With the world thinking more and more about preventing the spread of germs and bacteria, ZenAuto recently conducted some research looking into the most bacteria ridden areas of the average car – and the results were pretty shocking.
Twelve areas of the vehicle were swabbed and the samples were left to thrive in an agar solution for 5 days to find the areas of the average car were germs and bacteria are most likely to be found.
The results showed that every area, including the boot, was home to a number of colonies, however, the most germ ridden areas were found to be:
1.Driver Footwell
2.Boot
3.Cup Holder
4.Front Passenger Footwell
5.Passenger Seat
Due to many of us leading busy lives, using our cars for eating, drinking and ferrying our children around to various clubs and commitments – as well as the odd car being used as additional storage for our wardrobes, it’s no wonder germs are finding nice warm places to call their home and multiply.
With this in mind, a regular auto cleaning schedule is something you would expect to be somewhat of a priority, however, ZenAuto also discovered that the majority of those surveyed stated they will only clean both the interior and exterior of their vehicles every couple of months at best (35% and 37% respectively).
And, despite being revealed to be the dirtiest area of the average car, a quarter of UK adults (25%) admitted they would retrieve and eat food (such as crisps or sandwiches) that they had dropped in to the footwell of their vehicle; something which could have potentially negative implications on our health thanks to the unseen germs and bacteria that could be growing there.
Vicky Kerridge, Head of Consumer Experience at ZenAuto, commented on the findings:
“Everyone has the best of intentions when their shiny new car arrives – after all, it’s exciting, you’ve spent your hard earned cash on it, and it has plenty of new gadgets to make your commute a dream, but despite this, it’s all too easy to let things slip when life gets hectic.
“Even the would-be Mrs Hinch’s among us can have an off day or two, and before you know it all of those crumbs from the occasional school run snack have started to multiply by their own volition, as our germ experiment shows all too well.
“However, our research also highlights that a nice clean car is good for you and can actually have a negative impact on your health if you allow the germs to grow. So, make sure you plan in regular deep cleans, dig out that anti-bac and steam clean your upholstery to ensure a happy, healthy car – and you!”
