Monday 25 June 2007

FIVE MILLION DRIVERS USING OUTDATED MAPS

• Nearly five million drivers use maps from 20th Century
• 364,000 still use pre-1990 road maps
• 138,000 use maps from before 1950
• One in five have now ditched their road atlas

Before you plan your next journey, check the date on your road map – that’s the advice from Trafficmaster, which has found* some five million drivers could be wasting hours trying to navigate with road maps from 2000 or earlier, while 364,000 still refer to maps from the 1980s.   

One in every 100 drivers over 55 are even referring to maps produced pre-1950, which pre-date even Britain’s first stretch of motorway, the Preston bypass, opened in 1958. 

Trafficmaster warns there have been significant changes to the UK’s road network even over the past ten years. To illustrate this, the company has highlighted its top ten major road projects completed since 1997, which would not feature on maps printed before this date:

The Trafficmaster figures also show a shift towards sat nav, with as many as one in five motorists (21 per cent) now favouring more modern methods of route planning. But the company also warns many satellite navigation systems do not guarantee completely up-to-date maps.

Philip Hale, spokesman for Trafficmaster, said: “We are all driving further than ever before and on regularly congested roads, so to find the best route, you need to know all your options.  Outdated maps are at best unhelpful and at worst distracting and dangerous to follow.  Even the sat nav map in your car may be one or two years old.

“Road improvements and changes are happening all the time and you could just find problems rather than your destination if you rely on an outdated map.  You need to make sure you have the right tool for the job”, he concluded.

Trafficmaster believes the ability to navigate using the best routes and avoiding jams could help reduce UK congestion for all and reduce environmental impact.  Trafficmaster’s Smartnav customers already save an average of four hours a month on the road, by avoiding jams and taking the best routes, equivalent to 300,000 working days each year.

ENDS

* YouGov interviewed a representative sample of 2196 GB adults between 9th – 11th May 2007

For further information
Philip Hale, Trafficmaster Plc, 01234 759336, phil.hale@trafficmaster.co.uk
Billy Partridge, Citigate Dewe Rogerson, 0207 282 2863, billy.partridge@citigatedr.co.uk
Mark Schmid, Citigate Dewe Rogerson, 0207 282 2834, mark.schmid@citigatedr.co.uk

About Trafficmaster
Trafficmaster is an expert in intelligent driving.  The Group comprises US-based Teletrac Inc. and Trafficmaster Plc in the UK.  Both organisations focus on intelligent vehicle services which enhance the driving experience and improve business performance by saving companies and drivers time and money and reducing their environmental impact.
Teletrac Inc offers fleet tracking, management and navigation solutions under the Fleet Director brand across the US, serving 4,000 fleets and a total of 65,000 commercial vehicles, using wireless and GPS technology.
The group has also developed a suite of Trafficmaster services in the UK.  Trafficmaster's key product is the award-winning Smartnav, an intelligent satellite navigation system, which uses live traffic information and real-time road speeds to calculate optimum routes and avoid traffic congestion on the way.  Trafficmaster's comprehensive traffic data means Smartnav is continually updated with traffic information, road closures and speed camera locations, without the need for CDs or internet-sourced updates.
Trafficmaster also offers Trackstar stolen vehicle tracking, monitored 24 hours a day in the Trafficmaster Control Centre.  Stolen vehicles can automatically inform Trafficmaster and are then monitored remotely and police informed of their whereabouts for fast and efficient recovery.
The company provides live traffic information direct via mobile phone services and Radio Data System -Traffic Message Channel (RDS TMC) to other aftermarket and factory-fit satellite navigation systems.
Trafficmaster also maintains a unique traffic monitoring network of 7,500 sensors, covering 8,000 miles of UK motorways and trunk roads.  
Trafficmaster was founded in 1988 and floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1994.  Teletrac Inc is a wholly owned US subsidiary company.
www.teletrac.net
www.trafficmaster.co.uk