Few things scare motorists more than seeing a warning light appear on the dashboard. Whether you’re stuck in traffic or sat on your drive, warning symbols spell trouble – especially if you don’t know what they mean. But which symbols are the easiest to guess and which cause the most problems for drivers?
A few weeks ago, we set our readers a challenge: the Prestone car warning lights quiz (you can still take part by clicking the link). We predicted that as there are so many different warning lights, with some new ones added in recent years or only on certain modern models, few drivers would be able to recognise all of them.
Since then, 943 drivers have taken the quiz, with some pretty interesting results! Here, we’ll be sharing some of the most interesting facts and stats from the quiz, finding out if you know your dashboard like the back of your hand or could do with a little revision.
Young vs Old Drivers: Who Scored the Highest?
It’s always interesting to see the difference in knowledge between younger and older drivers, and our warning lights quiz was no exception!
Overall, Baby Boomers came out on top as the group which could correctly identify the most dashboard warning lights. On average, they scored 70%, with 100% knowing the battery warning light, 80% the brake problem light, and 86% the low screenwash warning light.
Meanwhile, millennials performed the worst, scoring an average of 60% correct answers – so not miles below the Baby Boomers. However, they struggled with the DPF warning light, engine management light and emissions warning light, with just 14% able to correctly identify what the little red engine symbol means.
Gen Z and Millennials performed worse than Generation X and Baby Boomers, suggesting that there’s a real gap in knowledge between young and old drivers. Could an overall lack of motoring experience be to blame? Or perhaps young drivers know that they can just Google a warning light for an instant answer? Either way, we advise young drivers to swot-up on dashboard warnings to avoid breakdowns, accidents and premature wear and tear.
Which Warning Lights Caused the Most Problems?
On average, there are more than 10 warning lights on a dashboard, and this varies from car to car. For example, diesel cars have different warning lights compared to petrol, and newer, more expensive models also have lots of extra symbols, including tyre pressure and low screenwash warnings.
It makes sense, then, that certain warning signs were generally easier to identify than others.
Happy with your results or found yourself reaching for your car’s manual? We’d love to hear how you got on, so let us know on the Prestone Facebook channel.
At Prestone, our high-performance car maintenance products are tested in all extremes, so you know they’ll work hard for your car. For more information or for our full product range, click here to visit the homepage.