A recent survey by black cab taxi app mytaxi has found that London drivers are more reliant on sat navs than drivers anywhere else in the UK. The survey estimates that London drivers waste on average 62 hours a year blindly following sat nav instructions into traffic jams and black-spots, with these “zombie drivers” further exacerbating traffic congestion on the roads.
The mytaxi survey found that a massive 88% of drivers in London use sat navs all the time, versus 76% for the national average. Further to this, one in five Londoners say they cannot find their way home in London without a sat nav. Meanwhile, a whopping 65% confess they would not be able to cope without a sat nav in an unfamiliar location outside of London.
Ignoring road conditions
Most worryingly of all, 62% say that they pay no regard at all to road signs, famous landmarks or even temporary lights and road signs, such as diversion signals if a road is closed, when following the sat nav in the car. This zombification has led to drivers blindly driving into dead ends, going the long way if re-routed by the sat nav or getting stuck in unnecessary traffic congestion because a sat nav fails to choose the quickest route, wasting up to 100 hours a year per driver.
The survey also found that 39% of all sat nav routes fail to reach the exact destination, while only 13% of the routes selected by sat navs were the quickest to the destination. In a sly dig at Uber drivers and other sat nav-reliant minicab services, mytaxi General Manager, UK, Andy Jones, comments:
“Sat nav technology is undoubtedly a huge help to many people but it is certainly not flawless and the results can be both frustrating and comical, as evidenced by the huge number of misadventures we have recorded.”
“We are proud to say that all mytaxi drivers have spent three years studying for The Knowledge memorising over 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks. There really is no substitute to real local knowledge when it comes to navigating through traffic and finding the quickest routes to a destination.”
How to tackle being a “zombie driver”
The obvious way to tackle being a zombie driver is to switch the sat nav off and try to navigate using road signs and maps, especially on common routes that you undertake. There is no substitute for knowing the back routes personally, as this can enable you get around the jams at peak times.
Some drivers have sat nav on by default because they think it will find a faster route if there is traffic congestion on the current route. However, although sat navs such as Google Maps often proclaim there is a “faster route available,” this is not always correct. That’s because these sat navs don’t analyse the current congestion level on the alternative route at the same time – at best they predict it based on historic traffic levels at that day and time, so it’s not a true, real time comparison between routes.
Another way to tackle your zombie driver status is to use an app like Waze. Waze is a community of drivers who aim to help other drivers to avoid traffic jams in real time. Much of the data you see in Waze does appear in Google Maps, but you can’t replace the feeling of Waze and the sense of finding a new route for the community of other drivers out there.
Are you a “zombie driver” and do you agree that sat navs take you into traffic jams rather than help you avoid them? Do you think you are over reliant on your sat nav – would you be able to cope with road signs and maps? Let us know in the comments below.
Image Credit – Pixabay
I abhor sat nav’s, like a lot of so called ‘safety features’ fitted to cars they are just gimmick’s. I have been an advanced driver trainer (all categories) and driven trucks (HGV1) for 38 years all over the UK and europe. If all us older truck and coach drivers never needed anything apart from a map to cover between 60,000 to approx 125,000 miles per year, why do drivers need a sat nav to go from one side of London to the other?
All electronics take away driver skill and professionalism, lets be honest, look how much driving standards have deteriorated since Blair dropped the borders and we got continental drivers over here. We used to get public information films and adverts telling us “Don’t be a lane hog” and “slow down on the approach to hazards”, where are they now? If it was up to me i’d ban sat nav’s outright as they make people lazy, if someone has an electronic device telling them where to go, being human they will rely on listening to it and not be concentrating on their driving. we’re a relatively small country and we only have a certain amount of trunk roads leading in any direction, it doesnt take long to learn to read a map or to get your bearings as to which direction youre travelling. If the majority of drivers learnt to read a map and used road numbers instead of landmarks to get to their destinations, nobody would need sat nav’s!
I tend not to use the sat nav unless I’m going somewhere I’ve never visited before, especially when it tells me to take a left turn while I’m on a bridge, or directs me to drive into a muddy field as a shortcut.
The only problem I have with map books is the roads are being changed so fast these days that a map book is out of date by the time you walk back to the car after buying one, at least a sat nav map (google maps) is almost always up to date.
