Packing up your life?
Almost 6.5 million British adults (14%) are planning to take their cars abroad over the next 12 months, according to new research from Sainsbury’s Car Insurance. However, millions of these drivers will, sometimes unwittingly, break the law by engaging in driving acts that are illegal in some foreign countries(2).
Unsurprisingly, France is by far the most popular country for Brits planning to drive their cars abroad with 4.3 million of us (9%) planning to do so. One in three of those people (32%) won’t carry a reflective jacket in their car, 15% won’t carry a warning triangle, and 2% will use a speed trap warning radar detector; all illegal acts in France.
Sainsbury’s Finance is warning motorists to check the local driving laws before setting off abroad by car. Its findings reveal that 30% of motorists won’t carry proof of ownership in their car despite it being compulsory in many countries including Austria, Belgium and Italy. Spectacle-wearing motorists intending to drive abroad may not be aware that it is compulsory to carry a spare pair of glasses with you in Spain, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Almost one in three motorists (28%) will go abroad without carrying a warning triangle, which is illegal in Spain and the Netherlands as well as France, and 8 per cent say they will drive at night without headlamp converters. One in 20 drivers (5%) planning to take their car abroad will illegally try to detect speed traps with their radar detectors; merely having one of these devices in your car is illegal in several European countries such as Belgium, Switzerland and Austria.
Top destinations for Britons driving abroad
France 9% 4.29 million
Belgium 3% 1.22 million
Germany 3% 1.19 million
Spain 2% 821,000
Ireland 2% 749,000
The Netherlands 1% 675,000
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