Car finance experts at Zuto have conducted research to uncover the nations habits when it comes to directions and reliance on satnavs.

With 92% of those surveyed admitting to using a Sat Nav on some occasion when driving, it’s clear that we’ve put our map reading skills to one side.

One quarter of drivers in Manchester rely on a Sat Nav entirely when driving somewhere new

Research has found that drivers in Manchester are extremely reliant on Sat Navs when driving somewhere new. Only 14% of drivers use roadmaps entirely when travelling somewhere new and the majority of drivers in Manchester use their Sat Navs 50/50 with roadsigns (60%).

This highlights the reliance on Sat Nav technology when driving to a new location and the role it plays at putting drivers at ease.

How drivers reacted under pressure

When travelling to new locations, the research uncovered that almost one in six (13%) of drivers in Manchester feel some level of nerves, which could be a reason why 75% of drivers in Manchester either have a satnav installed in their car already, or turn to their phone before making a journey.

Important aspects when purchasing a new car

For drivers in Manchester, the most important features when buying a new car is whether the vehicle is whether it has heated seats (44%), whether it has a heated steering wheels (40%) and if it has a Sat Nav installed (40%). However, the least important features to drivers in Manchester is whether it has kids entertainment features (8%) or Wi-Fi installed (17%).

Once again highlighting our dependency on Sat Nav technology as a nation when both driving to a new location and investing in a new vehicle.

With this in mind, and to investigate this research further, Zuto conducted an experiment with two couples from different age groups, one with a sat nav and one without, to see which pair would reach an unknown destination the quickest. The full video can be viewed here.

Commenting on the research, Lucy Sherliker, Head of Customer at Zuto says:

“The modern-day society which we live in is becoming increasingly technologically advanced. Because of this, we wanted to research how reliant drivers are on Sat Nav technology and what difference the use of them makes in how drivers feel about travelling to a new destination.

“Whilst looking at various variables such as age and gender and our physical experiment, we have highlighted just how reliant we are as a nation on Sat Navs.”

To find out more information about the research, visit here: https://www.zuto.com/blog/sat-nav-dependency/