I have come across various instances, mainly in Scotland but also in England, where a section of road road will have a part time speed restriction. Usually these are 30 (or more) mph to 20 mph at given times of day. These are normally in the vicinity of schools in cases where it would be more normal in the UK to have a permanent 20mph around schools.
What are the Wazers thoughts about requesting support for PT speed restrictions to cover these circumstances which could be implemented under the Restrictions button on the street along with part time road closures?
Have time based speed restriction would be an awesome function of the Map Editor.
Take a look at the WME Feature Requests and add this if you can’t see it already. Expect an answer soon, implementation soon, well anything that involves a decision soon.
Thanks for the heads up. It has been raised back in March-May 2016. It is suggested that the Waze algorithms will address the lower speeds at these times when the part time speed limits are applied and will route around the PT speed limit zone if it is quicker to do so. In other words, don’t expect anything soon! :roll:
Do a search in the US forums for loads of requests and discussions on School Zones. This has been asked for so many times but KniGarYo sums up the collective response well. I’d change the expectations for part-time speed limits to closer to zero than even a Waze “soon”!
It’s a good idea, and something that I’ve asked about in the past. However, what happens during school holidays when the speed restriction presumably won’t be active? Who will update it then, and then remember to restore it when term starts? What if the hours change, etc. What if the school closes down temporarily for a few days - teacher training, etc. We’ll then get even more URs regarding incorrect speed and will have to explain it away.
I think the key to this issue is the “part time” / “temporary” status. For the majority of the time, the speed limit is set to the higher speed limit of 30mph, which is the permanent speed limit for that road. It is ultimately the responsibility of the driver, through observations made through the forward inspection portal, to obey the flashing lights when the lower temporary speed is in force. There is no real difference between this and a temporary speed for roadworks, which we also don’t usually map (unless it’s long term). More to the point, why would somebody want to drive at exactly the speed limit when conditions suggest it isn’t safe due to external influences, such as school kids running around, fog, etc.? I slow right down when I see a gaggle of kids regardless of the speed limit, not least because the majority of parents (a.) don’t believe it’s their responsibility to control their kids near a public highway (or anywhere for that matter!), and (b.) think it is somebody elses responsibility to teach them about road safety. At least around here, there are a large number of adults who think they have priority on the roadway and just step out in front of you expecting you to stop on a sixpence. :roll:
In some ways, it’s a similar argument to having traffic lights, give way, stop signs, etc, mapped on Waze. Great, until the local council go along and change something without bothering to tell anyone what they’ve done, as they often do. Then, when somebody has a ding, who is responsible?
Sat nav is there to help GUIDE a user from A to B, not spoon feed them every step along the way. If they need that much supervision, should they really be driving alone in the first place? :twisted:
I would add that temporary speed limits, whether they be school zones, road works, or congested motorways, are usually well signed. So there’s no real need for Waze to show them.
Permanent speed limits, on the other hand, are often appallingly signed (especially in summer when signs may be in the hedge). It wasn’t until I started checking speed limits to capture them for Waze that I realised quite how difficult it can be to know what the legal limit is. These days, I quite often looks at the phone screen to find out, so it really is helpful if we can get the permanent limits right on Waze.
I read the responce to the School Zone issue but I still think it would be a good idea to give a heads up when apporaching a school zone. I don’t think it is necessary to post the temporary speed but just to aleart the driver that a school zone is ahead and that there might be a possible speed restricition. I used to use a Garmin GPS that alerted me to school zones and I found it quite helpful.
School Zones are a safety concern so saying ‘School Zone - xx yrds’ or ‘School Zone -xx m’ would give drivers a warning to slow for a higher rate of potential hazards or a lowered speed limit.
I have a concern that we’re trying to turn Waze into something more than it’s intended to be. It’s a navigation aid, not a map, not a device to take some responsibility away from the driver. If you’re approaching a school zone, there will be warning signs. It’s the drivers’ responsibility to look for signs and react appropriately.
As a Navigation aid; once those zones were in place the routing engine could be set to avoid those areas in the set times.
That would potentially route traffic away from the ‘danger zone’ and improve safeguarding for the children and parents of the school.
I don’t think drivers pay enough attention (too many on mobiles and the like) but routing drivers away from potential problems is core functionality of Waze…?
Surely any road in existence is a “potential problem”. Any road can get an accident or a jam. Which would mean Waze can’t route anywhere, because everywhere is a potential problem… If there is an actual problem, Waze sees it and reacts appropriately. When there’s no problem, why should Waze route away?
Well they should. And Waze shouldn’t have to do the thinking for them. :roll: The, what’s it called, Forward Viewing Portal I believe, is an excellent tool that every driver needs to utilise.
I pass several school zones on my way to work, no matter which route I take. It’s rare that the road is clear enough to even exceed the temporary speed limit. Seeing how insane certain parents get with parking their cars, they are a much bigger threat than normal flowing traffic, imo… Not to mention the lollypop people who’ll step unto the road every few seconds to let every individual (school attending or not) pass.
Personally I don’t care if there are temporary speed limits, but I do agree with Pilotdave and Woodvale about people’s own responsibilities.
That is not the way I intended it to come across, however looking at how you have misquoted me, would suggest that you skipped my point and went directly on an offensive.
I am in agreement with Woodvale, just putting in a sensible alternative to the original suggestion.
More traffic in school areas at dropping off or picking up can make traffic jams bigger (I have 5 schools at the end of my street, between 8:15am and 9:20am it takes 35 mins to get out of the estate. At 2pm they stop one of the bus services because the traffic is so bad).
As I said, I don’t care one way or the other, so I have no reason whatsoever to go on the offensive. I’m just showing you one way your words can be interpreted, which seemed like a bit of an odd reasoning.
Nice idea, but each page I’ve looked at on that website has the following text in bold red at the top: Some schools have additional holidays - the data below should be used as a guide. Always check with your child’s school before booking a holiday.
So, straight away, there will be additional dates that aren’t covered. Then there is the issue of the school opening hours each day. When I was at school (many years ago!), there was a school at the opposite end of town that started an hour earlier than my one. Where are the various times listed? What if they have a few half days or even extend the hours several times per year? What about after school clubs, should they be catered for too? There are so many variables, it could become very messy very quickly.
I’ve only dealt with one, possibly two, URs about this in the last year. Even when multiplied out across the country, we’d probably be dealing with a few dozen at most. Now compare that to speed limit URs where people are flagging variable limits! :evil:
Whilst it’d be a nice to have, it’d also be an administrative nightmare and the headaches would likely far outweigh the benefits. Besides, there are plenty of more serious issues with the editor that need fixing first.