De-ice, stay safe

One in three motorists involved in car accidents in wintry conditions did not fully de-ice their car.

New research by a money saving website VoucherCodesPro.co.uk has revealed that as many as one third of British motorists either experienced or came close to a car accident this winter after not fully de-icing their car.

Furthermore, only a tenth admitted that they would be ensuring their car was fully de-iced in the future.

Initially, respondents were asked to reveal whether they’d experienced a car accident or had come close to having one so far this winter.

Whilst almost half (48%) said that they had not, 36% said they had come close. The remaining 16% stated that they had experienced some form of motoring incident this winter.

Those who’d experienced a recent motoring accident or had been close were then asked to continue with the survey. Each participant was asked to reveal the cause of their accident or near-accident.

Researchers gave them a list of possible answers and were asked to select all that applied to them.

Top 5 causes of accidents/incidents

• Lack of visibility – 41%
• Poor weather conditions – 37%
• Speeding – 24%
• Lack of concentration – 19%
• Caused by other drivers – 11%

Those who had come close to, or had experienced a car accident were asked if there had been snow or ice on their cars on the morning they set off on a journey that proved dangerous, and more than half (53%) admitted that there had been.

When asked if they had correctly de-iced their car properly that day, one in three (34%) said that they had not de-iced their car fully, with 58% saying that they had done so. The remaining 8% said they could not be sure.

Of those who said they had not de-iced their car properly, the majority (61%) admitted it was as a result of running late and not having enough time to do so, with 22% confessing that they did not have the correct de-icing appliances within their vehicle.

Worryingly, only 11% said that they would be ensuring their car was properly de-iced in future.

“For the sake of being a few minutes late, it’s worth making sure that your windscreen is properly cleared of all ice,” advised George Charles of VoucherCodesPro.co.uk