Directional warning - GPS maps

[uriah1]

This is an amusing footnote to finding a certain location recently.
I would say "buyer beware", but perhaps, "those without paper maps beware" !

---------------------------------------------------------------
Directions

PLEASE DO NOT USE MAPQUEST, GOOGLE, GPS etc. for directions.
People have been routed thru swamps, non-existant roads, or 2 tracks!!
PLEASE USE OUR WEBSITE MAP near the bottom of the page,
OR WE WILL BE HAPPY TO SEND YOU DIRECTIONS!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

[TheGoodTexan]

I find that most of those types of warnings are due to user error, not actual mapping error... passed along by people who don't understand how to use GPS devices and apps in the first place.

My wife and I attended a hyper hi-end wedding last year that was way out in rural Tennessee. I mean, we live in a rural area, but this was on a 1000 acre farm, about an hour drive off of I-24. We were 15 mins from the closest convenience store.

The bottom of the wedding invitation had this same type of warning on it... Don't use your GPS to get here, it will tell you wrong... and FOR THE LOVE OF OUR GOOD LORD ABOVE DON'T YOU DARE USE AN iPHONE TO GET HERE. IT MIGHT TAKE YOU TO GEHENNA!!!

(A little hyperbole on my part)

Before we left the house, I put the address into Google Maps from my computer... and low and behold, they had a Street View available from the dirt road entrance to this place.

So I checked with the map app on my iPhone... it gave me the same directions. So that's what we did.

RESULT:
When we arrived to the entrance of the farm... we came in from the north side. We were all alone. Coming in from the south side was a line of cars deeper than we could count... of people who had followed the family's directions and map on the invitation. They all had to wait in line while we pulled right up and got directly to the valet.

 

[boris bubbanov]

I guess I'm off alone, by myself.

I like to drive cross country basically by the seat of my pants. Where do the creeks go? Where are there phone lines, power lines and where are there none? If it says "No Truck Traffic" that almost always means it is the best short cut. Where's the gap in the ridgeline - where do the mailboxes end?

This is the real wandering. Even maps is probably more information than an astute traveler needs. Then, when you need to find something, you can follow the tracks. You see things that are in plain sight, that many are now conditioned to ignore. And some decent maps are there as your backup, in case you find a bridge out or something and have to go to plan B.

Once you get into these navigational aids, you're IMO just a half step from a "Virtual Road Trip" on your computer. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

 

[JL_LI]

A few years back I was routed across a runway extension in Indianapolis. I guess the GPS in the rental car was only as good as the map it was using. Fortunately, this is much less of a problem nowadays when maps are downloaded in real time if you've purchased the bandwidth or a subscription from the car maker.

 

[TheGoodTexan]

I guess I'm off alone, by myself.

I like to drive cross country basically by the seat of my pants. Where do the creeks go? Where are there phone lines, power lines and where are there none? If it says "No Truck Traffic" that almost always means it is the best short cut. Where's the gap in the ridgeline - where do the mailboxes end?

This is the real wandering. Even maps is probably more information than an astute traveler needs. Then, when you need to find something, you can follow the tracks. You see things that are in plain sight, that many are now conditioned to ignore. And some decent maps are there as your backup, in case you find a bridge out or something and have to go to plan B.

Once you get into these navigational aids, you're IMO just a half step from a "Virtual Road Trip" on your computer. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

This is good when time is of no concern.

The wife and I left the panhandle of Florida two days earlier than planed, during a vacation a few years ago. She said, "You wanna catch a Braves game?" I said "Sure... and let's take two days to get to Atlanta." ...which is exactly what we did. And we avoided all interstates the entire time. We found some SPECTACULAR homes buried in the backwoods of Alabama.

But when you need to be somewhere on time, the expedition philosophy doesn't always work so well.

 

[burntfrijoles]

Fortunately, this is much less of a problem nowadays when maps are downloaded in real time if you've purchased the bandwidth or a subscription from the car maker.

I just use Apple Maps in CarPlay. I wouldn't use it in remote areas but it's great for someone like me who has ZERO sense of direction. I once told Siri "navigate to East BFE street instead of East BFE drive and it sent me in the wrong direction. I was cussing it until I realized it was operator error on my part. Ain't technology grand?

With more CarPlay and Android Auto available in more vehicles I think navigation will go the way of civility.. extinct. LOL

 

[Paul Jenkin]

Occasionally, a case is reported via the UK media where a driver ends up having to be rescued as a result of having driven their car into a river, jammed it into a gap between buildings that is narrower than the car itself or has come to grief in some other seemingly peculiar and hap-hazard way.

The report is often accompanied by a statement from the driver to the effect that "That's what the Sat Nav told me to do".

Now, as the UK a country whose towns and cities were built long before the invention of the car, I know a lot of roads cross rivers at "fords" and some roads are only wide enough for motor-cycles. However, the driver is responsible for the vehicle and if the sign suggests the ford is 3 feet deep and only suitable for tractors or it's obvious that they're being directed to a sheer cliff edge, you'd think the driver would engage their brain, turn round and try another route. Wouldn't you....?

 

[waparker4]

I had a recent confusing issue with Google maps in Georgetown (DC) down by the water. it had the streets totally wrong. So weird, because Google maps is astoundingly accurate in urban areas.

