Six in ten sat nav users have fallen victim to ‘Sat Nav Rage’ – losing their temper with their dashboard gadget, a new skobbler study has revealed. 

Berlin, Germany, 5^th October 2011: 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Unclear directions, annoying voice-overs, out of date and expensive maps, and taking them on unnecessary round-about journeys are most likely to test a driver’s patience.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 study quizzed Brits aged 17-45 on their driving habits, relationship with and reliance on their satellite navigation system. It found one in five frequently get riled by their sat nav, and one in ten said something happens every journey which stresses them out. Nearly half (47 per cent) said they have a love/hate relationship with their sat nav.

The majority polled get annoyed by being sent in the wrong direction and 44 per cent are adamant they aren’t taken the quickest route. Three in ten 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.

Marcus Thielking, co-founder of skobbler who carried out the research in preparation for the launch of its new sat nav app* said, “We felt it important to gain consumers' views on their sat navs to assist us with our future product development and it certainly seems that drivers are experiencing a new form of rage as a direct result of the shortfalls of their sat nav device. The sole purpose of any sat nav is to assist drivers in getting from A to B, safely and efficiently, and it appears that some sat navs are simply not living up to motorists’ expectations."

20% of those polled say that map updates are too expensive, which might explain why a whopping 51% have never updated them. Interestingly, a further 11% didn’t know they had to update their maps.

“This is most likely a significant contributing factor towards drivers’ frustrations of their sat navs sending them in the wrong direction,” explained Thielking. “Thankfully, some modern smartphone navigation apps now come with fast free map updates for life, and as with our new navigation app, have the option to store map data on the phone which eliminates data drop off.”

It comes as no surprise that 70% of those polled say that smartphone navigation apps will substitute dedicated sat nav devices in the future, with 40% 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.”

The survey also found the average Brit makes at least nine journeys in their car a week and uses their sat nav on at least two journeys, but the destination would have to be at least 38 miles away before getting it out of the glove box.

Whilst a quarter of those surveyed admit they blindly follow what their sat nav says, more than half (51 per cent) 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.

TOP 10 SAT NAV ANNOYANCES

1. It takes me in the wrong direction

2. I'm pretty sure it doesn't take me the quickest route

3. The annoying voice

4. It often loses GPS connection

5. The maps are out of date

6. If frequently falls from the windscreen

7. Map updates are expensive

8. It's difficult trying to input post codes

9. It's slow

10. It's a faff trying to get it to stick to the windscreen

* skobbler Navigation 2 is a next generation smartphone navigation app due for launch in October this year for iOS . By providing the option of having maps stored on your smartphone, Navigation 2 by skobbler will offer the ability to navigate both online and offline, depending on driving requirements and availability of GPS signal, whilst avoiding unnecessary data roaming charges if navigating abroad. As with all skobbler navigation apps, map updates are lightening fast and free for life.

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