Letting your car run out of fuel can have a catastrophic effect on its engine and can endanger other road users, a motoring organisation has warned.

Road safety and breakdown organisation GEM Motoring Assist is reminding motorists to ensure they avoid letting their car’s fuel tank get anywhere near empty. In particular, GEM urges those drivers who enjoy the challenge of seeing how far they can go with the fuel light on and a tank that’s close to empty.

GEM chief executive Neil Worth commented: “If you permit your car to run out of fuel, you risk serious damage to the engine as well as potentially putting yourself and your passengers at risk of a collision because you will not be choosing where the car finally gives up.”

Running out of fuel on a motorway is irresponsible as well as dangerous. Although it’s not an offence in its own right, there are cases where drivers have been prosecuted for driving without due care and attention – or without reasonable consideration for other road users – when a collision resulted from their running out of fuel and breaking down.

Neil Worth concludes: “Check you have enough fuel for a journey. If you need to refuel, plan where you will stop so there is no risk whatsoever that you will run out.”

Follow GEM on Twitter @MotoringAssist for the latest industry news.

• GEM Motoring Assist was established in 1932, as an independent driver-based road safety association. GEM’s aim is to improve safety for all road users through the sponsorship and initiation of accident prevention measures throughout the UK and to provide motoring and safety information to its own members. Member benefits include a quarterly magazine, free literature and advice and discounts on insurances and other services.

• 

• 

JEEP PEDIGREE HONOURED WITH TWO WINS AT 2021 ‘4X4 OF THE YEAR’ AWARDS

• Jeep Wrangler scoops special Off-Road Award
• Jeep Renegade takes award for Best Small SUV following introduction of 4xe plug-in hybrid model

It’s been around for 80 years, most famous as the workhorse of the US Army during the Second World War, but decades later is still winning awards.

In the year that will mark the 80th anniversary of the Jeep brand, 4×4 magazine has lauded both the Wrangler and Renegade models in their annual 4×4 of the Year sponsored by BFGoodrich honours.

The Jeep Wrangler once again takes home the 4×4 magazine’s Off-Road Award, a special category which concentrates solely on a vehicle’s off-road performance.  The expert judges praised the Wrangler for its purity, as well as its ability to drive across Africa or just the potholed M25.

Alan Kidd, editor of 4×4, commented  “The Wrangler’s off-road mastery comes from mechanical engineering, not clever electronics. It’s built simple but it’s also built clever – and most of all, it’s built to last. Jeep knows its customers will modify their vehicles, too, and it has embraced this in the vehicle’s design.

“The world has moved on from the days when every 4×4 was made like this – but the realities of off-roading have stayed the same, and that’s why the Wrangler wins our Off-Road award yet again.”

The Jeep Renegade also took home the award for Best Small SUV with the judges recognising the new 4xe plug-in-hybrid model as the update that set it apart from the tough competition in this category.

Discussing the win, Alan Kidd noted: “Jeep took a while to join the electric gang, but it clearly hasn’t been sitting on its hands. The 4xe is a very sophisticated hybrid system and one which the company has used not just to maintain but to enhance the vehicle’s off-road capabilities. Hybrid 4×4 systems can sometimes feel as if they’re going through the motions: this, however, is absolutely the real thing.

“When you see what the Renegade can do off-road, you’re left in no doubt that it’s a true Jeep. Fact is, it’s a better vehicle now than it was when it won those awards back in the day – and the 4xe is possibly the most appealing hybrid we’re yet to drive.”