<VV> Headlamps (now maps)

[Hugo Miller]

Ordnance Survey maps are excellent, but they are not motoring maps, 
which A to Z are. I'm surprised the UK is so much bigger than Florida - 
I thought they were comparable in size. But there are a LOT more roads 
in the UK than there are in Florida. If A to Z can produce such 
excellent maps of the UK, somebody should be able to do the same for 
Florida. It's never going to happen now, of course, since everybody gets 
their directions from a computer these days.
It is just one aspect in which Florida is half a century behind the UK. 
And that in turn serves to demonstrate how society in general has 
deteriorated in that period. But in terms of motoring, there are some 
ways in which Florida - and indeed the United States as a whole - would 
benefit from catching up a bit!


On 2020-04-04 22:07, Jim Simpson wrote:
> Hugo -- the "A to Z" maps (and other British road maps) benefit from
> the government Ordnance Survey maps that were first done centuries 
> and
> are regularly updated.  They are truly excellent.  Few, if any,
> other countries have ever surveyed their nation to that degree. 
> Apparently the Ordnance Survey maps are either freely or cheaply
> available to the commercial map making companies and they take
> advantage of them.
>
> There are excellent maps in the US done by the US Geologic Survey,
> but there seems to be something of a disconnect between them and the
> US commercial map makers.  I've found the best commercial maps here
> to be the ones from the American Automobile Association.  Not
> perfect, but generally accurate and legible.  In general, US maps are
> good at the Interstate, US Highway and major state route level.  As
> they get down to the smaller roads, they become less reliable.
>
> Keep in mind as well the size of the area you are considering.  The
> entire UK has a surface area of about 93,000 sq miles.  By
> comparison, Florida is about 65,000 sq miles and the entire US is
> 3.8,000,000 sq miles.  To get the to same detail as the UK's "A to Z"
> maps, you would have to buy one for each state.  (I have an "A to Z"
> map book somewhere but can't put my hands on it right now, but if I
> recall correctly, it is roughly 1" thick.  A similar book for just
> the state of Texas would be about 3" thick and a full set for the US
> about 3.4 feet thick.)
>
> GPS devices work well, but do depend upon an accurate map base. 
> Google's map base seems to be the more accurate and up-to-date of
> those available right now.  And if you are navigating using them, you
> do have to use a little common sense.  Regarding large trucks
> (lorries) getting stuck, there are specialized GPS databases designed
> to route large vehicles.  They generally keep trucks from trying to
> go under low overpasses, cross inadequate bridges and presumably go
> down inappropriate roads.  (Of course, there are always situations
> where someone is trying to deliver some very large load to a remote
> rural location...)
>
> Bottom line is to be adaptable, use whatever aids you have (maps,
> gps) and use some common sense.
>
> Jim Simpson
> Group Corvair