By Natasha Lomas, 22 July 2008 15:18
NEWS
Many drivers can't imagine life without their trusty sat-nav - but the motorist's best friend is being blamed for causing hundreds of thousands of accidents and near-misses.
The gadget has also caused motorists to infringe the Highway Code, get lost and be late for appointments, according to a survey of more than 2,000 motorists for insurance company Direct Line.
A worrying two per cent - or more than 290,000 drivers across the UK - said GPS has caused them to be involved in an accident or near-miss. But the survey also suggests sat-nav devices distract and confuse millions of drivers, and encourage a variety of dangerous driving behaviours.
Worrying effects on drivers include almost a fifth (19 per cent) of sat-nav users who said it caused them to dawdle or hesitate on a busy road; 18 per cent who said it reduced their awareness of what was going on around them; 11 per cent who said it made them lose concentration while driving; and 10 per cent who said it caused them to make a dangerous, late or illegal turn.
More than a third (36 per cent) of sat-nav users also said GPS has caused them to be uncertain or confused; and almost a third (26 per cent) said the tech tried to make them go through a no-entry sign or somewhere vehicles are prohibited.
According to Direct Line there are 14.83 million sat-nav users in the UK and 33.7 million motorists, so the survey suggests a whopping 5.3 million sat-nav users (i.e. 36 per cent) have become confused by using GPS to navigate while driving.
Yet various companies are developing high tech in-car systems to embed far more driver-assistance technology into vehicles, with plans to wirelessly connect cars to the internet and each other in future, bringing far greater scope for driver distractions.
A substantial chunk of survey respondents also found sat-nav failed to do what it is supposed to: more than a fifth (21 per cent) said the gadget has taken them to completely the wrong place. And seven per cent said it has caused them to be late because of an unrealistically short journey time.
Maggie Game, head of motor insurance for Direct Line, said drivers should seek to reduce the number of in-car distractions and should try out different sat-nav models before they buy to evaluate their ease of use.
She added in a statement: "Motorists need to realise that while sat-navs are a helpful navigation tool, drivers should not follow their instructions to the detriment of road safety. If a sat-nav system gives you an instruction which is likely to endanger other road users, you should ignore it.
"Sat-navs are designed to make driving easier and safer. However, they will only do this if you take the time to learn how to properly use a sat-nav system and understand the benefits of the technology."
Comments
There are 21 comments. Join the discussion
1. Rory Choudhuri
Why not set this in context. Would those drivers hesitating on a busy road, making a late turn, etc., have been any more or less distracted if they'd had an old fashioned road atlas open on their knees, or across the steering wheel.
2. Peter Healy
The research on Sat Navs ignores the alternatives to Sat Navs. We've all seen people with road atlases balanced on their steering wheels or people who stop in dangerous situations to ask the way. But nobody bothers to research this type of driver as it doesn't make headlines.
Everything can be a distraction in a car - working the radio or heater, talking, children etc but we all seem to concentrate on Sat Navs and mobile phones.
We don't need additional legislation - we need to get tough on dangerous driving howver it is caused.
3. anonymous
And a map is easier? This is so much safer than driving along trying to manage map reading! Put it in context! Of course it's going to be more of a distraction than nothing, but it is a lot less of a distraction than balancing a map on your knee and trying to figure out where you are! I'm rubbish at map reading, so for me this is so much safer! I couldn't get to half the places without it - i'm 15 times more distracted using a map!!
4. anonymous
People have to blame someone/something else for their problems. Most SATNav Devices have a start up messaqge indicating the Highway code over rules a SATNav instruction.
5. Mike Poole
I would not be surprised if these statistics under-represent the problems. Will everyone admit to their dangerous driving in a survey conducted by an insurance company?
6. Saradhi Motamarri
No doubt the gadgets are handy and useful. But taking them beyond their realm, and becoming a 'servant' to the gadget has an inherent danger, not just for motoring and personal life, but more so the human thinking process itself. As often, I come across people, who now no longer know what is meant by North, South, East or West.
Foreseeing this obvious delusion, I coined a word 'analytical lethargy' in my paper titled, 'A Diagnostic View on Information Technology,' published in ACM-Software Engineering Notes, v17 n4, Oct, 1992.
An excerpt from the paper goes:
"The adoption of IT or for that matter Science and Technology, should be viewed as an instrument in lessening the burden of humankind in improving its 'functional effectiveness.' It should not be considered as a solution to the problems of society, as the latter concept has potential scope to lead people to a state of 'analytical lethargy,' by supressing the analytical thinking."
7. Richard Davies
"10 per cent who said it caused them to make a dangerous, late or illegal turn."
I have never heard anything like it in my life...these same 10 per cent would probably jump off a bridge if you told them to!
This is just a lack of common sense. Just because your sat nav tells you to turn left you don't have to...it isn't aware of other cars on the road etc. you therefore have to make the ultimate judgement yourself...if its not safe, ignore it and let it re-calculate.
These people would be just as dangerous with no distractions etc.
Are people getting more stupid nowadays or what!?!?!
8. Lever
So basically the survey says that a third of all drivers are too stupid to a) use a sat nav and b) drive on the road.
Now all we have to do is get these fools off the off the roads permanently so that the rest of us can enjoy driving in safety please!
