This research is focussed on investigating people’s preference and performance during the use of auditory route information while driving new and unfamiliar routes. Over the last decade, researchers have become increasingly interested in the levels of driver distraction caused by a range of in-car devices. Much of this research has focused on the effects of in-car mobile phone use. However, a recent rise in the popularity of in-car navigation systems has also sparked research into the distraction that these devices might cause. Although a number of studies have investigated the optimal timing for presentation of auditory route information as well as the most effective types of informational content for these instructions, there is much less research on the cognitive demands imposed by the act of processing auditory instructions of any kind, and on the impact that these cognitive demands might have on the task of driving. We address this issue using a multi-disciplinary approach to collect both qualitative and quantitative data through questionnaires and user experiments.