Six out of 10 sat-nav users have fallen victim to Sat-Nav Rage – losing their temper with their dashboard gadget. The survey which interviewed 2,000 male and female drivers across the UK has found that millions of motorists have ended up shouting and swearing at their navigation system.
Unclear directions, annoying voice-overs, out of date and expensive maps, and taking them on unnecessary round-about journeys are most likely to test a driver’s patience. One in ten has ended up stopping the car in frustration whilst one person even admitting to throwing their sat-nav out of the window.
The majority polled get annoyed by being sent in the wrong direction and 44 percent are adamant they aren’t taken on the quickest route. Three in 10 hate having to put up with it losing GPS signal and a quarter struggle to keep the device stuck to the windscreen. But that’s left half swearing, shouting and getting worked up when attempting to get to meetings or holiday destinations, with partners often in the firing line.
20 percent of those polled say that map updates are too expensive, which might explain why a whopping 51 percent have never updated them. Interestingly, a further 11 percent didn’t know they had to update their maps.
The way of the future is smartphone navigation apps and 70 percent of those polled say that these apps will substitute dedicated sat-nav devices in the future, with 40 percent saying they’d never buy a dedicated sat-nav device again.
“The conclusion we draw from the survey is that whilst sat nav is here to stay, the dedicated sat-nav device is out of date, expensive, inconvenient and not very user friendly. It’s only a matter of time before the more convenient and wallet friendly smartphone navigation application takes the top spot.”
Whilst a quarter of those surveyed admit they blindly follow what their sat-nav says, more than half (51 percent) have tried to outwit their sat-nav with one in five having then ended up lost, and one in twenty finding themselves stuck down a narrow road.
The top 10 sat-nav annoyances:
It takes me in the wrong direction
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t take me the quickest route
The annoying voice
It often loses GPS connection
The maps are out of date
If frequently falls from the windscreen
Map updates are expensive
It’s difficult trying to input post codes
It’s slow
It’s difficult trying to get it to stick to the windscreen.
Do you have a sat-nav device? Do you agree?
