Hi,
First off, i am a new waze user, and I’m loving it so far. I live in a country where the tool is new so it’s easy (and fun!) to “discover” new roads
But - I would remove the police and speedcam features. I know - not a popular comment - but police is not evil. They are there for a reason, and letting people easily avoid them is NOT a good idea. You can argue “you know better” and “you are skilled enough to drive above the speed limit” - but you are probably not. And even if you really are, can you say the same about EVERYONE you know and could potentially start using waze for this?
In most metropolitan-areas the speedcams are not mounted at points of special danger for pedestrians, cyclists etc. The only reason in many cases is, to fill the city coffers with some extra bucks. (Most of the photo-boxes are camouflaged in my area! Sometimes they’re hidden even in litter-bins!) Streets are overfilled with traffic signs so you often cannot recognize all of them. In this situations I’m thankful to every wazer who gave me this little extra tip to avoid a speeding ticket.
Traffic safety is not generated by automated surveillance but only by live police presence, their direct contact with the “delinquent”, meaningfull traffic control and roadworks management. But this costs personnel and money and drains the mayors wallet.
I actually think the police notifications are a good thing. I am not advocating breaking the law but from my personal experience is that when folks know where police are at they don’t avoid them but they drive more attentively, which I wish they did all the time. Plus even without the notifications you are more likely to see slowdowns in the neighborhood of a police spot as often folks will slowdown as a knee-jerk reaction when they see police in the area. Having a heads up might keep you out of an accident.
Yes some will abuse it but most that would do that have been doing it all along even before Waze came along and will keep doing it regardless of what Waze provides. If it makes one other driver pay a little more attention to the road out there and drive a bit safer I am okay with that.
Sort of disagree. People that hear a notice that police are in the area are probably going to slow down to the speed limit. Since some of my police reports are still on the map 2 days later I see this as a good thing. Getting people back down to the speed limit makes the roads safer for everyone (although at the same time I do agree with your opinion)
This is a touchy subject. See, in my area (I believe it’s Ontario, if not Canada) they’ve decided not to use the speed cameras, and the red light cameras are all labeled as such, and placed at high problem intersections.
Also, one method ive seen put into place in a few places is simply a matter of a sign that displays your current speed directly above the speed limit, and from what I’ve read its been decided that it’s effective in slowing people down (mental state of “if someone else sees what im doing then it IS bad” maybe?). One that i’ve found VERY EFFECTIVE is simply a sign on the highway (freeway for my neighbours to the south) that says “SPEED ENFORCEMENT IN EFFECT”. You approach one of those signs and its a sea of brake lights as everyone panics wondering where the cop car is hiding.
Alas, I digress. Bottom line is, no matter what options there are to be warned (signs, smartphone apps, the cops sitting in the SAME place EVERY night) people ALWAYS get pulled over. People are going to speed. Some people seem to think that their 10 minutes saved doing 150 instead of 100 is worth the excess gas, dangerous reaction time and risk of getting caught (I know… I used to be one of those people until I got had a family). While I understand the OP’s point in why it should be disabled, the replies are right…people are going to speed, and if Waze telling them there’s a cop hiding behind that bush up there gets them to slow down for a couple blocks, then it’s doing something…
Interesting the differences between Canadian speeding and UK speeding.
We too have had the odd experiment with signs telling you your speed, but the overall view of those is a bit negative - some people treat them as a challenge and try to get the highest number they can.
Having said that, being caught for speeding (almost only by camera these days as there are almost no police patrols) tends to focus the mind for some - expensive and you get (at least) 3 points on your licence. Get 12 and you get banned.
Cameras of course are easily evaded by those who want to by the simple addition of cloned plates on the car.
I’m glad to have them as it gives me a reminder to check my speed. I drive a 3-year old car . . . and it’s not a sports car or high spec car (it certainly doesn’t have cruise control or a speed limiter). However, when you’re on a motorway, it’s so easy to drift well over the 70mph speed limit. You’re driving along, going with the flow and suddenly you’re doing 90.
So if there’s a reminder that a check point is up ahead, then I can slow down.
Of course I could drive with one eye on the speedometer. But is that really safer than being a little over the limit? And it sure is stressful . . .
The purpose of speed cams and red light cameras is to get people to slow down. A report on a waze map does the exact same thing. Sounds like the OP doesn’t want people to avoid fines. That’s the only difference between having police reports and not in waze IMO.
