WILTSHIRE drivers are some of the worst in the country when it comes to "car coma" according to a survey by Castrol.

Nine out of ten motorists from the south west admit to switching off and driving on autopilot when they make short, routine journeys to work, visit friends or the supermarket.

The familiar feeling of being on automatic pilot in the car has been dubbed 'car coma' by the survey.

And half admitted to driving while still being half asleep, especially in the morning. Three-quarters admitted to driving with impaired visibility due to not de-icing windscreens properly.

The dangers of this were borne out when half the drivers questioned admitted that they had had a near miss while on a short journey, and 27 per cent had been involved in an accident.

Kevin McFarlane, the head of safety for Castrol GTX Magnatec, said: "More and more of us are using our cars to make short journeys of about ten minutes to places like our local supermarket, the train station or to visit family and friends.

"And, because these are routine trips we've made countless times before, it's easy to switch off and lose concentration.

"Ninety five per cent of accidents happen because of human error."