There is a problem when talking generally on such an area as this, so lets break it down a bit;
Any Sat Nav worth it’s salt, will always tell you on ‘opening the box’ so to speak, that there is No substitute for personal knowledge, so there is no argument to be had here, at all, in all this about what is best etc.
I don’t go anywhere without my Sat Nav on, even the supermarket, but it’s nothing to do with not knowing my way, it’s also what I suggest any mate to do as well, but again at this point it is nothing to do with not knowing your way, it’s all about getting to know your Sat Nav, which removes a lot of the zombie element mentioned here.
There is no point in waiting until you need to get to somewhere that is totally alien to you, you need to understand why your Sat Nav is telling you to do this that or the other, and most importantly, what it is telling you to do, because until you hit an area where roads and turns are so tight it’s hard to know just what is the right move, and if you hit such an area where you do know the way, it will help you understand about all this.
Then the Sat Nav(s) themselves, as with any product there are the good, and the bad, and for the most part, the best one is Free, as mentioned previously, Waze, stands out from the rest by a huge amount in my opinion, and is the only one I will use, because you get alerts in Real, real time, not some central place awaiting confirmation before putting it out (I suspect that’s what it’s like), but with Waze, Joe Blog’s 1 mile ahead reports a hazard, the second that report is submitted by that user, it instantly goes live on everyone’s device, meaning the Sat Nav could steer me round that problem with minimal affect to your journey (as much as is possible anyway).
Waze also shows\report’s congestion ahead, because it can see how fast you are going, and knows the speed allowed on the road, and as such works out in real time if there are any better way’s to go without any instruction, users can also note road closures, alterations, as opposed to waiting for map data bases to be updated, sometimes taking years, I actually have changed a few inaccurate details myself, road changes, even road speed, as my own road was dropped to 20mph, and was instantly live when done, you don’t get that with any other system I am aware of, and I don’t mean downloading updates, because any updates for other systems, probably got them due to this.
But it does have it’s ‘flaws’ so to speak, for which they have zero ability to get round, because when someone warns of say an accident, or road works, it can only ever remove\change such notifications after the next user passes that point, part by asking the driver if it is still there, and part by the drivers speed, but it’s nothing that can be done without the next input about it, and the make or break point, you need to have turned on network access for live updates, and for those worried about costs, if you use your home Wi Fi to update it before traveling, it shouldn’t go over any allowances, but always check ALL settings, phone and Waze to be sure.
Waze has a humongous affect on people, so much so that Google has bought Waze, and is a rare case where 1 person Can make a change to peoples lives, in real time, and for those who drive through a river, or park in someones front room, just because their Sat Nav tells them too, it just goes to prove why natural selection is still valid today, and proves some people should just not have a driving license.
The only problem with maps is you can’t eat them whilst driving. I used to be car rally navI gator in my younger days so can certainly find my way with a map. Before the advent of sat navy used to plan my route and use cards to record the details. Now I use a sat nav but don’t always follow the advised route and I have a map in front of me if there is a diversion or major traffic delay. Where I do find it particularly useful is in finding an unfamiliar address or street, it saves me carrying a box full of street maps.
This is a bit of a nonsense article. By far the safest way to travel in London in with a Sat Nav, it’s frankly idiotic to try and juggle a map while driving, there are few places to stop and check one, and the general impatience of close following city drivers make checking one while driving extremely risky and foolish. And london street name signage is so poor and randomly placed it may as well not exist.
I no longer use a standalone sat nav, google maps or waze on the smart phone, with a proper line of sight windscreen holder and charger is ideal. Maps listens to everyone’s phone on the sly so know where the traffic is moving and where not, has a good ideal where road works are and warns you about all sorts hazards and routes you around traffic on the fly.
And accepts voice instructions. so you don’t even have to touch the thing.
Frankly I don’t understand why it’s not compulsory.
I started doing small van courier work a couple of years ago and I can honestly say I probably couldn’t do my job without a satnav.
Speed and efficiency is key in this line of work and if I had to consult a map every time I got a job I don’t think I would get as much work as I do. As someone has said, finding somewhere to stop in London to consult a street map is is practically impossible. The same can be said with most cities.
I have my satnav switched on all the time but not always directing me. By using a satnav but paying attention to where I am going, I have learned many of the routes to regular customers and now use the sat nav purely to inform me about traffic and speed cameras.
