Map Quest When 80% Complete Is Good Enough!
Jul 09 '01 (Updated Dec 15 '07)
The Bottom Line DOn't use Map Quest unless you have another reliable map with you in case it fails.
There is a driving direction map service that’s free and can be accessed without any downloads, and no CD-Roms to buy. Just log on and go to Mapquest.com. Seems like a awesome deal right? It’s a great thing when it’s accurate. Be careful though because accuracy is not one of its strong points.
Map Quest has helped me find my way to many places I would never had consider driving to without the help of the printable directions provided by the online map site. Just set the starting destination and the ending destination and hit the print button. Map Quest gives you the approximate arrival time, how many miles of a drive it will be and a detailed list of directions that tell you exactly when to merge at on-ramps, which lane to be in , and the distance to the next direction it gives you. Along with printed map to help guide you in the direction you want to go.
The problem with Map Quest ? It’s not completely reliable. On a trip across Washington with a friend we used Map Quest to help us since we both become as confused as a baby in a topless bar when it comes to directions.
The first few hours were great. The directions told us exactly what we need to get in the direction we needed to be. We thought we were making excellent time and were excited to taking a little weekend vacation away from the city and into a desert like climate where you skin tans as you drive.
When we were approx. 40 minutes away from where we needed to be the directions ended. We figured we had arrived in the place we needed to be and instead found ourselves in a town were the locals seemed more confused then we were if that’s possible. We had no idea that this was the wrong town for the first 20 minutes of our driving lost.
Finally a man at a gas station in the next town gave us a better idea of where to go. Cranky and tired we finally made it to our destination. Being lost for 2 hours put a damper on our entire weekend though and I won't be using Map Quest again without other resources also.
There was no mention on the printed directions that Map Quest didn’t know the remaining directions to our destination. In the end we found ourselves 2 hours late getting to our destination because we thought the directions were all we needed and unaware of Map Quest's unreliability at the time, failed to bring along a map.
Map Quest is good for short trips in highly populated areas. Map Quest is a great resource to help find directions when you don’t know the area your going. Just don’t rely on it 100%. Bring another map and highlight the roads, highways, and freeways you need to follow before leaving for your trip. Otherwise you may find yourself in a town with more streets named after tree’s
Stephanie Dow is the author of the Debt Freedom Guide debt diary located at www.debtfreedomguide.com
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Epinions.com ID:
sunstreeks
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Member: Stephanie
Location: Western Washington
Reviews written: 161
Trusted by: 235 members
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