GPS Systems Can Save Drivers 4 Days per Year

In-car navigation systems are not only benefiting drivers just by guiding them to their desired destination, but also provides them with the best route in order to save time, fuel and cut carbon emissions, a recent study revealed. Destined to evaluate the everyday use of navigation devices impact on consumers, the study was commissioned by the global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for GPS systems Navteq.

Thus, drivers without a navigation system, drivers with a navigation system, and drivers with a navigation system that included real-time traffic have been evaluated. The study revealed that drivers using traffic enabled navigation devices spend 18 percent less time driving on an average trip than drivers without navigation.

Applying these results over the course of a year it would mean that a driver without a navigation device would save himself four days of driving each year if they had a GPS system. In addition, the results also showed that drivers with a GPS system also save fuel, therefore cutting carbon emissions with 21 percent less that a driver without a navigation device.

The participants, who had not previously owned a navigation device, had their vehicles outfitted with a logging device which was used to track the route they drove and their driving speed. The study results reflect more than 2,100 individual trips, more than 20,000 kilometers and almost 500 hours on the road.

"This study continues to support the positive role that navigation plays in improving the consumer driving experience," says John MacLeod, executive vice president, NAVTEQ Connected Services, in a statement for the press. "In addition, the study supports the tangible benefits of navigation on fuel savings and environmental impact."