Summer road trips are meant to be carefree, but a surprising number of U.S. drivers are hitting the highway with cars they know aren’t ready for the journey.

A new study from Guardian Service , which surveyed 1,000 American drivers, reveals a troubling pattern: 25% of respondents admitted they have started a summer road trip knowing their car wasn’t road-ready. Even more concerning, many continued driving long distances after warning lights appeared, sometimes for more than 1,200 miles.

These findings land at the peak of travel season, when millions of Americans are packing up for one last getaway before fall. But the study’s data shows that the freedom of the open road may be coming at the cost of basic safety and vehicle longevity.

Drivers Are Rolling the Dice With Vehicle Safety

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