Waze, a Google-owned app, is now able to tell drivers that they’re going beyond speed limits. While primarily known as a navigation app, it did introduce a new feature to assist drivers in avoiding speeding tickets. The app uses both GPS navigation as well as information provided by other users to assist in monitoring traffic conditions. Users are able to tell if there are road accidents or closures that are currently found within a route, and now they can now submit if there are speed alerts nearby. It should be noted that this was not created for speed demons to avoid the law, but rather it is made for drivers who are driving on unfamiliar terrain where the speed limit may not be posted or does change in a seasonal manner.
Waze Introduces New Feature to Help Drivers Maintain Safe Driving Speeds
At the time of writing, the new feature from Waze is now available in 18 countries, which include Austria, Colombia, Italy, New Zealand, Uruguay, Brazil, France, Netherlands, and Sweden. The United States was notably not found from the list. In the company’s blog post, they have stated that the speed alerts will eventually hit global users but they did not provide a specific timeline as to when this will happen.
At the moment, the Waze app is now able to warn users if there are police officers nearby, or even that of other road hazards that are stationed along roads or within the highway. These are primarily acquired from information provided by other users to help other drivers secure a different path quickly if their usual one is unavailable or does not promote the fastest route to their destination. With the new speeding alerts, it aims to eliminate more driving-related problems that will allow new and old drivers within a certain locale to avoid speeding tickets.
Should the driver exceed the speeds in which they are required to have, there will be a visual alert that will pop up on their phone’s screen when the app is turned on. The alert will remain on-screen until the driver drops down the required speeds. Users are also able to customize the alert to appear if the speed limit is reached or when the speeds exceed the limit by 5-, 10-, or 15-percent. Aside from having a visual warning, users are also able to have a more audible alarm instead.
Waze did not divulge how the app determines if the driver has exceeded the speed limit. But there is one way to do that and that is to tap into the GPS data to determine how fast the vehicle is traveling compared to other users of the app within the area.