Getting lost with TT

[Thornhump]

A recent experience I had showed both the downside and upside to GPS navigators. I was visiting the St. Louis area on business and after work had spent the evening with an old college friend and his family who lived in the outlying suburbs. The Go Classic I had at the time did fine getting me from my hotel to his home, but the problem came on the return trip.

It was after dark and at a highway interchange that my TT gave me instructions to "take the exit". Unfortunately, it turns out this particular interchange had undergone some fairly significant changes since my loaded maps were made. As a result, I found my GPS position slowly drifting off-road. I was quickly lost in space with no roads on the display and no easy place to turn around. What's worse the road was winding and completely disoriented me. It was really kind of unnerving being in an unfamiliar area, after dark, with no other traffic, and with no idea where I was.

After a good 10 minutes of that, a road came into view ahead on the display and the invisible road I was on intersected it. From that point, Tomtom had no difficulty getting me back to my hotel. Without the GPS, I'd have had little idea which direction to go on that rural road to get back to the main highway. Then again, without the GPS, I'd have probably paid better attention to the signs at the interchange and might not have got lost in the first place.

 

[Giorgio57]

Lost

Hi ,
Yes this happens when there has been road work in progress since the map was issued. But never dispare keep driving until road work ends and TomTom will eventually find and reroute you from that point to another road which will take you to your destination. In states or cities in continous road construction and expansion this will happen. On the other hand what would you have done with a paper map? (Same thing) You can't expect to have tomtom or tele atlas to have an update every 2 weeks! I live in Rome and have used my tomtom in U.S. states and cities where most roads have been built and barely any new roads will be done which this situaton will be hard to encounter. It has happened a few times to me too but I just let tomtom do the navigating. trust him he'll get you home! Ofcourse if you use your tomtom with your current map 20 years from now and never update it then your in trouble. I have a paper map I found that I had in my old car in 1979 I don't expect to use that! LOL but I'd love to take it out and ask a cop directions with that MAP!

George

 

[Pedro2NR]

Good advice George.