Satnav users 'trust their device too much'

Tuesday, 22 July 2008 12:01

Over a quarter of satnav users often follow instructions that take them down unsuitable country lanes, according to a survey from insurer NFU Mutual.

NFU Mutual says it is concerned by the high levels of accidents on rural roads, with government statistics showing that car users are three times more likely to die on a country lane than an urban thoroughfare.

The insurer is urging all rural road users to take special care, as tourist traffic and harvesting both get underway.

Its survey reveals that while 91 per cent of people correctly think that rural roads are the least safe to drive on, 35 per cent admit to not driving more slowly on them.

Over a quarter of drivers using satnavs admit to following its instructions even if it appears to be sending them the wrong way or into a narrow lane. This rises to almost half of 18 to 24 year olds.

Only seven per cent of men and 11 per cent of women think rural roads are the safest to drive on, while eight per cent of men and four per cent of women drive faster on rural roads. 15 per cent of drivers between 18 and 24 drive faster on rural roads.

"The survey shows that there is still an alarming lack of knowledge about the hazards of rural roads," Ian Jewitt of NFU Mutual risk management services said.

"It's particularly worrying that a quarter of satnav users continue to follow the gadget's instructions even when their eyes tell them they are heading up a farm track. This may account for some of the reports of vehicles stuck in fields and deep fords."

He explained that once schools have broken up, extra traffic heads for the countryside just at the time when harvesting is getting underway and large numbers of tractors are likely to be on country roads.

An alarming number of the most serious accidents on rural roads involve farm vehicles coming into collision with fast moving cars, lorries and motorcycles.

Many of these accidents are the result of human error, often due to lack of concentration by drivers, undue speed or faulty equipment such as indicator lights which are obscured or not working.

"A common cause of accidents occurs when tractors slow down before turning right and impatient following drivers tend to try and overtake without realising that the tractor is about to move across the road," Mr Jewitt concluded.

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