Drivers confused.com about where they have parked their cars

56% of UK drivers have, at some point, forgotten where they have parked their car, and 3% have picked up the phone to ask their breakdown service to help them find it. More than 50 in 2,000 drivers in the UK admit to making that call according to a survey by Confused.com.

The Confused.com survey reveals some of the gaffes of UK drivers, which have led them to phone for their breakdown service.

25% of drivers have locked their keys in the car and 10% of drivers have had to call for their breakdown service to help them sort the problem out.  Putting the wrong fuel in the car has happened to more than 10% of us, with half of those affected, (5%), also calling for assistance from a breakdown service to put things right. A small number of UK drivers also admit to calling the breakdown service, not just when their car fails but when they get lost (3.5%), lose their car (3.5%) or the sat nav is playing up (2%).

Needing help changing a wheel (21%) and topping up oil or engine coolant (13%) are other reasons why drivers have called out their breakdown service.

When it comes to forgetting where we've parked, the women fare worse than the men with 63% of women owning up to losing track of where they parked, compared to 43% of men. A whopping 78% of women have run out of petrol, with 69% of men admitting that gaffe. 9% of men and 5% of women have called their breakdown service to help them when their fuel ran dry. And this is assuming we've managed to put the correct fuel in the car in the first place: more than 14% of men have put the wrong fuel into the car, compared to just 8% of women.

Gareth Kloet, Head of Car Insurance at Confused.com said: "This survey just goes to show how much people use and appreciate their breakdown cover, especially when they get themselves in a potentially embarrassing situation. Shopping around for breakdown cover by using a website like Confused.com can make it more affordable.  Although it's no substitute for remembering where you parked!"

Almost a quarter of men and just under a quarter of women do not have any breakdown cover according to the survey of 2,000 drivers, which was carried out at the end of May 2011.

For more information, visit confused.com.