Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/reddit
Even for first responders, as the app can warn of approaching emergency vehicles, giving drivers more time to slow down and pull over to allow ambulances and fire trucks to get through traffic more easily.
If you're new to Waze, you probably didn't know this feature was available. If you've been using the app for a while, you probably haven't seen more than one or two such alerts while using Waze.
This is because, unlike accident reports, approaching fire trucks and ambulances are not reported by users. This means that the community does not contribute data to improve this feature, since all the magic happens through a dedicated issue that Waze offers to city authorities.
First of all, it is important to understand why this is such an important feature.
Photo: autoevolution
First, when you know an emergency vehicle is approaching, you can keep the road clear until it passes. Some people, including me, like to listen to their favorite music as loud as possible, so it’s harder to hear an ambulance or fire truck siren. An on-screen notification makes it easier to see that an emergency vehicle is approaching, so you’re aware of when to clear the road.
Second, it helps reduce response times. A clear path allows emergency responders to get to where they are needed much faster. In bumper-to-bumper traffic, where drivers aren’t fully aware of an emergency vehicle, most cars slowly clear the road, sometimes even blocking the road until an ambulance or fire truck approaches.
A notification displayed on the screen solves this problem.
Photo: autoevolution
The alert you see in Waze when you run the app is automatic and is only available in regions where authorities have signed up for the Waze for Cities program. This effort allows authorities to access the Waze platform and update maps with information about roadworks, accidents, new routes, temporary restrictions, and more. Authorities can access Waze directly, so instead of having a map editor add new information to the map, they can enter the data into the system before it happens.
The emergency vehicle system works this way, too. Once a city signs up for the program and decides to share the whereabouts of its ambulances and fire trucks, it can share its location with Waze so the app can generate alerts for nearby users.
Authorities don't have to manually share an emergency vehicle's location. The feature is powered by a system called HAAS, and emergency vehicles use the cloud to share their location with a server that relays the information to various platforms, including Waze.
For example, HAAS alerts are also integrated into various models from different car manufacturers, such as Dodge and Jeep. Drivers of these cars do not necessarily need to run Waze to receive a warning of an approaching emergency vehicle, as they receive a similar notification directly on their native infotainment system.
Photo: autoevolution
The Waze alert is generated on a live feed powered by the HAAS system, so whenever an emergency vehicle is nearby and is equipped with this technology, you should see a notification in the app to clear the road. The information is reported via a feed and is completely automated, as emergency vehicles continue to broadcast their location as long as they are on the road and approaching the scene of an accident.
The Google-owned company recently updated its app to display more information about emergency vehicles on the road.
One of the new features added to Waze as part of the big update announced in April includes alerts for emergency vehicles stopped along the road, allowing drivers to slow down and reduce the risk of an accident. The feature is especially useful when driving at night on high-speed roads like highways, as it lets drivers know that first responders are on duty and that they should slow down before approaching a reported location.
However, this feature is only available in select countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, and France. Waze says it is already working with authorities in more countries to expand its availability, but more information has yet to be shared.
In the meantime, it’s important to know that emergency vehicle alerts are only available in Waze on mobile, so if you’re running the app on Android Auto and CarPlay, you won’t get the notification. It’s unclear why the parent company hasn’t made the feature available everywhere, given how useful it is and whether it plans to expand its availability. However, given Waze’s focus on such features, I expect the emergency vehicle integration into the app to expand in the coming years, eventually making these alerts more common.