Safety and your vehicle
The temperature gauge moves into the red while you are driving. What should you do?
- Speed up to force more air over the engine
- Turn the heater off and carry on for hours
- Stop as soon as it is safe and let the engine cool before checkingCorrect
- Immediately remove the radiator cap while the engine is hot
Why?
A reading in the red means the engine is overheating, which can cause serious damage if you keep going. Annex 6 of The Highway Code includes keeping the coolant right, so stop safely and let the engine cool; never open a hot radiator cap, as scalding coolant can spray out.
Highway Code rule Annex 6