On Screen Traffic-Hazard Warning - 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI Long-Term Road Test

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On Screen Traffic-Hazard Warning - 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI Long-Term Road Test

Before I set out, our 2015 Volkswagen GTI had a message for me.

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cobryson

I don't get the use of these kinds of real-time alerts...there's almost no way the incident is still happening by the time it gets to you, right?

So let's say this person was driving the wrong way down Palm Ave. for maybe 60 seconds. Someone calls 911, reports it, it gets logged in a database, someone at the traffic service gets an alert a few minutes later, logs that in a database, and then a few minutes later the alert finally reaches the end user. At that point, the user is distracted while driving to read an outdated alert that is most likely inaccurate.

It's a great idea in theory, I just don't see how it could work in practice.

pepperjack13

@cobryson even if it takes 15-20 mins the driver could be still in the area, maybe he committed a crime and is trying to get away, maybe he got in an accident and now there is a lot of traffic, or maybe there are a lot of cops blocking the adjacent streets to prevent an accident.
My point is it is still a nice feature to have so you can avoid such street/area in case something else happened after you received the report.

kirkhilles1

No thanks. This might've been great 5-10 years ago, but now, you just look at your Google Maps and it'll decide which route is best. Manufacturers need to stop outsourcing this crap and integrate with Google.

ken_in_austin

Totally agree! Waze kicks butt for real-time alerts. Why am I going to spend $1K++ to buy in to the auto manufacturer's ecosystem of out of date maps and expensive updates when every smart phone can run Waze for FREEEE?!