Almost All Young People Would Be Lost Without Their Sat Navs, Study Reveals

Research suggests that sat navs and map apps could actually affect our intelligence by essentially causing a part of the brain to shut down. Studies show that overuse of navigation technology can make your map-memory skills weaker, as you’re less likely to remember the route naturally and instead rely on the technology to guide you instead.

To find out if our sense of direction is actually taking a turn for the worse, Leasing Options surveyed drivers to find out if they would be lost without navigation technology, and also tested drivers to reach a new destination only using road signs and paper maps.

The survey revealed:

Less than 2% of young drivers admitted they would be fully confident using just road signs and a paper map to travel to a new destination.

Over a 1/3 of drivers find that map applications and satellite navigation have made their sense of direction worse. What’s more, of those respondents, nearly 85% were over 35 years old.

Over 3 out of 5 young drivers would never drive somewhere new without tech help, yet almost 80% admit they’ve gotten lost using a sat nav.
Since we can’t all be trusted to use a sat nav correctly, it’s understandable that almost 1/3 of drivers still frequently use a paper map to find their way around. A staggering 58% always carry a paper map in their car.
Fewer than 20% of 18-24 year olds carry a paper map in their car – and only 1 in 20 have ever used one at all.
97% of 18-24 year olds would feel stressed if their sat nav or map app stopped working when driving to a new destination.
Fewer than 1 in 5 young drivers have actually used a traditional road map in their lifetime.
We can still trust the older generation to put young people in the right direction. Unsurprisingly, almost 3/4 drivers aged 65 and over said they would have no problem getting somewhere new without satellite navigation.

See more information and how the drivers found driving without any assistance here: https://www.leasingoptions.co.uk/news/blog/is-our-sense-of-direction-taking-a-turn-for-the-worse-with-too-much-trust-in-sat-navs/5895