Halloween may be behind us, but one thing still has the power to chill the blood of any British driver: a small orange light appearing on the dashboard, three days before payday.
That’s why we loved this Reddit post, in which someone carved “very scary lights” into pumpkins: the dashboard warning lights we all dread. Forget vampires and zombies. Nothing says horror like the sudden thought of a garage bill.
Why warning lights are worth taking seriously
Plenty of us deal with them the traditional way: turning up the radio and hoping for the best. A MoneySuperMarket survey of 2,000 UK drivers found that 31.7% had ignored a warning light for more than a few days while still driving. Among 18 to 24-year-olds, the figure was 41.76%.
The check engine light was the most commonly ignored, at 35.65%, ahead of service required and tyre pressure. More worryingly, 15.62% had ignored the oil pressure light and 11.99% the brake system light.
The fright scale
Warning lights vary between cars, so your handbook is the final word. As a general guide, colours tell you how worried to be:
- Red: Proper horror. Stop as soon as it’s safe, check your handbook and get help if you need it. Oil pressure, brake and temperature warnings all belong here.
- Amber: A slow-burn thriller. You may not need to stop at once, but get it checked soon. Check engine lights often fall into this category, though a flashing light can mean something more urgent.
- Green or blue: Not scary at all. It usually just means something is switched on, like your headlights.
The MOT has its own horror ending
That light can come back to haunt you. On many diesels first used from July 2008, a malfunction indicator lamp that’s showing a fault, or doesn’t work at all, is a major defect and an MOT failure. There are similar checks for petrol vehicles.
Covering it with a strip of tape won’t help, however tempting it might be. Unlike a pumpkin, the problem won’t simply collapse into a sad little heap by mid-November.
So if your dashboard lights up like a Halloween lantern, don’t ignore it. The scariest thing about a warning light is usually what it costs when you leave it too long.