Google Maps Alerts Have Been Useful for Driving on Holidays, or Distracted

I’ve been driving more than usual this holiday season. This time of year allows me more free time which encourages me and my family to pay the bridge toll and go shopping in faraway places. Because if not now, when? During Thanksgiving break, we were heading out to IKEA when I saw Google Maps alerts on Android Auto about where the road patrol was on my route. I’ve seen warnings like this before, but not this big. I thought to myself, this must be the last wave of Waze features integrated into Google Maps.

Waze has been popular among riders because of the reports submitted by the public. The same people you’re forced to share the road with can tap the app to alert others if there’s a crash ahead or a derailment due to something on the road. It’s very clear about what’s going on, too, which is very useful when you’re driving and can’t scroll through social media to find out what’s going on.

The alert feature is now embedded in Google Maps, similar to how you interacted with it in Waze. The warning will go off, and a dialog box will appear. It will ask if the previous event still exists or has been deleted. Then, you will have time to respond by choosing an option.

This is the part where the confusion started. We were on a busy road on the way home, and as you can imagine, the feature was on, informing us of all the upcoming events. At first, it was helpful—I have a lead foot and I’m curious about speed traps! But then there was something on the screen that I had to interact with, thus taking my hand off the wheel and taking my eyes off the road. When the prompt asks you to report whether the incident still exists, the pop-up box stays on the screen for what feels like a whole minute (or at least it was there while I was driving). My husband also found it distracting while driving and just snuck out to turn it off.

The problem here is not with Waze and this particular set of features. There is a precedent. It was the invention of the touchscreen in the car, which went from fashion to expectation. I was so excited when we bought our Subaru Outback three years ago that I realized the model we had chosen was only available with an 11-inch touchscreen. That touch screen is slower than a smartphone interface and requires real pressure for the interface to recognize. It continues to frustrate me after years of driving. Whenever Waze comes up with this feature, I’ll be reminded that I’ve been saddled with a distracting touchscreen while driving.