More than a quarter of SatNav users admit to having been led ridiculously astray by their SatNav devices, a new poll conducted in the UK has revealed.
A poll of 4425 drivers using the satellite mapping devices revealed that 27% of SatNav users admit to having being led embarrassingly off course after accidentally misprogramming the device to avoid motorways or otherwise unintentionally setting themselves up to go way off track.
The fallibility of the gadgets became blatantly obvious on Christmas Eve when a Chinese couple were forced to get a dig-out by the Wicklow Mountain rescue team after their SatNav led them straight to the treacherously snowbound Sally Gap on their return to Dublin from a visit to Glendalough.
According to John Farrell, Director of AA Motor Insurance which commissioned the poll, some SatNav users are throwing common sense out the car window by religiously following the directions dictated by the device.
“If your instincts tell you you're not on the most practical course, take out your trusty map and double check,” he said.
“We have had stories of drivers making the most ridiculous mistakes because of blindly following the device's directions,” said Mr Farrell.
The local council in Exton, Hampshire, for example, was even forced to erect signs advising drivers not to trust their SatNavs and take an alternative road because the route dictated was too narrow for vehicles. Not surprisingly, almost the same percentage of drivers (26%) admitted to cursing at their SatNavs - with women the most likely to occasionally tell them to 'feck off'.
And close to half - or 40% - of respondents to the poll by AA Motor Insurance also blamed the satellite mapping devices for sparking arguments between partners and passengers.
But on a more serious note, the devices have been cited as the cause of a near-miss or collision by 10% drivers who were momentarily distracted while using the touch screen.
The poll also revealed that men are more likely than women to use the devices, with a quarter of male respondents using them on a regular basis compared with just 14% of women. -Irish Independent
