Our new research reveals that an incredible 96% of drivers cannot accurately identify the meaning of all their dashboard warning signs. Can you?
Continue readingDo you know your dashboard warning signs?
Driving safety
Expert advice: why old tyres can be dangerous
There can be significant dangers to safety posed by old tyres. Especially during the summer when warmer roads put more strain on them.
Because of this, the Government banned tyres older than 10 years from heavier vehicles in 2021. But what about ageing tyres on regular cars? Read on to find out.
Continue readingDon’t cause an obstruction: keep your roof rack secure
You’re about to head out for a summer road trip. You’re trying to cram everything and everyone into the car, but it’s no good, it doesn’t all fit. You didn’t want to resort to this, but it’s time to get the roof rack out.
Continue readingWhy should you do a vehicle history check?
If you’re looking to buy a used vehicle, get a vehicle history check. It can reveal any pesky hidden details that might affect the vehicle’s quality, legality, or safety. The results may change how much you’d consider paying.
So, let’s look at why it’s so important to do a vehicle history check (and how you can get one).
Continue readingEssential things to carry in your vehicle
They say motoring knowledge comes with time. Well, we’re here to provide it straight away.
So, ever wondered what the essential things to have in your vehicle are? Wonder no more.
Continue readingTravelling with pets: expert advice
Over half the UK population has a pet. We’re a nation of animal lovers, so when we’re travelling with our pets, we want to keep those furry friends safe.
From the Highway Code to general good practice on keeping everyone in your vehicle safe, we’ve put together some key tips for driving with pets.
Continue readingEverything you need to know about your MOT
It’s important to get an MOT before your current one runs out to stay on top of your vehicle’s health. But, what is it? And what happens if you don’t get one?
We’ve put all things MOT in one place to help answer your questions.
Continue readingLearning to drive: be confident before your test
Learning to drive is a big achievement. You can bask in your independence. You can do late-night big Tesco trips. You can drive yourself to training, work, wherever, whenever (with or without Shakira playing).
No pressure, right?
It takes a lot of confidence to take your driving test. So, we’ve put together some tips to help you get in the zone.
Continue readingDriving in France: road trip rules
A road trip in France gives you total freedom in one of the UK’s most popular holiday destinations. Whether you’re going on a long holiday or just for a couple of days, driving in France isn’t anything to get stressed about.
But, there are some things to be aware of to help prevent an accident (and prevent you getting on the wrong side of the law). Here are our top tips for driving in France.
Continue reading10 tips for taking your driving test in 2023
New year, new you. 2023 is an open road ahead of us and this may / will be the year you pass your driving test.
But, as only around 50% of drivers passed their test in 2021/22, how can you best prepare?
Well, you’ve done the first thing already – you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve put together 10 simple driving test tips to help cut out any worries you might have about the big day.
Continue readingFour driving habits you didn’t know were illegal
Right, we’ll get straight to the big one here – is driving in flip-flops illegal? Or is it illegal to drive barefoot?
No, these aren’t illegal, they’re just not recommended. It’s much safer to drive in normal, flat shoes.
Now that the illegal flip-flop myth is out of the way, here a few things that could catch you out.
Continue readingFirst aid kits and what to do in an emergency.
If you don’t have a first aid kit in your car, today’s the day to get one.
We hope it would only ever need to be used for a minor graze here and there. But, if something serious happens, it’s important to have one close by and know how to use everything in it.
Continue readingWeirdest world records with cars
The fastest speed going backwards, pulling cars with your teeth and even kissing them. There seems to be no end to the lengths people will go to in order to get their name in lights with Guinness World Records.
After American Scott Burner recently grabbed the record for the fastest ever drive in reverse, we thought we’d hunt down some of the weirdest world records involving cars.
Pogo-ing into the record books
Continue readingHalf of all speed cameras are switched off, new report finds
Love ’em or hate ’em, speed cameras have been a part of British motoring life for more than 30 years. But your chances of getting a ticket for speeding from a fixed camera are now significantly reduced. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by BBC Panorama has revealed that only around half of fixed speed cameras now work.
Meanwhile, another request to police forces showed that the highest a driver has been caught speeding at between 2018 and 2020 was 163mph, more than twice the legal limit.