No day is exactly the same though, sometimes I may go to somewhere familiar but more often than not, I am going to somewhere I have never been. To have a working knowledge on par with a London taxi driver with The Knowledge for every city and town I may visit would be impossible. I can’t afford to spend “three years” studying, nor can most people.
Satnavs are one of the greatest inventions of recent years but they are not perfect. I agree they should not be followed blindly: they are a driving aid not a dictator. I often ignore my satnav and go a different way that I know is better or simpler as routes it offers can sometimes be so convoluted it’s not worth it. I also make sure the instructions my sat nav gives corresponds to physical road signage.
This is not alway fool-proof though. Very few times has the sat nav got it wrong, but I’ve certainly misread a sign a few times, overridden the satnav and gone the wrong way. Signs can be confusing and seeing the physical route on the satnav display often makes things clearer.
I confess a couple of times my satnav has cost me time but on many occasions it has saved me hours. Nevertheless, I have a rule that I don’t change my route unless I can save over 5 minutes. Anything less can often be completely lost at traffic lights or getting stuck behind a slow moving vehicle like a lorry, tractor or just an older/inexperienced driver.
In conclusion, sat navs are a fantastic tool that can be very beneficial, but they must be used with common sense and should not override or replace basic driving skills.
Why call them “drivers”?They are not drivers at all what they are I do not know but they are not drivers
I abhor sat nav’s, like a lot of so called ‘safety features’ fitted to cars they are just gimmick’s. I have been an advanced driver trainer (all categories) and driven trucks (HGV1) for 38 years all over the UK and europe. If all us older truck and coach drivers never needed anything apart from a map to cover between 60,000 to approx 125,000 miles per year, why do drivers need a sat nav to go from one side of London to the other?
All electronics take away driver skill and professionalism, lets be honest, look how much driving standards have deteriorated since Blair dropped the borders and we got continental drivers over here. We used to get public information films and adverts telling us “Don’t be a lane hog” and “slow down on the approach to hazards”, where are they now? If it was up to me i’d ban sat nav’s outright as they make people lazy, if someone has an electronic device telling them where to go, being human they will rely on listening to it and not be concentrating on their driving. we’re a relatively small country and we only have a certain amount of trunk roads leading in any direction, it doesnt take long to learn to read a map or to get your bearings as to which direction youre travelling. If the majority of drivers learnt to read a map and used road numbers instead of landmarks to get to their destinations, nobody would need sat nav’s!
I tend not to use the sat nav unless I’m going somewhere I’ve never visited before, especially when it tells me to take a left turn while I’m on a bridge, or directs me to drive into a muddy field as a shortcut.
The only problem I have with map books is the roads are being changed so fast these days that a map book is out of date by the time you walk back to the car after buying one, at least a sat nav map (google maps) is almost always up to date.
There is a problem when talking generally on such an area as this, so lets break it down a bit;
Any Sat Nav worth it’s salt, will always tell you on ‘opening the box’ so to speak, that there is No substitute for personal knowledge, so there is no argument to be had here, at all, in all this about what is best etc.
I don’t go anywhere without my Sat Nav on, even the supermarket, but it’s nothing to do with not knowing my way, it’s also what I suggest any mate to do as well, but again at this point it is nothing to do with not knowing your way, it’s all about getting to know your Sat Nav, which removes a lot of the zombie element mentioned here.
There is no point in waiting until you need to get to somewhere that is totally alien to you, you need to understand why your Sat Nav is telling you to do this that or the other, and most importantly, what it is telling you to do, because until you hit an area where roads and turns are so tight it’s hard to know just what is the right move, and if you hit such an area where you do know the way, it will help you understand about all this.
Then the Sat Nav(s) themselves, as with any product there are the good, and the bad, and for the most part, the best one is Free, as mentioned previously, Waze, stands out from the rest by a huge amount in my opinion, and is the only one I will use, because you get alerts in Real, real time, not some central place awaiting confirmation before putting it out (I suspect that’s what it’s like), but with Waze, Joe Blog’s 1 mile ahead reports a hazard, the second that report is submitted by that user, it instantly goes live on everyone’s device, meaning the Sat Nav could steer me round that problem with minimal affect to your journey (as much as is possible anyway).
