Another story, recently published, was about people following sat nav devices down non-existent roads in remote locations such as Death Valley in California. The article stated that in secluded and inaccessible places such as these, this misplaced trust could result in serious illness or even fatalities. Other stories include people being directed through fords or small villages rather than taking main routes. I’m not someone who uses a sat nav. This is mostly because of early experiences where using one directed me past the same petrol station five times and warned me of a forthcoming roundabout when driving up the M1!

 

So why do people place so much trust in sat navs to both get them to their desired location and to do this by taking an acceptable route? Why do people place more trust in an electronic device which has a high probability of using out of date maps rather than the physical attributes of their environments? I can understand why people might trust a sat nav over signage as signage is not permanent and could be out of date, incorrect or subject to vandalism. However, I cannot understand why someone would follow the path of a road which exists on an electronic device but which does not exist in reality. 

 

Perhaps it is not the case that the majority of people place too much trust in sat navs. Maybe we only hear about those people who make sat nav induced errors. However, even if these errors are only made by a minority, surely measures should be taken to mitigate against them. Sat navs could remind users to update their maps and software on a relatively regular basis. Users could be advised to look up their routes in advance of making journeys so that they can build up some prior knowledge of their preferred route and make an informed decision as to whether or not to follow the instructions provided by a sat nav. Users could also be advised that sat navs may not always give the most efficient route or be completely accurate.