Android Auto adds a crucial feature to improve road safety for US drivers

The feature was previously rolled out to Google Maps on Apple CarPlay.

Android Auto adds a crucial feature to improve road safety for US drivers
Android Auto 2024 Multiwindow
Credit: Adamya Sharma / Android Authority
  • Android Auto users in the US can now report accidents, traffic, and other road hazards directly through their car screens.
  • This highly requested feature was previously only available through the Google Maps mobile app.

After years of requests, Google Maps on Android Auto has finally added a much-anticipated feature: the ability to report road incidents like accidents, traffic jams, and speed traps in real time. Until now, Android Auto users in the US had been left without this function despite it being available on Waze (also owned by Google). Even though you could report incidents on the Google Maps phone app, doing that while driving was obviously unsafe, which meant most drivers didn’t bother.

Incident reporting was first introduced in Google Maps for mobile devices a few years ago, but it remained exclusive to phones. Oddly, while Google Maps on Apple CarPlay received this feature earlier this year, Android Auto users were left out. This changed briefly in July when Google rolled out the feature to Android Auto as well — but only in India.