Why your car is dirtier than a toilet

Eating in your car might be making it dirtier than a toilet. Photo / Getty Images

It might be time to invest in a pair of driving gloves.

A new report from CarRentals.com has put the sanitary condition of the average car under the microscope. And the results are not good.

It found the average car has about 700 different strains of bacteria. And the steering wheel is ground zero.

The average steering wheel was found to have four times the amount of colony forming bacteria per square centimetre than a public toilet seat. It is has six times more bacteria than a mobile phone and twice as much as a public elevator button.

The study found the high levels of bacteria was because people didn't clean their car regularly.

A survey of 1000 drivers in the US found 32 per cent of motorists only clean the interior of their car once a year and a further 12 per cent said they never cleaned the inside of their vehicle.

And the main culprit for the cultivation of bacteria were people eating in their vehicles. The crumbs and spilt milk create a breeding ground for bacteria especially in the warm environment of a car interior. A recent survey by comparison website Finder found 38 per cent of Aussie drivers admitted to eating while driving.

In Australia it is not illegal to eat while driving but motorists may be found to not be in proper control of their vehicle, which is a driving offence — NSW drivers would be slugged $448 and three demerit points.

Another worrying development is the amount of bacteria found on the average fuel pump.

The data found fuel pumps had 11,835 times more bacteria per square centimetre than a public toilet seat.

But if you want fewer germs or a better class of bacteria, premium bowsers have about two-thirds the bugs of those pumping regular fuel.