What you need to know
- Waze is starting to roll out its new "Crash History" alerts for its Android and iOS apps.
- These alerts will appear from drivers who are nearing an area that has a strong history of crashes.
- Waze states it uses AI and its community reports, alongside historical data, to help create these notifications so drivers can take additional caution.
Waze is rolling out a new safety feature that should help drivers navigate roads safer and with more awareness.
According to a Waze blog post, the latest safety feature is called "crash history," which brings alerts to drivers' attention when on the road. Injuries sustained via a crash are the eighth leading cause of death around the world and such alerts through Waze might help cut that down.
If you as a driver are on an accident-prone street, Waze will warn you about it before you reach the stretch of road notorious for crashes. From the example shown, it looks like these alerts will spring up from the bottom of your Waze app while you're navigating.
Alongside the minimalistic approach, Waze states it has limited the number of alerts it sends drivers. Moreover, the app will not warn you of places where crashes tend to happen if you're on a street you frequent.
The company states these alerts tap AI software and user reports to do the work.
The reports are directly from the Waze community, which works hand-in-hand with historical crash data and "key information" about the route you're taking. Waze explains such information involves traffic, whether you're on a highway or local street, elevation levels, and more pieces of data.
While the safety feature launched today, keep in mind that it may take some time before it appears for everyone on Android and iOS.
These "crash history" alerts do appear to be the culmination of the dangerous road alerts the company started testing late last year in December. At the time, it was stated roads that have a strong history of accidents would be marked in red. However, with its full release now here, that no longer appears to be the case as Waze opts for a simple alert with information as to when drivers should take caution.
