UK motorists abandon Sat Navs in favor of traditional maps this December
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Over 40% of Brits will clock up an additional four hours driving in December in a bid to visit family and friends over the festive period and new research shows that a great majority will be leaving the sat navs at home.
Findings from the Sat Nav Study by Kia Motors found the Boy Scout approach is favoured by 81% of UK motorists; all of whom believe they can read a map and find their way without the help of a navigation system.
One third (34%) of UK motorists admitted to losing their way despite using a sat nav, demonstrating that some time-saving gadgets don’t always live up to their name. Other common reasons for abandoning the sat nav includes not leading drivers to the correct destination, frustration over usability and preferring to listen to music rather than the sat nav instructions.
If driving on busy roads, stocking the boot up with presents and packing the family into the car doesn’t bring enough stress, it would appear us Brits are also partial to the odd squabble when driving. 44% of UK drivers admit to having disagreements with their passengers over which route to take; the main offenders are drivers in the North-West, with 47% admitting to bickering with passengers, a high figure compared to the calm folk of the East Midlands, where just 25% disagree with passengers over directions.
Steve Kitson, Communications Director at Kia Motors UK Ltd. said: “Driving on UK roads in a busy December can be a big enough task for most people but with the added pressure of finding a new destination, it can be even harder.
Only one-fifth (21%) of us claim to be confident enough to find our own way based on knowledge alone, and with three quarters (75%) of Brits abandoning using navigation systems this festive season let’s hope an A-Z is on the Christmas list! We are not surprised motorists are giving up on Sat Navs in favour of the traditional map; as long as drivers are safe and leave the map reading to a passenger then happy driving to all!”
Despite Sat Navs being out of favour with Brits, they would still prefer a celebrity voice to tell them where to go:
• Stephen Fry (40%)
• Ant & Dec (20%)
• Cheryl Cole (11%)
• Prince William (9%)
• Gary Barlow (8%)
• Margaret Thatcher (6%)
• Simon Cowell (5%)
• Justin Bieber (1%)
With the Internet and maps – up-to-date maps – always available, as well as route planners, as long as you have access to Internet and printer, a sat nav is a waste of money as they are way too inaccurate.
The amount of tines sat navs send people the wrong way, up private roads that they have no right of being on (but the sat nav told me so, is the answer) or even through flooded river ford with serious consequnces.
One person who wrongly had followed his sat nav and ended up illegally on a private road through a park told me when challenged as to the signs indicating that he had no right to be on that road “I don't look at signs. I am following my sat nav”.
However, it would appear that, finally, many people start abandoning those stupid gadgets for the real old-fashioned map to get from A to B. About time too.
Maybe even the military will return, in time, to the old-fashioned skill of compass and map and, maybe, we even might consider having shortwave radio and Morse code on ships again and for military and such communications. It certainly would not before time.
© 2011
