Drivers at risk as they ignore weather warnings
Up to two thirds of motorists will ignore severe weather warnings issued by meteorologists, according to a survey of 1,000 drivers by multi-marque fleet funding company Alphabet...
Official pleas to stay at home don’t cut any ice with 67% of drivers quizzed and, even when faced with dire warnings to expect atrocious driving conditions, 57% of motorists surveyed say they will go out in their car if they feel their journey is important.
In addition, 10% say they ignore weather alerts because they claim warnings from TV forecasters are ‘never as bad as they say’.
Mark Sinclair, head of Alphabet said: “Bad weather claims drivers’ lives every year.
“Drivers should ask themselves whether their journey is absolutely necessary. If it is they should be equipped with warm clothes, food, boots and a torch.
“These days, websites such as the BBC’s show satellite images of snow and rainfall crossing the country virtually in real time. There’s very little excuse for not knowing that extreme weather could affect your route.”
Alphabet’s free guide, ‘Drive alert. Arrive alive.’, is available by calling 0870 50 50 100.
Weather nightmares fact file
- More than 33,000 motorists called for help as storms and flooding swept the UK in June 2007
- 1,000 drivers spent a night in emergency shelters on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, in November 2004, when a blizzard trapped their vehicles
- Tens of thousands of motorists in the South East and East Midlands battled through snow and ice for up to 20 hours on January 30 and 31, 2003, during one of the UK’s worst winter traffic nightmares