Why have speed cameras been turned off?
Continue readingQuiz: 12 tasty motoring teasers from 2018
How well do you remember 2018? Our fun quiz looks at some of the news from the year just gone. Laws to do with car tax, the MOT test and learner drivers all changed. And there was plenty of eyebrow-raising research too.
How much attention were you paying? Take our test to find out. And don’t worry if you get any of them wrong: our questions have been designed to help you become a better, safer driver. Here we pose 12 teasers – one from every month of the year – to see how much you remember.
Expert advice: How you can beat the Christmas food coma this year
An estimated 24 million drivers are expected to hit the road after eating their Christmas dinner on December 25th. Nothing unusual about that. What worries me is they could experience side effects from over eating that affect their driving in a similar way to drinking.
I’m a qualified nutritionist and have spent years studying the effect of food on the human body. One thing it’s taught me is that if you eat a large amount of the sort of food that makes up the average Christmas dinner, you’ll have sluggish reactions and maybe even fall asleep at the wheel.
Green Flag research found that more than a third of drivers (37 per cent) claim they can’t control dozing off after eating a festive feast. That doesn’t surprise me. But nod off at the wheel for just three seconds on a motorway and you’ll cover the length of about four football pitches. The dangers are obvious. Read on to find out how you can beat the Christmas food coma.
Why Xmas dinner makes us dozy
Seeing the light: alarming cost of replacement car headlamp bulbs
LEDs are the future of car lighting but they can come with a hefty price tag (Picture © DS Automobiles)
Drivers of some of our most popular small cars could have to pay as much as £846 for replacement headlamp bulbs. New research reveals that the cost of mending broken headlights is escalating because increasing numbers of cars are relying on LED technology.
The study by What Car? shows that owners of the Volkswagen Polo, the country’s sixth best-selling car, will spend £18 on a new halogen bulb. Meanwhile, it’ll cost drivers of the upmarket GTI version £846 because it has LED headlamp units. Owners of the Suzuki Swift SZ3 or SZT models will pay just £4 for a replacement bulb. However, drivers of the more upmarket SZ5 version will fork out £684 to replace the xenon unit. Read on to find out how much you might have to pay for a new headlamp bulb.
What kind of lights does your car have?
Expert comment: Why the Slow down, move over campaign makes sense
The roadside can be a dangerous place. If you see something like this ahead, slow down and give it plenty of space (Picture iStock)
If you’ve ever had to get out of your car at the roadside, you’ll know what a hostile place it can be. It’s no exaggeration to say that for some people it can be deadly. To raise awareness about this, we at Green Flag have come together with the AA and RAC to support the ‘Slow down, move over’ campaign.
We’re asking drivers to pay more attention to what’s going on at the side of the road. We all know how easy it can be to have our attention diverted when driving. Whether it’s by something interesting on the radio or pondering a problem at work, we don’t always think about what’s going on outside our own little bubble.
Slow down, move over campaign in detail
Fears assisted driving systems make people think cars self-drive
We’re still quite a way from being able to read a book while the car reliably drives itself, experts say (Picture iStock/metamotorworks)
Safety experts have warned drivers that car makers could be lulling them into a false sense of security. One of the country’s foremost car safety experts believes motor manufacturers are overusing the word ‘autonomous’. As a consequence, drivers are getting the wrong idea about their cars’ capabilities.
Thatcham Research, an independent automotive safety specialist, and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) want car firms to be clearer about what the assisted driving systems on their cars can actually do.
What is the problem?
Does it mean air-con or stop-start? Car owners confused by tech symbols
Confused? You might well be by car tech symbols (Picture iStock/FYMStudio)
The best labels should explain instantly what something is or does. Yet with a lot of in-car technology, drivers don’t know what the dashboard symbols mean. And in some cases they think the buttons operate a different function altogether.
That was the outcome of research conducted by online car seller Buyacar.co.uk. It asked 1000 drivers to identify six common dashboard symbols. Much of this kit now features as standard, even on mid-range family cars such as the Ford Focus. And some of it is important for road safety. Yet many of the symbols chosen by car makers aren’t descriptive enough for drivers, leaving them flummoxed. Do you know what the following six symbols signify?