9. Simon
So, just as most of us already knew, it's only a tool - and if you are a clueless f***wit and don't have a clue what your are doing then all the tools in the world won't help. It's not the satnav 'making' the drivers do any of this, it's the drivers doing it to themselves because they are clueless f***wits ! Clueless idiots have been doing all these things since before satnav - it's just that they now have something 'hi tech' to blame.
Now how does that song go, "all the gear, no idea !"
10. Cassandra
Music fan the sum of mobile phone + road safety = handsfree or pull over = both are legal.
Believing you are perfectly capable of answering a hand-held mobile while driving safely = delusional dangerous idiot or an accident waiting to happen.
11. anonymous
I am supprised these figures are not higher with the number of drivers you see on the road.
Having tested some they can be useful as an aid (particularly for delivery drivers), unfortunately some people treat them as a must have. Yes i know people who actually use them for their daily drive to work (useless or what).
Simon - nicely put, could not have put it better myself.
12. MusicFan
Cassandra =
Is "answering" the same as holding?
Answering is the push of a button. The same as pressing play on a stereo, or pressing the button to wind your window down.
Most new phones have loudspeaker, so all that is needed is the press of a button, no holding to your ear and stargazing whilst driving required.
The question here is, whether it safe to engage your ears and mind on another "job" whilst they are in use with "Road Safety" and at what point should such an activity become illegal?
It is not sensible to incriminate one form of distraction above another simply with the difference being public profile.
Can it be deemed safe to take your eyes off the road to read the sign you are passing that says "avoid shunt incidents"? Again its a matter of perspective, where do we draw the line?
13. Jeremy Wickins
Know the route you want to take BEFORE programming the sat-nav so you have some idea where you are going and which major roads to take (that avoids the chance of going to Newcastle-under-Lyme rather than Newcastle-on-Tyne, for instance), use the postcode function wherever possible, and then treat everything the sat-nav tells you with distrust. Also, keep a good road-map in the car (or, as in my case, four, all with different scales!). That way, you won't fall victim to the problems reported by the survey respondents!
14. anonymous
Now one for the law makers to think about.
Why don't we introduce a Sat-Nav Driving test at the point of purchase for drivers and the ones who pass should get to purchase the device and the one's that fail don't, charge say £30 (estimated cost for print, will be closer to £50) for the exam, outsource it to some American company, deny that it was your fault when it fails, blame the Head of Dept ‘His choice of company’, making sure that the details of people are lost, again blame the H.O.D.
Tongue very firmly in cheek
The Sat-Nav aren't driving the cars just yet, So better still just put more police patrols on the road to weed out the bad drivers.
Jim
PS
My Sat-Nav failed on several occasions to take me to the places I wish to go, I took it back ‘Not fit for purpose’ and was refused a refund.
Oh well that online auction house was a good place to get rid of it.
Very happy without Sat-Nav.
15. anonymous
What nonsense. Using a satnav beats the hell out of mucking around with maps and diagrams. How many respondents were asked the same questions in relation to maps?
16. Adam Cainer
Being lost in a strange town also generates panic, anxiety and driver error!
Sure, SatNavs can be distracting, but has anyone asked the same questions about tring to follow a conventional map?
How many of us have made similar driving errors when stressed out because the map fell on the floor or was upside down?
I would not advocate the complete safety of either the Satnav or the map when driving, but have never noticed my A-Z reading the instructions out to me so I can keep my eyes on the road!
17. Lionel A Smith
I find it interesting that it is somebody in marketing that weighs in with a diatribe against using the good old fashioned map.
Perhaps Sir, or Madam or Ms, if you practiced map reading on a regular basis and planned routes before jumping behind the wheel then you would proceed much more expeditiously and more safely. If you get lost pull up somewhere safe, note you cannot be really lost on a motorway junction - markers soon inform, consult your map and then proceed. You will find that this also exercises those memory cells to your other advantage.
Just as the calculator is no final substitute for solid arithmetic skills so with GPS devices and map reading.
I managed many thousands of miles a year without GPS finding my way across country, into small villages and big cities.
18. MusicFan
It is worrying how many people seem to need constant guidance for every step of a journey.
I have driven all over the uk for years without the need of sat nav and for the majority of the journey, a map either.
Most places are only a couple of major roads away from a motorway.
All you need to do is print off a map of the local area you are trying to get to, and memorise:
= Which motorway you need to be on
= Which Junction to get off
= Name / Number of road to get on
Then the local map you have printed will guide you from there, simply pull over when not sure and check where you are.
19. anonymous
Casandra
"Music fan the sum of mobile phone + road safety = handsfree or pull over = both are legal."
Strictly speeking wrong, you can still be prosecuted for using "hands free" if a Police Officer feels that the call is effecting your driving.
Pulling over, strictly speeking is still illegal as you are still in control of the vehicle.
Parking up (stopping in a place where it is legal to do so, with the engine off and the handbrake on) is the only way to prevent a possible ticket.
20. anonymous
Sat Navs aren't obligatory are they? So here's a radical idea if they are so deeply confusing: don't use them!
21. anonymous
On the Tom Tom web site there are some interesting statistics which seem to show sat navs improve road safety.