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Map documentation (was CNET Editor Death Caused by a Technical Communication Mistake?)
Subject:Map documentation (was CNET Editor Death Caused by a Technical Communication Mistake?) From:"Claire Conant" <Claire -dot- Conant -at- Digeo -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 7 Dec 2006 08:25:44 -0800
This is truly a tragic story, but one we can all learn from. My
condolences to the Kim family.
In November, I was in Maui and we rented a car from Budget. Budget gave
us a map that had sections highlighted with this text: "Do not drive
between these points. Driving on unauthorized roads violates car rental
contract."
At first I wondered why. Then I read on another related map, under the
big red caution heading, that the road was undeveloped and you could hit
potholes and damage the underside of the car, making it inoperable. And
that if you did that, you were on your own because when you signed the
contract you said you wouldn't drive those roads.
Okay, so fine, I was warned and decided not to go that route. Not worth
the risk to me. (Thinking mostly of the monetary cost to get us out of a
jam, not the risk to life or limb.)
However, one day, we (mom and I and our friend who lives in Maui)
decided to drive the road to Hana. We got to Hana and had dinner and
said friend decided she was carsick and pressured me HARD (worse than a
bad car salesman) to take the unauthorized route home. She insisted that
she drove it all the time (although she'd never driven the Hana road
herself....hmmm) and that it was perfectly safe. She pressured and
pressured and what made it difficult for me was that we had to stay with
her that night before heading home. I kept insisting that I did NOT want
to go that route, I was the driver, I was liable for the car and the
safety of the passengers, and that there was a reason that the car
company said not to go that way - I even read her the text. She kept
insisting that it was fine, straighter and faster - and she assured me,
safe. She knew so much better than the car company. Argh.
Well, fate saved me from having to stand up and tell her firmly NO
(which I would have ultimately done, in case you were wondering.) We
asked the waiter if the road was even open. No, the earthquake had taken
the road out and it was closed. Phew. Not only the friendship saved, but
lives possibly.
My point? I guess I have several. Good documentation (tech writing
tie-in) is written clearly to caution you but also to tell you *why* not
to do it. For many of us, just saying don't do it isn't enough. In this
case, Budget and other map makers there did a good job. They used the
CAUTION heading correctly (could cause harm to person or object).
The other point - even a native (in this case defined as someone who has
lived there for over five years) doesn't know why a road is considered
unsafe and can make bad recommendations or choices.
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