Survey Reveals That New York is a City of “Neutral Navigators”
CONCORD, Mass.--New Yorkers most often travel in their cars for leisure more than any other city, according to a recent survey that revealed the city’s “driving personality.” The seven city survey was conducted by Concord-based TomTom Inc., the world’s leading provider of navigation solutions and digital maps.
Out of all the cities surveyed, New Yorkers travel most often in their cars for leisure (11.2 percent). Since most New Yorkers rely on public transportation for their daily commutes, it comes as no surprise that New Yorkers are neutral navigators. Additionally, Big Apple residents take a laid-back approach to driving with 15.6 percent of drivers leaving for appointments at the last minute, banking on not hitting traffic or other delays. They are also the most responsible drivers, with 19.5 percent never letting their gas tanks run below half a tank.
Cities surveyed fell into three different “driving personality” categories:
Diligent Driver – Extremely conscientious drivers who consistently stick to the rules of the road
Neutral Navigator – A milder breed of drivers who take a steady, “middle-of-the-road” approach to driving and typically go with the flow
Courageous Commuter – Bold drivers who do what it takes to overcome the obstacles and complexities of daily driving
New York was one of seven major U.S. cities to be surveyed on a number of typical driving scenarios to determine its unique reactions and distinct driving style. Some interesting results follow.
New York had solid scores when it came to neutral navigating:
| 21.5% Never miss their exit | High Score: New York | |
| 87.7% Turn on a GPS device when navigating to a new destination | High Score: New York | |
| 35.1% Sing and dance while driving | High Score: Los Angeles, 37.4% | |
| 11.7% Fill up their gas tank when they pass a station with low prices | High Score: Chicago, 14.6% | |
| 31.2% Let someone pass if they get cut off | High Score: Los Angeles, 40.4% |
“As Americans spend more and more of their time on the road, driving personalities naturally emerge,” said Kendra Thornton, Travel Expert and Industry Publicist. “Through TomTom’s Driving Personality Survey, we are able to see how each city’s ‘driving personality’ directly relates to its unique lifestyle, landscape and culture.”
As Neutral Navigators, New Yorkers are mostly calm, cool and collected, however they do experience several driving frustrations on a regular basis. New Yorkers greatest driving annoyance is traffic followed by slow drivers and road rage. One New Yorker, even had a run in with a pigeon-while driving by central park with his sun roof open, a bird fly by and pooped on his head.
Since New Yorkers take to their cars for vacations and road trips it is not surprising that they keep their eye on fuel prices; (19.5 percent) never let their gas tanks get below half full, and in turn TomTom’s fuel price service is their favorite TomTom feature. TomTom’s Fuel Price Service helps these fuel conscious drivers choose gas stations by location or price, and helps them find the lowest gas prices on their route, nearby or within a user-selected mile radius. Travelers can also choose which type of gas they would like tracked: regular, mid-grade, premium or diesel.
The seven cities surveyed include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New York.
Readers can discover their own driving personality, by taking TomTom’s short quiz, at http://www.survey.com/tomtom.
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About TomTom
TomTom NV is the world’s leading provider of navigation solutions and digital maps. TomTom NV has over 3,300 employees working in four business units – TomTom, Tele Atlas, AUTO and WORK.
TomTom's products are developed with an emphasis on innovation, quality, ease of use, safety and value. TomTom's products include all-in-one navigation devices which enable customers to navigate right out of the box; these are the award-winning TomTom GO family, the TomTom XL and TomTom ONE ranges and the TomTom RIDER. Additionally, independent research proves that TomTom products have a significant positive effect on driving and road safety.
Tele Atlas delivers the digital maps and dynamic content that power some of the world’s most essential navigation and location-based services (LBS). Through a combination of its own products and partnerships, Tele Atlas offers digital map coverage of more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The AUTO business unit develops and sells navigation systems and services to car manufacturers and OEMs. WORK combines industry leading communication and smart navigation technology with leading edge tracking and tracing expertise.
TomTom NV was founded in 1991 in Amsterdam and has offices in Europe, North America, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. TomTom is listed at Euronext Amsterdam in The Netherlands. For more information, go to www.tomtom.com.