Some roads are straight and smooth motorways, while others are winding and unbanked with badly repaired potholes. In order to go from one place to another, we depend on the most advanced navigation programmes, yet even the safest routes might present dangers. Waze, a navigation software owned by Google, offers a community-sourced plan for this: warning cars before they reach dangerous spots.

Waze is already quite useful, since it notifies you of speed traps and police checkpoints along the highways that have been reported by other users. Seasonal themes are another enjoyable possibility. The Israeli technology news site Geektime recently observed Waze beta testing a new feature that would warn drivers if community data indicated that the route they were approaching was a common site for accidents. Waze will tell you how far the hazardous section is. Such routes are also highlighted in red in the app’s UI, so you can be on high alert with just a quick scan.

If you don’t want to get notifications about your “History of crashes,” you may disable them in the Waze settings. When this function is implemented more broadly, a new section labelled “History of traffic accidents” should be added to this configuration page. The study also alleges that Waze will not warn you if you often travel on a dangerous route, maybe to minimise repetition, keep your anxiety levels down, and because it trusts you to recognise the hazards.

We are optimistic that this function will be made available to the public soon, since it has the potential to save lives, avoid property damage, and make roadways safer for all Waze users. Thus, during snowstorms, it is imperative that you use winter tyres, drive cautiously, and keep an eye on Waze to avoid the hairpins that run along the edge of the cliffs.