35% of motorists can't read a map

Friday, August 03, 2007

More than one third fail basic test
Just 1% have Cub Scout map-reading skills
Many believe sat-nav is to blame

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More than a third of British motorists cannot read a basic road map, according to a survey out today.

Researchers from esure car insurance polled more than 1000 motorists and discovered that 35% couldn't read a four-figure grid reference.

Only 1% could pass the Cub Scout map-reading badge test, which involves understanding and interpreting all symbols on an Ordnance Survey map.

In addition, 83% failed to identify the map symbol for a motorway and only 54% could identify the symbol for a railway station.

The rising popularity of satellite-navigation systems is being blamed for the decline in map-reading skills, with 63% of drivers saying they would get lost without it.

• A recent poll by whatcar.com investigated whether the road atlas's days were numbered.

However, 83% of respondents said the road atlas still had a pivotal role in their motoring lives.

The ten most confused map symbols
1. Mud    93% failed to recognise
2. Motorway    83% failed to recognise
3. Bus or coach station    75% failed to recognise
4. Nature reserve    66% failed to recognise
5. Public convenience    55% failed to recognise
6. Railway station    54% failed to recognise
7. Place of worship    40% failed to recognise
8. Picnic site    31% failed to recognise
9. Place of worship with spire    21% failed to recognise
10. Camp or caravan site    21% failed to recognise