Liz Dobson: Driven to despair by digital maps

If you don't think you have the latest info, your sat-nav can't do the job properly. Photo / Supplied

These days you'd be lost without a satellite navigation system in your vehicle ... but in the case of British motorists, you'd be lost even if you had one.

Millions of British drivers are losing their way because they don't realise they have to regularly update their satellite navigation system.

Even in New Zealand, it pays to regularly update your sat-nav, especially if your system lets you know where speed cameras are.

In Britain, eight million drivers own digital dashboard maps, but six out of 10 don't upgrade them, so they could be directed along routes which were no longer the shortest and even sent into dead-ends.

There have been infamous cases of sat-navs sending drivers on the road to nowhere or even into lakes. An American tourist who tried to visit Windsor Castle was led on a 210km detour after her sat-nav directed her to a pub with the same name.

The study of 2000 motorists by British sat-nav application developer skobbler found that a large percentage of drivers have "lost their rag" with their system after becoming lost.

Skobbler spokesman Marcus Thielking said: "Road layouts can change, new roads can be built and one-way systems can be introduced, all of which won't be automatically updated to your sat-nav device, so it's a good idea to update regularly.

"Our findings showed that one in five drivers say that map updates are too expensive, which might explain why 51 per cent have never updated them, but, interestingly, 11 per cent didn't know they had to."

The study found that the average motorist will travel 2000km in the wrong direction during their life because of their sat-nav. Unclear directions, annoying voice-overs and out-of-date maps regularly test drivers' patience, the survey showed.

In New Zealand, TomTom suggests that after buying a device you immediately check for updates, especially as road networks change an average of 15 per cent a year.

TomTom provides four maps each year: summer (November), autumn (February), winter (May) and spring (August). The company recommends its customers update monthly.

The other big seller in New Zealand, Navman, also suggests Kiwi drivers regularly update their systems. "It is important that drivers keep their units up to date because, at the end of the day, you can't compromise on safety," said Tony Hewlett of Navman Technology.

"Upgrades include new maps and information such as red light cameras, speed cameras and other landmarks. Lower-end units can be upgraded with new maps once a year at a cost.

"With higher-end models, such as Navman's MY Series range, we offer four free map upgrades per year - one for each season - for two years."

If your car has a built-in sat-nav system, you should aim to visit an authorised dealership every 12 to 24 months to have the updates downloaded.

For BMW owners in New Zealand, updates are available every 24 hours, while Audi New Zealand says its software comes out in the second quarter of next year at dealerships - but it is available only for the New Zealand-new Audi.

* It takes me in the wrong direction.
* I'm pretty sure it doesn't put me on the quickest route.
* The annoying voice.
* It often loses GPS connection.
* The maps are out of date.
* It falls from the windscreen.
* Map updates are expensive.
* It's difficult to input post codes.
* It's slow.