Fleet drivers are still getting lost and driving thousands of miles in the wrong direction despite using satellite navigation systems.

Research from Continental Tyres found at-work drivers travel on average 42 miles in the wrong direction when lost compared to an average of 23 miles for all other road users and they take twice as long to decide to a U-turn – 16 minutes for a fleet driver compared to eight minutes for other motorists.

The survey of 4,000 motorists, which included nearly 200 fleet drivers, also revealed six in 10 fleet drivers, who rely on sat nav, have managed to get lost at least once, while 63% admit to following the directions given without question.

For example, Robert Jones, 43, from Doncaster, was fined £370 and given six penalty points for driving without due care and attention after his sat nav led him down a bridle path on to cliff edge.

“The survey shows the importance of planning before a journey,” explained Guy Frobisher, director of safety at Continental Tyres.

“It seems that sat navs have not really helped us to get where we are going without a hitch. Because of blindly following them we are losing the art of map reading and only getting more lost.”

But, Rosie Tickner, public relations manager at Tom Tom, stressed that satellite navigation was not to blame.

“A sat-nav is an aid to navigation and we would always recommend that drivers should still use their common sense whilst driving and continue to take notice of road signs,” explained Tickner.

“In addition, we always suggest that drivers regularly update their maps to ensure they have the latest map data available to them.”