October 27, 2015

Millions of people in the UK are clueless when it comes to using a road map instead preferring to rely on technology.

And the switch has been partially blamed for leaving huge numbers of people simply unable to identify where some of the country’s most famous landmarks are, such as Big Ben in London, according to new research.

More than one in 10 (15 per cent) UK adults have never used a road map and 2.5 million of those wouldn’t know how to anyway as many now rely on technology to get them from A to B.

Research conducted for Post Office Monday Car Insurance reveals that it’s a particular issue for younger adults – with more than a third of people in their twenties (34 per cent) never having used one with 11 per cent unsure of how to use a road map.

And it’s suggested that the demise of the road map may go some way to explaining why so many people are unable to identify where major UK landmarks are. More than eight million adults don’t know that Big Ben is in London for example.

For those in their twenties, nearly eight in 10 (79 per cent) don’t know which county Stonehenge or Leeds Castle is – Wiltshire and Kent respectively.

Of course, there’s always the worry about if and when the battery of your smartphone or GPS device runs out and you need to know how to use a map… Or you could always get a power bank or USB car charger to keep devices powered up.