Waze also shows\report’s congestion ahead, because it can see how fast you are going, and knows the speed allowed on the road, and as such works out in real time if there are any better way’s to go without any instruction, users can also note road closures, alterations, as opposed to waiting for map data bases to be updated, sometimes taking years, I actually have changed a few inaccurate details myself, road changes, even road speed, as my own road was dropped to 20mph, and was instantly live when done, you don’t get that with any other system I am aware of, and I don’t mean downloading updates, because any updates for other systems, probably got them due to this.
But it does have it’s ‘flaws’ so to speak, for which they have zero ability to get round, because when someone warns of say an accident, or road works, it can only ever remove\change such notifications after the next user passes that point, part by asking the driver if it is still there, and part by the drivers speed, but it’s nothing that can be done without the next input about it, and the make or break point, you need to have turned on network access for live updates, and for those worried about costs, if you use your home Wi Fi to update it before traveling, it shouldn’t go over any allowances, but always check ALL settings, phone and Waze to be sure.
Waze has a humongous affect on people, so much so that Google has bought Waze, and is a rare case where 1 person Can make a change to peoples lives, in real time, and for those who drive through a river, or park in someones front room, just because their Sat Nav tells them too, it just goes to prove why natural selection is still valid today, and proves some people should just not have a driving license.
The only problem with maps is you can’t eat them whilst driving. I used to be car rally navI gator in my younger days so can certainly find my way with a map. Before the advent of sat navy used to plan my route and use cards to record the details. Now I use a sat nav but don’t always follow the advised route and I have a map in front of me if there is a diversion or major traffic delay. Where I do find it particularly useful is in finding an unfamiliar address or street, it saves me carrying a box full of street maps.
This is a bit of a nonsense article. By far the safest way to travel in London in with a Sat Nav, it’s frankly idiotic to try and juggle a map while driving, there are few places to stop and check one, and the general impatience of close following city drivers make checking one while driving extremely risky and foolish. And london street name signage is so poor and randomly placed it may as well not exist.
I no longer use a standalone sat nav, google maps or waze on the smart phone, with a proper line of sight windscreen holder and charger is ideal. Maps listens to everyone’s phone on the sly so know where the traffic is moving and where not, has a good ideal where road works are and warns you about all sorts hazards and routes you around traffic on the fly.
And accepts voice instructions. so you don’t even have to touch the thing.
Frankly I don’t understand why it’s not compulsory.
I started doing small van courier work a couple of years ago and I can honestly say I probably couldn’t do my job without a satnav.
Speed and efficiency is key in this line of work and if I had to consult a map every time I got a job I don’t think I would get as much work as I do. As someone has said, finding somewhere to stop in London to consult a street map is is practically impossible. The same can be said with most cities.
I have my satnav switched on all the time but not always directing me. By using a satnav but paying attention to where I am going, I have learned many of the routes to regular customers and now use the sat nav purely to inform me about traffic and speed cameras.
No day is exactly the same though, sometimes I may go to somewhere familiar but more often than not, I am going to somewhere I have never been. To have a working knowledge on par with a London taxi driver with The Knowledge for every city and town I may visit would be impossible. I can’t afford to spend “three years” studying, nor can most people.
Satnavs are one of the greatest inventions of recent years but they are not perfect. I agree they should not be followed blindly: they are a driving aid not a dictator. I often ignore my satnav and go a different way that I know is better or simpler as routes it offers can sometimes be so convoluted it’s not worth it. I also make sure the instructions my sat nav gives corresponds to physical road signage.
This is not alway fool-proof though. Very few times has the sat nav got it wrong, but I’ve certainly misread a sign a few times, overridden the satnav and gone the wrong way. Signs can be confusing and seeing the physical route on the satnav display often makes things clearer.
I confess a couple of times my satnav has cost me time but on many occasions it has saved me hours. Nevertheless, I have a rule that I don’t change my route unless I can save over 5 minutes. Anything less can often be completely lost at traffic lights or getting stuck behind a slow moving vehicle like a lorry, tractor or just an older/inexperienced driver.
In conclusion, sat navs are a fantastic tool that can be very beneficial, but they must be used with common sense and should not override or replace basic driving skills.
Why call them “drivers”?They are not drivers at all what they are I do not know but they are not drivers