The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #135578   Message #3094776
Posted By: Bee-dubya-ell
13-Feb-11 - 10:48 PM
Thread Name: BS: Do small errors in books, film &c matter
Subject: RE: BS: Do small errors in books, film &c matter
I recently read a Stephen King short story with a couple of glaring errors in it.

The main character was driving from Jacksonville, Florida to Sarasota, Florida. The route between those to cities is quite simple: drive west from Jacksonville on Interstate 10 for about an hour and then turn south onto Interstate 75 for another four hours or so. The I10/I75 interchange is just north of Lake City. Mr. King had his protagonist stop at a rest stop on I75 toward the end of his trip, but he had yet to reach Lake City. As I understand the geography of Florida, and I've lived in the state my entire life, Lake City should have been a couple of hours behind him.

And the rest stop on I75 at which the driver stopped was indicated by a sign pointing to the left. Now, we drive on the right-hand side of the road in Florida, and a rest stop sign pointing left is going to mean the rest stop is in the median strip, between the northbound and southbound lanes. Sorry, Mr. King, but to the best of my knowledge there are no rest stops so situated on either I75 or any other interstate highway in Florida. They're all either on the right side of the highway or off the highway all together, and they're all accessed by turning right, not left. The service plazas on The Florida Turnpike are situated in large median areas, but that's not where the guy was driving.