UK drivers unprepared for snow

Drivers in the UK are dangerously unprepared to drive in the snow, and could be putting themselves and others at risk.

With one of the coldest winters in a decade expected, an Auto Trader survey of more than 2,000 drivers has revealed that more than a quarter of UK drivers are so short on confidence they simply won’t drive in the snow.

Meanwhile, a worrying 59% of drivers are not aware black ice is transparent.

This is according to the Auto Trader’s Winter Driving Study, which also found that three quarters of those surveyed were unaware that the safe stopping distance increases by 10 times in icy conditions.

The study also found that 34% car drivers leave their engine running and go back into the house while their car warms up, while 11% do not wait at all, instead starting their journey with their head sticking out of the window, in order to see where they are going.

In terms of maintaining their cars, only 46% of motorists know where to put anti-freeze in their car, and only half of those bother to keep their cars topped up with it, while 33% don’t even own an ice scraper.