The functionality to report crashes, speed cameras and congestion has been steadily rolling out for about 6 months now. We first saw it on Maps late last year with the addition of reporting congestion in April this year, and now the feature is becoming more widely available.
Android Police has collated a list of locations where the new feature is confirmed live. The list includes Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the US.
The new feature is one of many that Google Maps has developed following the gradual integration of Waze into Maps. As an Android Auto user, the alerts come through initially as a voice prompt followed by visual indicators.
For congestion or crashes, if there is a faster route to your programmed destination (a really good reason to always use navigation vs just showing maps on the screen) you’ll be offered the opportunity to accept the faster route or stay on the one you’re travelling.
For speed cameras, the audible voice alert usually comes about a minute before you’ll be on top of the speed camera, then as you approach a visual prompt is available on the screen. While I have some issue with this – in terms of simply not speeding – it’s a good reminder if you’ve lost full attention to the road momentarily.
Will these notifications be helpful to you, or just another potential distraction in the car?
