We love Waze but it got us into a dangerous situation on a 5-hour drive in a snowstorm last night. We have some suggestions to prevent this.

The app kept changing our route to take us off a main highway. For the first couple of exits we ignored the suggestion because even if this route would have saved us some time, it was likely going to take us on unplowed roads in the dark. We began to think that there must be an accident way ahead on the highway, so we took an exit. Then, as we had feared, we were taken on unlit rural roads with very little traffic, but the snow was fresh and visibility difficult due to the storm. It was a harrowing 2.5 hour drive. We have a compact car but luckily had winter tires on it or we likely would not have made it to our destination.

I feel now that the app must have suggested this route because very few other Waze users were on it. In clear weather this would have been fine. Here’s what I think should be looked at for the app:

1. An option to avoid not just toll roads or unpaved roads but rural roads and/or unlit roads.

2. Integration of severe weather alerts and an option to avoid off-highway driving in snowstorms and/or after sunset.

3. The ability to set vehicle size and whether it has 4-wheel drive and winter tires so that safer routes will automatically be chosen.

4. A clearer explanation when suggesting a change to the route, and the option to decline it for a reason. ie ‘severe traffic slowdown toward end of current route, reroute?’ And then ‘yes/no’ and option to say ‘avoid severe weather’ as the reason.

Any or all of these would be great next moves!