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A British survey has found 80 per cent of motorists admit to trying to beat the estimated time of arrival on a satellite navigation route. It's called "route racing", according to British vehicle auction company Manheim Auctions, but it seems it is also a favourite game among Australian motorists.
Mathew McAuley, spokesman for sister company Manheim Fowles, admits to trying to beat his satnav.
"I thought it was quite an amusing piece of research and I often think I know better than the machine and try to outdo it with a shortcut," he said. "I think it's more of a male thing. Women are far more sensible than trying to outsmart a machine; they turn it on to offer them assistance."
The research shows that drivers often try to out-think their satnav device by taking a shortcut. However, road safety expert and founder of Fatality Free Friday Russell White said the temptation could be for motorists to drive too fast to beat the satnav time of arrival.
"Some people could see it as their own personal Top Gear challenge to get there before the satnav says so," he says. "Clearly if 80 per cent of people do it, many of them will be speeding. My other concern is that they will spend more time focusing on the figures on their satnav rather than watching what they are doing, so there is a potential for distraction as well."
The survey follows other research by Manheim Auctions which revealed only one in eight British motorists trust their satnav to take them directly to their destination, a third have got completely lost while relying on satnav and 15 per cent have missed an important event such as a job interview, wedding or first date.
Doug Lloyd, boss of satnav importer Next Destination says many users think they can do better than their satnav.
"This confirms that man is more aware of local conditions than a computer," he says.
"When they complain we always tell them that they will always know of a better route which is not part of the parameters that the satnav uses. The satnav is not for drivers that drive the same route all the time and know where they are going but for people going to different places who do not know the area or a route. This means that 90 per cent of journeys probably never need a satnav but they are invaluable for the 10 per cent when we have no idea where we are going and for those who cannot read a street or road map."
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