 

[moosie]

I've always loved maps, and am a conceptual navigator. I don't want to hear about the ordering of lefts and rights, like a blind maze-runner. Tell me I need to stay on this side of the river, and don't go over that ridge. Couple more clues, and I'm good to go.

My wife's the opposite, so we don't even attempt to give each other directions anymore. She'll lead with "take a right", and I'll counter with "Where is our destination in relation to <some nearby landmark>? North, south?" I won't tell you how she responds, this forum has rules...

 

[Stubee]

I've always loved maps, and am a conceptual navigator. I don't want to hear about the ordering of lefts and rights, like a blind maze-runner. Tell me I need to stay on this side of the river, and don't go over that ridge. Couple more clues, and I'm good to go.
...

Me too. I have our state county maps + another book of state maps, topo maps for everywhere I roam off road, and a number of state road maps. I used to sit at the picnic table when we camped in a new area, studying maps to decide where to explore. I can tell you which compass direction I’m headed while driving in any rural location without a hint from my truck (it doesn’t offer one anyway). I carry a compass vs a GPS in the woods hunting or exploring.

I do use the IPhone to get options for a new trip, but want maps. There is one rural area in N Florida I navigate every year that is a bit bewildering, as it’s not on the state map (nor do I have that county’s map), and the iPhone GPS can help there.

 

[moosie]

Where would we be without our Gazetteers... I think my son's quietly borrowed and kept all of mine over the years. I'm just glad he enjoys using them.

 

[boredguy6060]

The backroads are where you see the most beauty and interesting places.
However, they are not the fastest or maybe even the safest roads.
The last trip up Route 66 I saw the craziest drivers, and I live in Sou Cal, I know crazy.
It took a lot of fun out of what use to be a nice trip.
We usually ended up getting to New Mexico before turning around, but that included a lot of stopping and looking.
The back roads have a lot less police presence that the interstate, maybe that’s why people act crazier, who knows?
My dad was big on road trips, and we traveled most of the country before there were interstate hwy’s, that was the hay day of road travel.
Neon, Wig Wam Villages, canvas bags of water hanging off the hood ornament, snake pits, wrestling bears and cheeseburgers, that was road travel in the 50’s.
Sorry for the meandering,

 

[TheGoodTexan]

What about U.S. Americans who don't have maps such as?

 

[moosie]

My head exploded before I got to the end of that. US Americans, indeed.

I'd hand her $10.06 for a $9.81 purchase at her local McDonald's, just to mess with her.

 

[Toto'sDad]

I guess I'm off alone, by myself.

I like to drive cross country basically by the seat of my pants. Where do the creeks go? Where are there phone lines, power lines and where are there none? If it says "No Truck Traffic" that almost always means it is the best short cut. Where's the gap in the ridgeline - where do the mailboxes end?

This is the real wandering. Even maps is probably more information than an astute traveler needs. Then, when you need to find something, you can follow the tracks. You see things that are in plain sight, that many are now conditioned to ignore. And some decent maps are there as your backup, in case you find a bridge out or something and have to go to plan B.

Once you get into these navigational aids, you're IMO just a half step from a "Virtual Road Trip" on your computer. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

It's funny when I think back on driving a truck all over the country, often with right, left directions which are usually of course useless. Between a map, seat of the pants reckoning, and okay, the CB radio, I found every single delivery or pickup address I ever attempted. The other day, using my phone, I knew that I was being directed to the wrong side of 46 looking for a side trip address as I went through Paso Robles. I just got back on the highway and went home, I'll figure it out, and draw me a map and visit next time I'm through there.

 

[Flakey]

What about U.S. Americans who don't have maps such as?

I love the classics!

 

[archetype]

This is an amusing footnote to finding a certain location recently.
I would say "buyer beware", but perhaps, "those without paper maps beware" !

---------------------------------------------------------------
Directions

PLEASE DO NOT USE MAPQUEST, GOOGLE, GPS etc. for directions.
People have been routed thru swamps, non-existant roads, or 2 tracks!!
PLEASE USE OUR WEBSITE MAP near the bottom of the page,
OR WE WILL BE HAPPY TO SEND YOU DIRECTIONS!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

In Madison WI the Garmon GPS instructed me to go 13 miles on a 2 mile road. Next day, we got to a tee in the road and the GPS told me to go straight. I was facing Lake Monona. My late wife told the GPS to "shut up," pulled it off of the dashboard, and threw it into the glove compartment.

 

[Mechanic]

I’m the delivery dude for the deli we own. Eagle Mountain Utah is not quite 20 years old and building so fast the mapping software can’t keep up. Good thing I have a cellphone and numbers on the ticket I can call when I get close. The fun part is when I go off route it give the gps fits. “Proceed to Route” it says, I give it a few choice words. Wife won’t ride with me any more.

 

[Ironwolf]

Now, as the UK a country whose towns and cities were built long before the invention of the car, I know a lot of roads cross rivers at "fords" and some roads are only wide enough for motor-cycles. However, the driver is responsible for the vehicle and if the sign suggests the ford is 3 feet deep and only suitable for tractors or it's obvious that they're being directed to a sheer cliff edge, you'd think the driver would engage their brain, turn round and try another route. Wouldn't you....?

Haven't you seen the post about living in the stupidest generation.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

Haven't you seen the post about living in the stupidest generation.

Yes, and I can see where you're going with this, but a lot of the individuals I've seen in the press as having had to be rescued were "mature" in years. I think there's a general perception that because it's high tech, it's infallible.