Dear Waze,

RE: Waze Routes Respondsible For Two Severe Accidents/Hijacking at Gunpoint

I would like to lay a severe complaint.

Your app is the reason myself and my wife had two near death experiences.

1. Your app is the reason my wife recently had a terrible accident and wrote off her car. We had NO medical insurance or car insurance. We lost that car. My wife was navigating from Johannesburg, Randburg to Kimberley, Northern Cape to visit her parents whom had just been released from hospital. Your app took her through back roads and onto a dangerous badly maintained and deserted road. She pulled over on the side of the road and phoned me in panic. She tried to push on as sitting on the side of the road is not safe in South Africa. In desperation in trying to avoid pot holes in the road and no where else to go she hit a terrible pot hole and rolled her car - On a Road that is not suppose to be used when traveling to Kimberley. She called me and it would have taken me nearly 4 hours to get to where she was. She should never have been on that route. Why the fuck would your app send her on such an obscure route? You cannot say that it was to avoid traffic as this was middle of the day and the roads were quiet. Which was even worse as she was stuck in a rolled car down an embankment and little traffic.

2. Secondly, your app is the reason that both my wife and I were held at GUN POINT yesterday and we were in an attempted hijacking. I am a television and film producer and director and I was leaving my house in Randburg yesterday, 23 November 2016, after picking up my wife and we were on our way to Sasani Studios to attend a recording of The Voice South Africa. Firstly, the ENTIRE day your app would not work. It continuously told me that it could not locate the end point and other times said that it could not locate the start point. After typing in the address again it took us on the strangest route - along the highway then told us to take the Marlboro Off Ramp then turn left onto a strange road. After using wake for so long I trusted it and turned. This time, your app lead us into one of the most dangerous places in Johannesburg. Your app led us into Alexandra township. We are stuck in bumper to bumper traffic with no where to go. Within MINUTES we were surrounded by armed men threatening to shoot us and demanding we get out of my car. We were stuck in the middle of a township. Two females and armed men. After a major struggle and mental and physical breakdowns we managed, somehow to get to safety. The only thing that people kept saying is "Why did you travel that route. Why did you go that direction. Why did you go into Alexandra?" My only answer was "Waze... Waze... Waze" - Other apps avoid known danger zones and hijacking zones. They also warn you about dangerous areas you are about to go into and alert you about known kill zones before driving and during your drive. Your app on the other hand seems to go out of its way to take you onto the most obscure routes and ends up in the worst crime areas of the country.

Please note - this is NOT the only two incidents we have had with Waze but they are most certainly the most horrific. We have lost one car, been held at gunpoint and are struggling financially with one car and now mentally and physically because of the hijacking. At this point we cannot even afford to go to the doctor or even try get counselling.

I will be going out of my way to alert people of Waze and the dangers of using Waze. Once I am in calmer state as I am still sitting here, just hours after having guns at my head, still shaking. Due to my profession I have amazing media contacts and I will be going out of my way to use them.

Its strange, in the past few hours after this ordeal, so many other people have come forward and told me about their horrendous experiences due to Waze taking them into these dangerous zones.

This is South-fucking-Africa people. Adjust your apps to be country specific because you are putting peoples lives at risk.

Natalie Victor-Carelse
[e-mail removed for privacy reasons - this forum is public to everyone one the web]