Today, Waze announced a new feature called crash history alerts that will warn drivers about upcoming accident black spots on their route. If you are approaching a crash-prone section of road, like a series of tight turns or a difficult merge, the Google-owned navigation app will show a warning so you can take extra care.
Waze has long allowed users to report live traffic information, like speed checks and crashes, as they use the app to navigate. This crowdsourced information is used to warn other users about upcoming hazards, and now will apparently also be used to identify crash-prone roads. According to Google, an AI will use these community reports combined with historical crash data and key route information, like “typical traffic levels, whether it’s a highway or local road, elevation, and more,” to assess the danger of your upcoming route. If it includes a dangerous section, it will tell you just before you reach it.
So as to minimize distractions, Waze says it will limit the amount of alerts it shows to drivers. Presumably, if you are navigating a snowy mountain pass, it won’t send you an alert as you approach each and every corner. It seems the feature is designed to let you know when you’re approaching an unexpectedly dangerous bit of road, rather than blasting you with notifications every time you take a rural road in winter.
