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Motoring news

'More than five million Brits' driving unsafe vehicles

19/02/2010

More than five million British motorists may be knowingly driving unsafe vehicles, new research suggests.

In an online poll of 3,225 drivers, conducted on behalf of breakdown provider Brittania Rescue, 16% admitted that they were currently driving a vehicle with an illegal fault. Of these, 12% said that they were driving with worn tyres, 9% knew they had defective brakes and 6% that they had a faulty exhaust system.

Extrapolated across the UK's 33.8 million drivers, the survey's results suggest that more than 5.4 million may be knowingly driving a defective car.

Although driving an un-roadworthy vehicle is punishable by a fine and three penalty points, a third (31%) of respondents with a faulty car said that they could not afford to fix it. Twenty-two per cent said that they had known about a dangerous fault for more than six months.

At the time the survey was conducted in November 2009, a minority of motorists even said that they were holding onto their faulty car until it became eligible for the Government scrappage scheme, which closes at the end of March.

"It's concerning that so many motorists currently drive dangerous vehicles in need of repair," said Brittania Rescue general manager Simon Stevens.

"Some repairs may appear to be minor but they could still turn a car into a death-trap that endangers the driver, passengers and other motorists.

"It can be tempting to put off repairs but doing this could lead to you being fined and, far worse, put you and your family in danger," he added.

Government accident statistics for 2008 reveal that vehicle defects were thought to have contributed to almost 3% of fatal accidents, and around 2% of all accidents in which somebody was injured.