Skip to main content

Satellite navigation 'has made drivers lazy'

A majority of UK drivers have no idea of how to read a map and are likely to find themselves hopelessly lost without their satellite navigation (satnav) system. That's the shocking finding of a UK vehicle leasing company which has found that people rely on their electronic devices so heavily that they often have no idea of the route they've taken to reach their destination. In addition, Flexed.co.uk has found that virtually everybody who has used a satellite navigation device has found themselves lost
October 30, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
A majority of UK drivers have no idea of how to read a map and are likely to find themselves hopelessly lost without their satellite navigation (satnav) system.

That's the shocking finding of a UK vehicle leasing company which has found that people rely on their electronic devices so heavily that they often have no idea of the route they've taken to reach their destination.

In addition, %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal Flexed.co.uk Visit flexed website false http://flexed.co.uk/ false false%> has found that virtually everybody who has used a satellite navigation device has found themselves lost in the last mile of a journey at some time or other because it is unable to take them to the exact spot to which they're driving.

Flexed spoke to 1,150 private and commercial drivers about their satellite navigation use, and found: seven per cent of people who use a satnav rely on it totally on a journey; 63 per cent of drivers don't bother with road signs when they're using a satnav device; 60 per cent say they can't read a paper map; 81 per cent say they probably wouldn't find an unfamiliar place again if they had used satnav to get there in the first place; 91 per cent say they've got lost in the last mile of a journey because the device has announced they've arrived ‘too early; only nine per cent said they research the route before taking an unfamiliar journey.

"It's becoming very clear that satellite navigation is making drivers lazy," says Flexed.co.uk spokesman Johnny Ratcliffe, "And it's got to the point where people arrive at their destination with no clear idea how they got there.

“In the old days it would have been a map, forward planning and using the eyes in my head.”

Flexed.co.uk urges drivers to do the same and says that people should become more familiar with the forgotten skills of map-reading.

Related Content

  • Intelematics: five takeaways from ITS World Congress in Singapore
    October 31, 2019
    If you weren’t fortunate enough to be at the 26th ITS World Congress in Singapore – fear not! Stephen Owens of Intelematics takes you through his highlights of the show… Having recently topped the world’s first Smart City Index, Singapore was the ideal host city for this year’s ITS World Congress and provided a fantastic opportunity to bring the International ITS community to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Themed ‘smart mobility, empowering cities,’ it was an enjoyable week full of networking and lea
  • Bob Karr: 'I want to coin the term T2X'
    October 7, 2021
    Star Systems International focuses on providing transponders, readers and consulting services for Smart City initiatives and tolling operations. Adam Hill talks to SSI founder Bob Karr
  • Lime launches free-floating car-share service in Seattle
    November 22, 2018
    Bike-share and electric scooter company Lime has launched a ‘free-floating’ car-share service in Seattle and intends to make 1,500 vehicles available in early 2019. Bloomberg says the company has deployed 50 Lime-branded vehicles and intends to increase this number to 500 by the end of the year. Users can unlock a LimePod vehicle, a customised two-door Fiat 500, via the company’s app for $1 and are charged 40 cents per minute while driving. Toby Sun, Lime’s chief executive officer, says the company is a
  • Keolis Canada to acquire 12 e-buses from Lion Electric
    December 19, 2018
    Keolis Canada has ordered 12 electric Type C all-electric school buses from Lion Electric to transport hundreds of children in the Lanaudière region, Quebec. The fleet will operate alongside two other Type C e-buses which Keolis ordered in 2016. Overall, the service is expected to transport 700 school students as of 2019. A survey from Lion shows that public opinion is behind the move - more than 90% of the 907 respondents say they want schools and boards to promote the use of electric buses. Other fin