Dashboard warning lights!

So you’re driving in your company car, and you notice a light come on on your dashboard. Do you look again and decide on a course of action, or do you ignore it and think “I’ll deal with it later”. Well if you answered yes to the second option then you are definitely not alone!

Kwik Fit recently did some research and found that 13 million motorists have been alerted by at least one dashboard light in the last year. However, out of this 13 million a third of them or (four million) suffered from dashboard denial, and took 5 days or more before they took action. However 3.7 million did do the right thing and get the problem checked out immediately… which group would you be in?

The most common warning light to affect most motorists is the engine system warning light, followed by the oil pressure warning light. Kwik Fit also discovered another worrying fact. In their studies they found that 1 million motorists had seen a ‘tyre pressure warning light come on, however this figure in reality could actually be a lot higher. In 2011 a Kwik fit study revealed that the tyre pressure warning symbol was the most unrecognised light and less than 49% knew what it was!

For those of you who are unaware of what this looks like, it looks like this –

Do you ignore your dashboard? - Courtesy of allvoices.com

Roger Griggs, director of communications at Kwik Fit, said: “If a warning light flashes up on your dashboard it’s important not to panic. As long as there are no visible or audible signs of a problem – and the car feels ok to drive – then it’s often ok to carry on driving calmly until the next available service centre.

“It’s shocking, though, that millions of us are driving around for days – and sometimes months – with a warning light illuminated. These motorists could be risking serious engine damage at the very least, but if the issue is left to develop, and the car fails mid-drive, it could even end up causing an accident.

“Although the engine warning light is the most commonly occurring, it’s potentially the most serious. We would urge any motorist who sees it flash up when they’re driving to have a diagnostics check run on their car at the very earliest opportunity.”

To see the full article go to fleetnews.com