Haven't got the foggiest
WITH thousands of drivers set to jump into new 58-plate cars over the coming weeks, the AA is encouraging them to spend a few minutes reading the handbook.
Its research shows that almost 40 per cent of them are in the dark over the most common dashboard warning lights.
Nealy half of women (44%) and a third of men (34%) surveyed couldn’t correctly identify symbols for frequently used functions or basic warning lights.
The AA asked 2,000 drivers to identify symbols such as the handbrake warning light, full beam headlight, engine oil pressure and rear fog light.
Other findings included:
n 36% of women and 32% of men were unable to correctly identify the main beam headlight lamp;
n 51% of women, compared to 71% of men, were able to correctly identify the warning light indicating high coolant temperature – yet ignoring this could lead to engine damage.
n 60% of women and 46% of men could not correctly identify the rear fog light symbol, with almost one in ten women (9%) and one in 20 men (5%) admitting to having no idea what it meant;
The most commonly identified warning light was the oil pressure warning lamp with 86% of women and 91% of men in the know.
This still leaves a worrying number of drivers who might ignore this warning, which would almost certainly lead to expensive engine failure.
