Although the price of gasoline is heading downward to levels that are merely outrageous, there are still many of us driving our cars until the gas light comes on.
But waiting until your gas tank is empty before a fill-up could not only be risking costly damage to your car, but it can also put you in danger.
Recently, a survey carried out by an insurance firm found that every year, 827,000 drivers ignore their car’s warning light, run out of fuel and break down. While a quarter of the drivers believed that they can drive another 40 miles once the light comes on, two million drivers even admitted to almost always driving their cars with the warning light on…hoping to find cheaper gas.
So what are the risks?
There are quite a few reasons you shouldn’t drive on a gas tank that’s close to empty.
The first thing that we all must realize is that the fuel gauges are not precise instruments. It is more as an estimate rather than an exact measurement. The technology is quite basic even in the modern cars…it’s like a float valve in a cistern. By relying on the fuel gauge, you could be stranded in a deserted area or the middle of a busy road.
Also, allowing the car to run out of gas can cause a lot more damage to your car. Gas acts like a coolant for the electric fuel pump motor in the car. If driving on empty, it sucks in air, causing damage to pumps and injectors. The repairs will cost you more than what it would have cost you to fill up the gas tank.
