There's life in the road atlas yet

Monday, July 30, 2007

Map trounces sat-nav in poll
83% of readers say road atlas has a future
Most say sat-nav is too unreliable

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Whatcar.com readers have dismissed suggestions that the traditional road atlas' days are numbered, with 83% of respondents to our poll saying it still has a future.

The poll was set up after a survey by satellite-navigation manufacturer Snooper revealed that only one in 15 motorists carries a road atlas in their car, compared to one in five just five years ago.

The topic proved emotive, with whatcar.com readers immediately e-mailing us to express overwhelming support for the atlas.

Reader comments
An atlas costs less than £2. Sat-nav systems can contain errors such as directing you up a no-entry road or up a bridleway. I always have the up-to-date atlas as a back up.
Richard Davis-Foster

1. Most atlases are between 1% and 10% of the cost of a sat-nav system;
2. An atlas doesn't go wrong;
3. You can see your whole route easily on an atlas;
4. An atlas doesn't tell you to do a U-turn - you decide for yourself where to go.
Charles Storr

My wife and I always carry road atlases in our cars.

Sat-nav is absolutely not a replacement for an atlas, in the same way that websites haven't replaced newspapers.

Road atlases always work, don't need charging, don't get stolen, and don't nag you when you're driving.

So I won't be getting rid of mine any time soon. In fact, I'll be off to buy a 2008 edition shortly.
Alastair Stevens

Many people defer to their sat-nav as an all-knowing nanny - hence truck drivers getting stuck in narrow lanes, and at least one lady driver losing her car in a deep ford: 'But my sat-nav told me to go this way, officer!'
David Jefferis