A new study by breakdown firm Britannia Rescue has found 98% of UK motorists are completely baffled by the huge array of warning lights on their car dashboard.

The study looked at 99 separate dashboard warnings lights on 15 popular cars, ranging in size from a small Nissan to a high end Mercedes-Benz. It found that over half of drivers could recognise the most popular symbols, but with just 12 symbols common on all models there was considerable confusion about some of the others. The Mercedes E Class caused the greatest confusion with 41 separate lights compared to an average of just over 20 on most other makes. 

Worryingly 95% of drivers did not recognise a faulty catalytic converter light, while 86% did not know the A/C system warning symbol and 71% were confused by the tyre pressure warning.

The study also found that when a light does come on most drivers continue to drive and it takes an average of 12 days before they get the problem checked. 6% of drivers admitted they ignored a warning light for more than a month. Britannia say this can prove costly as average repair prices were found to double for cars driven an extra two weeks over those repaired immediately.