Brits want their sat-nav to speak proper

UK users want their sat-nav equipment to speak the Queen's English

Nearly two thirds of people prefer their satellite navigation equipment to speak the Queen's English, a survey has found.

Research conducted by Alk, maker of the sat-nav software CoPilot, found that the Queen's English was judged the most popular voice by 57 per cent of those surveyed. 

The study polled over 1,000 people from all areas of the UK. Celtic languages fared better than other regional dialects, with three of the top five accents including southern Irish, Scottish and Welsh.

Geordie was voted the second favourite accent in England, chosen by eight per cent of people.

Even in London residents are more likely to favour the tones of Buckingham Palace than the Queen Vic; just six per cent wanted a cockney sat-nav system compared to 61 per cent who favoured the Queen's English.

The Birmingham accent was voted the least liked, garnering only two per cent of the vote. Nearly four in 10 respondents labelled the Brummie accent as the most likely to drive them round the bend. Liverpudlian was the second worst chosen by respondents.

Dr Bernard Lamb, a spokesman for the Queen's English Society, suggested that the results were a victory for the good use of English. 

"For something as important as getting your directions right clarity is paramount," he said.

"What matters most is a form of English that is most understandable by the majority, and is clearest in pronunciation and clearest in grammatical structure.

"In other words it doesn't have the idiosyncrasies found in some local accents and dialects. Queen's English is by far the most widely understood form of English in the UK."

Michael Kornhauser, managing director of Alk, explained that the results of the survey are likely to shape future versions of its satellite navigation system.

"These results show that most people expect their sat-nav system to speak clear, concise English," he said.

"They also show that people demand some regional variations too. The dulcet tones of southern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all fared really well.

"Future versions of CoPilot Live will take this into account and give people the choice to have the accent that they really want."