The ten daftest things that motorists do

Research by industry giant LeaseCar.uk has found the silliest mistakes that consistently make driving more difficult than it needs to be.

Some of them, like losing keys and storing breakables on the seat instead of the boot or footwell, affect only the car owner themselves.

But others, like parking too close, cause a headache for anyone else sharing the road.

Putting the wrong fuel in the car is an expensive error that holds up traffic when the car breaks down in the worst possible place.

Some motorists have also learned to their cost that parking payment slips should always be placed in the front windscreen, no matter which way the car is facing – or else they get ticketed.

Tim Alcock of LeaseCar.uk said: “None of us are perfect and the best drivers never stop learning.

“At the same time, our study found the same few dunderheaded driving habits kept cropping up, so it’s a good idea to make a note of them.

“Driving is stressful enough as it is, so take a little extra care to try to keep your car and your blood pressure running as smoothly as possible.”

The ten daftest things that motorists do (in no particular order)

1. Put petrol in a diesel car, or vice versa

Everyone knows a horror story about this. If you’re lucky, you’ll break down at home and it won’t cost too much to fix the engine.

2. Losing your vehicle in a car park

Or anywhere else. Nothing beats that feeling when it’s finally time to head home and realising you now have to play hunt-the-car across eight floors, or in all the surrounding streets.

3. Parking too close to the next car

Have you ever had to shimmy into your car because the idiot next to you parked four inches away from it? Of course you have. You’ve also probably come back to scratches on your chassis because you did it to someone else.

4. Parking under trees

The perfect way to become a public toilet for all the local birds and ruin your paintwork.

5. Putting breakables on the seat

For goodness sake, put them in the boot or in the footwell. How many times do they need to crash to the floor after a semi-hard brake before we learn?

6. Not flipping the wing mirrors in when parking

Yes, other drivers should pass your car with room to spare. But you know they won’t, and the mirrors flip inwards for this very reason.

7. Lose the keys

We all have a designated spot for the car keys, and yet we all lose them with alarming frequency.

8. Starting with the car in gear

It’s one thing to park with the car in gear, and another when you lurch forward suddenly when you start up. Let’s hope there was nothing in front of you.

9. Parking illegally

On double yellows, outside of a marked bay, on a dropped kerb, whatever. This is one of the most infuriating dim-witted things a driver can do.

10. Putting the parking payment slip in the rear windscreen

One daft Midlands driver who fell foul of this recalled: “I had driven forwards into the bay, between two other cars, so I thought I was actually helping the warden by putting the slip in the rear window. Instead I got a ticket and they wouldn’t rescind it. The moral of the story: parking wardens are twerps and you should never do anything nice for them.”