Motorists at risk as they go Christmas crackers

A whopping 8.6 billion miles are expected to be travelled on the UK’s roads this festive season and many of them will be in unsafe vehicles according to research by Auto Windscreens.

The research found that 77% of motorists don’t check their car for necessary repairs before a long journey.

The survey also found:

25% of UK drivers are ignoring the need to replace worn tyres
47% admit to failing to get windscreen chips repaired
26% of drivers would wait for a windscreen chip to develop into a crack before thinking about getting it repaired
29% confessed to delaying replacing broken brake lights. Of those, 70% waited up to a month to replace them.

Auto Windscreens is warning drivers that by overlooking necessary car maintenance before travelling could result in dangerous driving and even breaking the law.

For example, if a windscreen chip is in the driver’s line of vision then the glare from headlights of an oncoming vehicle when they hit the chip could temporarily dazzle and blind the driver.

Worryingly 36% of drivers said a chipped windscreen would be last on their list of repairs, however it is one of the quickest and cheapest to be made safe and legal. A windscreen chip can be repaired in only 30 minutes and the vehicle can be driven immediately. Getting a chip repaired sooner rather than later will also help avoid a windscreen replacement, which costs considerably more and takes around two hours to complete, when a chip becomes a crack.

Abu Haris-Shafi, Managing Director of Auto Windscreens advised: “With the huge amounts of miles travelled at Christmas, drivers simply can’t afford to ignore essential car maintenance.

“We’re urging motorists to keep their cars running efficiently and safely this Christmas with regular service checks and by repairing problems as soon as they spot them. This will not only help save money in the long run but can prevent drivers falling foul of the law and risking their life, as well as the lives of others.”