What you need to know
- Waze has added snow warnings to alert drivers and allow reports of wintry conditions.
- The feature was developed alongside the Virginia Department of Transportation.
- Drivers will be alerted to unplowed roads and also ice patches.
Just in time for winter (just kidding, we already got a foot of snow), Waze has added new reporting tools that allow users to account for snow and icy conditions, according to 9to5Google. Under the "Hazard" menu, Waze is adding buttons for "Unplowed road" and "Ice on road." Drivers will now get alerts about these wintry conditions.
The features were developed as part of Waze for Cities in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). While Virginia says it will monitor these reports in real-time, there are no plans to take action based on these live reports. Instead, VDOT says the plan is to hold the information for next year's forecasting, "to incorporate the data into our future operations," according to Chief Deputy Commissioner Rob Cary.
The feature is already available in the app in the 185 countries that Waze services. A quick check on my own smartphone showed no option to alert drivers to snow or ice, but it's also 60 degrees and raining today, so I'll try again tomorrow when it is snowing, because New England.
Maps made better through social
Waze adds a social element to mapping, giving you better real-time alerts to hazards like foul weather and problems on the road ahead.
