Google Maps users urged to try app change that could save your life – it’s so simple

A NEW potentially life saving feature is being trialled on Google-owned navigation app Waze.

A beta version of Waze, bought by Google for $1.3billion (£1billion) in 2013, is currently being tested among some users.

wazeThe feature is designed to save lives by highlighting high-risk roads.[/caption]

One key feature in the beta trial warns road-faring users where a crash is more likely to occur.

Potentially dangerous roads, where crashes have occurred previously, appear in red on the map.

The feature is designed to save lives by highlighting high-risk roads.

But a Google spokesperson told The Sun that the feature is still “very much in trial phase”.

It’s one of the first new features to come out of Waze since the company started to be overseen by the same team that runs Google Maps.

The feature will alert drivers of risky roads just once via a pop-up notification, which onlookers have said is an effort to not overly spook drivers.

The safety feature may also not illuminate roads in red if the user travels on them frequently.

While the feature is only in beta mode, it’s likely to release to the general public soon, according to Israeli tech news site Geektime.

But if you would rather not know of nearby high-risk roads when travelling, the feature can be turned off by going into the app’s Settings and going into the Alerts section.

The crowd-sourced satnav app has been on a campaign to make travelling safer, particularly when solo.

Waze last month announced that it would be partnering with community safety organisation SafeUP to ease the fears of people feeling vulnerable when travelling alone in the dark.

So-called ‘safe places’ will appear as location pins for both drivers and commuters until the end of February, when the winter nights begin to shorten again.  

“We know that women, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming individuals often put their lives on hold during the winter months in favour of staying home, and staying safe,” Ulyana Guseva, a senior industry manager at Waze, said at the time.

“This partnership is designed to support both drivers and pedestrians travelling this winter, empowering them to take back control of their daily lives, and hopefully making them feel safer.”

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