Maybe Sean is right that the warning should be written differently, but winter is winter unless you're interested in avoiding responsibility for your own ignorance of the outdoors.
Can you tell I'm passionate about this subject? I've been on search and rescue teams, been a pilot, boater, and ski patroller, and I spend a lot of time outdoors. Nature doesn't play games with semantics. You have to respect the outdoors or it can kill you. Yes, the guy did stay with his vehicle for some time and eventually left for help. Yes, he was probably desparate. Even then, you still have to make good decisions. The question is, who was better off--the ones who stayed in the car or the one who went for help? What option provides your best chance for survival? As a dad, I'd have a struggle keeping myself in the car. I'd want to do something to save my family and I would have to work hard in that situation to convince myself the best thing I could do would be to stay put. But, it doesn't matter how long you're there. Your chances of being spotted and rescued are best if you're in the car. Slogging through snow without proper gear WILL wear you down. If you have a specific destination where you know you can get help, that might be one thing. Trudging through several miles of snow in hopes of stumbling across help is a bad idea. Thomas Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brierley, Sean Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 10:03 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TCP] CNET Editor Death Caused by a TechnicalCommunicationMistake? Well, some thoughts: 1) It is not yet winter. So any warning about winter would not be applicable, right? Perhaps a better warning is, "This route closed beginning with the first snowfall," or something similar. 2) Staying with the vehicle is a great idea. In this case, I believe the guy did stay with the vehicle for quite a number of days, considering the food situation, and only in desparation struck out to find help. Cheers, Sean -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Milan Davidovic Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 9:56 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TCP] CNET Editor Death Caused by a Technical CommunicationMistake? On 12/7/06, Bonnie Granat <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The 2005-2007 state > highway map distributed by the Oregon Department of Transportation has > a warning in red print, inside a red box: "This route closed in > winter." A Rand-McNally map did not have a similar warning. I'd only call it a "mistake" if R-M had intended to put the warning in but didn't. I would agree that R-M would better serve the market by including this information. And not to put any blame on the family, but how many people examine a map before buying it to see whether it includes the types of information they need? ______________________________________________ Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details. Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at http://www.doc-u-motion.com -- your 3D documentation community. _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
