英國七成多司機不會看地圖

英國七成多司機不會看地圖
Do I have to draw a map for you?

As many as 11 million British motorists are unable to read a basic road map, according to a survey released Monday.

As many as 11 million British motorists are unable to read a basic road map, according to a survey released Monday.

The poll revealed over three quarters of British drivers were unable to identify the motorway map symbol, while only one percent of motorists would pass the Cub Scout Map Reader test.

"It's pretty embarrassing the majority of Cub Scouts have better map-reading skills than the majority of the adult population," said Colin Batabyal, head of underwriting and business development at eSure, which carried out the survey.

Sixteen percent of British drivers have become so heavily reliant on satellite navigation systems that they have given up keeping a map in their car.

"It's time for motorists to take a refresher in map-reading skills," said Scott Sinclair of national mapping agency Ordnance Survey. "Technology is great but the batteries won't run out on a paper map.

"No serious hill walker would rely totally on a GPS device in case the power goes or the signal is lost, so it should be the same for the motorist," added Sinclair.

The survey -- based on a poll of 1,000 UK drivers -- estimated Britons' poor map-reading skills resulted in 36 billion wasted miles being driven each year.

據本週一公佈的一項調查，英國多達1100萬的司機不會看簡單的公路地圖。

該調查發現，英國超過四分之三的司機不會辨認公路地圖圖標，僅有1%的司機能通過“童子軍認圖測試”。

開展此項調查的eSure公司的保險和業務開發部經理柯林•巴塔布耶爾說：“大多數童子軍的認圖能力比大多數成年人都要好，這實在令人尷尬。”

16%的英國司機嚴重依賴全球定位系統，所以他們的車裏都沒備地圖。

英國國家陸地測量局的斯科特•辛克萊說：“司機們應該在看地圖技能方面補補課了。高科技固然好，但紙製地圖不會出現突然沒電的狀況，（是最可靠的。）”

辛克萊說：“沒有哪個正兒八經登山的人會完全依靠GPS設備，以防出現沒電或失去信號的狀況，這對於開車的人來說應該是一樣的。”

該項對1000名英國司機的調查發現，英國人看地圖能力太差造成司機們每年開了360億英里的冤枉路。