NONE of us particularly likes scraping the ice of the windscreen first thing in the morning.
It means extra time – as well as braving the cold.
But it seems company car drivers are the worst at clearing screens because they are ‘in too much of a rush’ to fully defrost their vehicle before heading off to work. And men are worse than women at pulling off the driveway while peering through a tiny spot of clear glass at the road ahead.
Should a fatality occur in such a situation, drivers could find themselves facing up to five years imprisonment for causing death by careless driving.
The results come from a poll of 4000 drivers conducted by tyre company Continental.
“Preparation is key when setting out in your car, especially during the winter months,” commented Continental’s safety exert Tim Bailey.
“It is essential to be able to see and be seen. An astonishing 52% of people know it is wrong to drive without a fully clear windscreen but fail to do anything about it.
“It is particularly worrying that company car drivers came up worse than other drivers in terms of poor visibility and awareness of winter driving safety as they spend a significant amount of time on the road,” Mr Bailey added.
Further information
If you want further advice on winter driving, then read our Advice Centre articles Top Tips: Winter weather driving tips, and Top Tips: Avoiding glare in the winter sun.
Continental has winter tyre advice at www.tyresforlife.co.uk.
75% of drivers can’t see out of frosted up screen
