Do You Understand Your Car Dashboard?‏

�

Warning ahead! 98 per cent of drivers cannot understand their dashboard lights (but do YOU know what these symbols mean?)

• Nine in 10 failed to recognise the sign for a faulty catalytic converter
• Just 12 of the symbols were common across all car models�
• A Mercedes-Benz E Class has the most symbols with 41 compared to a Nissan Micra which has 21�

Britain’s motorists are becoming a nation of ‘dashboard dunces’ baffled by the increasing array of�warning lights in their cars, new research has revealed.�

More than nine in ten people failed to recognise one particular warning.

The study identified 99 separate dashboard light warnings in 15 of the UK’s most popular cars�ranging from the humble Nissan hatchback to Mercedes-Benz executive saloons.

Yet just 12 of the symbol designs were common across all models.

Breakdown firm Britannia Rescue, which commissioned the report, also conducted a survey of 2,018�drivers that revealed more than half of drivers (52 per cent) can correctly identify all 16 of the most�common symbols.

The company said the number of warnings on dashboards varied dramatically from one make to another�and highlighted the Mercedes-Benz E Class for having 41 compared to 21 in a�Nissan Micra, BMW 3 Series and Volvo S40.

The Britannia Rescue poll found that a quarter of motorists have had one or more warning symbols light up while driving in the past 12 months – most commonly the engine, oil or battery lights.

The Mercedes-Benz E Class (pictured) had the most symbols with 41 compared to 21 in the Nissan Micra

The most baffling light is for a faulty catalytic converter which was incorrectly�identified by 95 per cent of drivers.

Next for confusion was the air conditioning light which 86 per cent got wrong, followed by a tyre�pressure warning that flummoxed 71 per cent.

Nearly half (48 per cent) do not even recognise the brake warning light and more than a third (35�per cent) cannot understand an airbag alert, with almost as many (27 per cent) mistaking it for a�seat-belt warning.

Dashboard lights commonly inform drivers about problems like poor battery condition, low oil�pressure and high engine temperature.

But many cars now have lights for service interval indicators and seatbelt reminders along with�malfunctions ranging from faulty anti-skid stability control to blocked air and fuel filters,�defective diesel filters or fuel contaminated by water.�

A Britannia Rescue spokesman said:’Cars have become so complex that the majority of drivers don’t�understand what all of the most common warning or information lights on a car dashboard mean.

‘As in-car technology becomes more advanced there are now more and more in-car gadgets with symbols that support everything from the car’s sat-nav system to its heating and cooling options.