In this winter season with potential hazardous weather and driving conditions, dad and I wanted to share one of our laugh out loud moments of the year though it has to be said that the laughter was more in hindsight

Driving back to London on the M3 earlier this year, dad heard a sudden rattling and was able, happily, to get the car over to the hard shoulder with the aid of hazard lights and considerate drivers around him

He got out to find a flat tire. Although he has never changed a tire in his life, he thought he would nonetheless locate the spare tire in the boot. So, he moved the stuff in the boot out of the way and lifted up the floor to find…. 

Nearly fitted in the spare wheel well was a perfectly shaped and sized polystyrene insert. Yup, no spare tire which dad had assumed would be standard in any car on the road

The recovery truck driver informed him that new cars are often sold these days without the spare wheel as standard in order to save weight and therefore meet emission targets. The spare wheel is an optional extra

So, do have a look in your spare wheel well to check whether your car actually has a spare tire!

Incidentally, this should be the only thing allowed to replace your spare wheel in your car’s wheel well!