WASHINGTON — QUESTION:
Can you really use Waze to check road conditions, like ice and streets that haven’t been plowed?
ANSWER:
Yes, it's a new feature that was added in December.
SOURCES:
Waze spokesperson
Waze and Virginia Department of Transportation joint press release
PROCESS:
Slick roads and black ice pose a real danger, and our meteorologists are predicting a mixed bag of snow, sleet and freezing rain in the DMV. But some people online are claiming you can do something about it with a navigation app.
People are dropping this tip online: you can use Waze to check road conditions like ice and streets that haven't been plowed.
Our Verify team set out to prove, does Waze really have that function?
Our researchers went straight to the crowd-sourcing company for this one.
A Waze spokesperson confirmed that yes, you can use the app to check on road conditions. Waze teamed up with the Virginia Department of Transportation in December to make it happen.
VDOT and Waze rolled out the feature for 185 countries.
Just like an accident or car on the side of the road, the feature only works if drivers use the app to log the road conditions.
Waze users globally are able to report, in real time, when a road has not been plowed and will be kept informed when they are approaching a road that has already been identified by other drivers as unplowed, a Waze spokeserson confirmed.
Waze has a dedicated crisis response team, which handles all weather-related events such as hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, etc. the Waze spokesperson explained.
VDOT hopes to use real-time reports to plan smarter around weather events.
"At VDOT, our people are constantly exploring innovations and new technologies with the ultimate goal of providing the best service to the residents of the Commonwealth and all those who travel our roads," VDOT Chief Deputy Commissioner Rob Cary said. "Many use crowdsourcing in their daily lives. We wanted to explore this method of information gathering to help improve safety and better assess the conditions of our roads during winter weather. We value our partnership with Waze, and look forward to monitoring the real-time reports on road conditions and determining how best to incorporate the data into our future operations."
So yes, we can Verify that you can use Waze to check which streets have not been cleared.
To report weather conditions on your drive, press "Report" then "Hazard" then choose "ice" or "unplowed road." Here's a tutorial:
