I’m lost.

[Mickwhitt 5,034]

When I joined our local police force in 1988 the first thing you bought was an A to Z map book of your county. In A5 size it fit in your pocket and never ever left your side. You were often placed in an area you didn't know so the map book was essential. They were also often the target of fellow officers who would happily steal the most up to date copy they could.

 

On foot patrol you would be called up by your sergeant for your location so he could meet you to check you were on your beat. We had a few dodges for if you needed time to get to the right place and avoid a talking to. Mungy lane, Mousehole lane, Aldrake lock, Peazle street were all places that weren't in the map book but really existed. 

 

In the days of old truck drivers would often pull over when they saw a "plod" on the beat to ask directions, usually to a local firm for a delivery. I was told by my sergeant never to get my map book out in front of any member of the public as it made it look like you didn't know your beat, so you would confidently give the driver a set of directions with copious hand gestures before sending him on his way. You'd then do your best to disappear from main roads to avoid him finding you again when your directions brought him right back to where you had given them. 

 

When you finally were allowed in a police car as a passenger it was your job to direct the driver to incidents purely using the A to Z, usually in the dark with a penlight gripped in your teeth, at high speed, with two tones and blue lights on and while answering the radio. Mistakes were forbidden and intimate knowledge of your beat area was expected. Pretty high stakes map reading which really mattered and was just something you had to be able to do. 

 

I recall once I had moved to a completely new area to me. I didn't know which way was up, but I had a young female cop, Lisa Bates, to act as my co pilot so there should be no drama if we got a shout. The radio duly called us to an assault in progress and we set off down the driveway of our office block toward the main road, blues and twos on and a head of speed building as I approached the T junction where I needed to know left or right. "Lisa, is it left or right?" Silence as she studied the A to Z.. "Lisa  is it left or right? Call it"

More silence...

"LISA, LEFT OR F@#%£& RIGHT ANY TIME YOURE READY!" silence 

" FFS BATESY, WHICH WAY DO I GO?"

At this point we were sitting at the main road, lights flashing, sirens blaring  traffic stopped for me to pull out and still no hint of a decision on which way to go. She suddenly threw the map book into the back seat, flew into a strop about putting her under pressure and got out to walk back up the driveway to report me to my sergeant for bullying. 

I made my own way to the assault reading the map myself, dealt with it and got back to the nick alone. There was no complaint from Lisa, she had been given a serious talking to about knowing her job after she stormed back into the office intent on having me disciplined. She wasn't exactly Karen the GPS girl but she sure learned you had to be able to map read that day.

 

Nowadays there are no A to Z map books in police cars, no one would be able to read one. And there are smart phones everywhere,  I wonder if bobbies blame being late to an incident on GPS.

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 70,968]

7 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

In the days of old truck drivers would often pull over when they saw a "plod" on the beat to ask directions, usually to a local firm for a delivery.

 

 

Ive definitely done that. Or local Town Halls. 

 

 

7 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

I was told by my sergeant never to get my map book out in front of any member of the public as it made it look like you didn't know your beat, so you would confidently give the driver a set of directions with copious hand gestures before sending him on his way. You'd then do your best to disappear from main roads to avoid him finding you again when your directions brought him right back to where you had given them. 

 

 

 

[ebinmaine 70,968]

Reminds of a Chevy Chase movie. Funny Farm. 

 

Good stuff.   

[953 nut 58,200]

8 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

At this point we were sitting at the main road, lights flashing, sirens blaring  traffic stopped for me to pull out and still no hint of a decision on which way to go.

At that point a wrong decision would have been better than no decision, at least you could have made a U Turn after a mistake had been discovered.

[Handy Don 13,397]

On 4/5/2025 at 7:59 AM, 953 nut said:

Our GPS and I have been known to fight it out several times. There are little two lane roads I've found in various places that have no traffic and parallel congested Interstates. 

Depending on the app you choose, there are configuration options for avoiding highways, tolls, ferries, etc. that are based on the vehicle you are in (car, commercial, heavy, etc.). There are often options for “shorter” vs. "fewer turns” routings, as well. 

That said, at our end of the country, municipalities are steadily lowering speed limits (and enforcing them) and even adding weight limits on smaller roads partly to make them less desirable as alternates. 

 

Just yesterday, Waze saved me at least 30 minutes rerouting me around a crash backup on I-84. It would have been even more time saved, but a tractor-trailer ahead of me followed the same re-route on some extremely narrow roads; speed limit 30, his (admittedly safe and cautious) speed 15-20. I’m also gonna guess his vehicle was over the 30 ton limit for the bridge we crossed. Clearly he was NOT using a heavy-truck configured routing app. 

[ebinmaine 70,968]

22 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

NOT using a heavy-truck configured routing app. 

 

 

There's a very specific reason that most trucking companies do not do that.

Most of them don't work very well at all.

The ones that have a fighting chance of getting you anywhere that you need to go are extremely expensive. Absolutely cost prohibitive.

 

We've tried using several of them here in Maine. All have failed.

[Handy Don 13,397]

4 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

We've tried using several of them here in Maine. All have failed.

Understood. I can see the rationale for the extra cost--lots of extra info needed to be effective and a correspondingly small market. 

 

Yesterday I assumed all the on-duty constabulary were involved at the crash site and not paying attention to the increased traffic on the “alternate” route. 

[8ntruck 7,439]

On our recent driving adventure from San Fransisco to Kansas City, we were using the Google Maps navigation system on my wife's phone.  We were on 2 lane running parallel less than 1/4 mile from the interstate - avoiding an automated tool system.  Automated toll systems are one of my pet peeves.  I'll leave that for another post, so this one won't get derailed.

 

The directions that Google was giving us suddenly changed to directions as if we were on the interstate.  Makes me wonder if there is a location accuracy issue, or if the AI running the routing gets confused about routing priorities. 

[SylvanLakeWH 27,674]

3 minutes ago, 8ntruck said:

On our recent driving adventure from San Fransisco to Kansas City, we were using the Google Maps navigation system on my wife's phone.  We were on 2 lane running parallel less than 1/4 mile from the interstate - avoiding an automated tool system.  Automated toll systems are one of my pet peeves.  I'll leave that for another post, so this one won't get derailed.

 

The directions that Google was giving us suddenly changed to directions as if we were on the interstate.  Makes me wonder if there is a location accuracy issue, or if the AI running the routing gets confused about routing priorities. 

Or, Big Brother wants you on the toll road to ding your credit card... 

[8ntruck 7,439]

  Probably the most likely possibility, though it would be worse in this case.  We were out of state and not subscribing to any toll collection systems.  Our mailing address is a PO box, which automated toll systems don't always find.  The toll bills get returned, creating big fines and a lein on the vehicle.