As a driver, the last thing you want is to realize a road has a history of crashes only after you’re involved in one. Local residents are usually aware of these dangerous areas and take extra care when driving through them. However, drivers who are not familiar with the area might not be so lucky and face higher risks.
Fortunately, Waze is here to help. The popular navigation app, owned by Google, now has a new feature called “crash-history alerts” to keep drivers informed when they are nearing accident-prone roads.
In their announcement, Waze highlighted the alarming statistics around road accidents, noting that nearly 3,700 people die globally each day in crashes involving various types of vehicles and pedestrians. They emphasized that crash injuries rank as the eighth leading cause of death worldwide and mentioned that Waze users report accidents approximately every two seconds. The new feature aims to address this issue by alerting drivers ahead of time about roads with a history of accidents.
The crash-history alerts are based on reports from the Waze community and are enhanced with some artificial intelligence. If your planned route includes a road known for crashes, the app will notify you before you reach that risky stretch. An example of the alert might say, “History of crashes — next 1 mile,” accompanied by a blue bar that gradually shortens as you get closer to the hazard zone. While the alert doesn’t detail the specific nature of past incidents, it serves as a useful reminder to stay vigilant.
It’s worth noting that to reduce distractions, Waze won’t repeatedly send crash-history alerts for roads you frequently travel.
The new feature launched on Tuesday, so make sure you have the latest version of Waze installed to take advantage of these potentially life-saving alerts.