of the road when it launched its www.safeandseen.co.uk campaign, designed to lobby for a new law, making it mandatory for every motorist to carry a hi-vis vest in their vehicle. Some 250 people are killed or seriously injured each year on the hard shoulder of the UK’s motorways alone.

The last Friday before Christmas is traditionally when massive numbers of people hit the roads across the UK, with Friday 22 December 2006 being the RAC’s busiest Friday of the winter for call-outs.

This year, 21 December is when the last Friday before Christmas falls, and it’s also the winter solstice, bringing the fewest hours of daylight – a meagre 7 hours, 49 minutes this year.

That makes it all the more important to be clearly visible should you be one of the unlucky souls to start the festive break with a breakdown.

Comma’s Mike Bewsey said: “When the Christmas holiday period finally gets underway, most people’s prime objective is to get home to the family. If any day of the year is the one to make sure you are safe and seen, the darkest day of the year must surely be it.”

Many countries in central Europe, including Spain, Italy, Austria and Portugal, already have legislation to ensure that motorists must have hi-vis vests on board when they travel, but no such law exists in Britain.

For further information, visit commaoil.com or safeandseen.co.uk.