More than half of drivers aged between 25 and 34 don’t know how to open their car’s bonnet, according to recent research.
A survey of 1,000 British drivers was carried out by Leasing Options, to determine how capable motorists in this country are at carrying out basic maintenance tasks on cars.
Drivers struggle with maintenance checks
While overall 71 per cent of those surveyed said they could open the bonnet of their car, as many as 58 per cent from the 25-34 age group didn’t know how. 34 per cent of the women surveyed admitted they couldn’t open their car’s bonnet.
The survey also found that 55 per cent of drivers overall don’t know how to change a wheel and tyre. Less than a quarter (24 per cent) from the 18-24 age group know how to carry out this particular task.
The survey also found many drivers to be unaware in regards maintenance checks for their car’s brakes. Only 35 per cent of respondents knew how to correctly check the brake fluid and 21 per cent knew how to check brake pads.
Other findings
Only 19 per cent of the UK drivers surveyed knew that the official stopping distance from 30mph is 23 metres (or 75 feet).
Other discoveries from the survey included that just over half of respondents (55 per cent) knew how to programme the in-car radio, and just 47 per cent knew how to adjust the height of their car’s steering wheel.
Worryingly, the survey also saw one in 10 drivers admit they would use boiling water to de-ice their car windows, as oppose to using something more appropriate like de-icer or an ice scraper.
Applying hot water to an ice-covered windscreen can result in serious damage. That’s because as the glass goes from extreme cold to hot, thermal shock can create a chip in the windscreen which could develop into a crack.
