Motorists confess to driving faulty vehicles

Car and van insurance policyholders may be among almost half of drivers who have knowingly driven vehicles with dangerous defects.

A study by road safety charity Brake has shown that 42 per cent of UK drivers have taken their vehicles out despite being aware of their failings.

Among the faults motorists were aware of when driving were defective tyres with worn out tread, poor brakes, wrong oil and water levels and driving in the dark with broken lights.

Of particular concern was the lack of knowledge drivers possessed in relation to their braking systems.

More than four in five drivers admitted they had no idea of the percentage of wear on their brake pads.

And nearly three out of four drivers only had their brakes checked once a year - during the vehicle's annual MOT or service.

Mary Williams OBE, chief executive of Brake, described the findings as shocking.

"Drivers seem to be placing far too much reliance on their annual MOT and passively relying on their garage to tell them when to replace components, rather than asking questions about level of wear and deciding to take action now rather than too late," she commented.

Ms Williams went on to say that motorists cannot pass the buck for safety responsibility to their garage as in the event of a crash; it will be the driver in the dock.

According to findings by the Post Office last month, almost half of motorists have failed to have their vehicles fully maintained during the recession to save money, despite potentially risking hefty car insurance claims instead.

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The views expressed within the article are entirely those of Adfero Ltd and are not those of the BGL Group