Adam Kos There are quite a lot of mobile navigation systems. However, the most famous ones clearly stand out, such as Google Maps, Apple Maps, Mapy.cz and also Waze. If you are planning to travel somewhere in the winter, even if you know your direction by heart, it is worth checking in advance if there is anything unusual that will surprise you on your route. But not all applications must necessarily inform about it.
Especially in the winter months, i.e. when the road is at risk of being covered with a layer of snow, and even worse with unpredictable icing, it is useful to use navigation even in those cases when you know the given route down to the last detail. The reason is quite simple – navigation can tell you what the conditions are like on the route, whether you can avoid traffic jams (or how to avoid them) and whether there has been a traffic accident.
Ignorance of Apple Maps
But all this has one problem, and that is the timely reporting of the given event. For the smaller ones, usually present on not quite main roads, you will usually find that neither Google Maps, nor those of Apple or Seznam inform you about anything. But there is also Waze, and it is Waze that should be an integral partner on your winter journeys. And it's for one very simple reason - thanks to a wide and aware community.
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Waze leads the way
Although more users probably use Google Maps, they usually only do so passively. Waze, however, relies on a community of active users who report virtually every abnormality they encounter on their travels. Even in the event of a closure of several weeks, the "big" applications will drive you to a dead end, whereas with Waze you know that the road definitely does not lead here. And even though Google bought the Israeli Waze and it falls under its services.
One example for all. As you can see in the gallery below this paragraph, none of the big apps say a word about the shutter shown. Waze, on the other hand, also informs how long the closure will last. And as you can see, the event was added to the app a month ago, during which the big titles have yet to respond.
At the same time, reporting anything in Waze is extremely easy. Just have a planned route and you will see an orange icon in the lower right corner of the interface. When the passenger taps on it, because you are of course driving, he can immediately report a motorcade, the police, an accident, but also a danger, which can inform you about the current ice, etc. No other navigation system has this simply and clearly handled.
Tips for safe driving in winter
Have your vehicle ready for the winter season
Having winter tires is a matter of course, we mean having enough antifreeze for the washers, snow chains in the trunk, a broom and, of course, a scraper to remove ice from the windows.
Remove frost and snow
Don't count on the fact that the ice on the windows will disappear when you drive off. Even if most drivers de-ice the windshield, they often forget about the rear-view mirrors or headlights, for example. In such a case, they expose themselves to marked risk. In the first case, they do not know that someone is passing them, in the second case, they are not so visible on the road. You may not mind the snow on the roof, but the other drivers who will be blowing it will not like you for it.
Drive according to road conditions
The braking distance on an icy road is double that on a dry road. So brake in time and keep an appropriate distance from the vehicles in front of you. The problem is the bridges, which are often icy compared to the rest of the road. So drive over them a little more carefully. The indicated speed limits then apply to dry roads, not to those covered with snow and ice. Where it's 90, you definitely don't have to drive that much. Make lane changes carefully, especially if there are ruts in the snow.
Prepare your way
Enter the direction of your trip in the navigation and go through it all. You can easily find out if there are any events on it. At the same time, check the weather so that you are not surprised by a blizzard and other weather conditions.
Great 👍 Thank you very much and I can only confirm it: Waze is No. 1!
Hello, we also have the closure on the maps, you probably turned on the winter map, not the traffic...
https://mapy.cz/dopravni?x=14.6818992&y=49.4153619&z=17&source=di&id=1273867
Take a look. Thanks
I definitely give Waze
I have used Garmin Mio TomTom Dynavix Sygic Google maps but the best of all is Waze.
I have the complete opposite experience and I travel a lot all over the world. Google Maps is absolutely number one, and I use Waze (which I call children's coloring pages) rather rarely. If you then visit a bit further from old Europe, you will find that Waze is almost unusable. For example, in Turkey, Jordan, but also in the USA. In Indonesia, Waze didn't even show me 20% of the roads.
So far, I've only driven with Waze in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia, and it guides perfectly or tries to avoid traffic jams without any problems, and if I enter a traffic jam, it will report it perfectly with a voice in the traffic jam, wait 5 minutes, maybe TomTom can also report it like this, but for sure Sygic or Google maps won't report like this.
Well, if Waze doesn't work in Indonesia, it's useless navigation 😉
Agreement. Waze real only in some countries and typically larger cities. Otherwise, no glory. Even from the point of view of offline maps and other things tomtom. Sygic never again.
I use sygic and I am satisfied, I can only recommend it.
I even paid for Sygic and compared to Waze, Sygic does not report by voice, for example, radars, it only displays them on the map. Regarding traffic, Sygic only reports the convoy, while Waze and the number of minutes I stay in the convoy, Sygic guides me in a much more complicated way than Waze, that's why I vote for Waze.
Exactly! I have paid for Sygic, but it's useless against Waze. He doesn't know the section measurement, he marks it as a radar, a traffic light camera too, he divides one highway into sections of several kilometers according to large turns, instead of exiting the highway, he says "keep to the right"... Just a tragedy. And it all happened a few years ago with the arrival of a new team of developers.
I bought Sygic, lifetime, and after a year of use, a message started popping up saying you will buy a premium function, thus unusable, according to Waze, I drive Germany, Austria, Holland and satisfaction.
I already have x app and "premium" from sygic for many years and that's why I sent them where they belong. Enough screwing users
I have a built-in TomTom in my car, but I still drive with Waze.
I only use Garmin, which works perfectly everywhere outside with shutters. CR is starting to pick up as well. Ever since he started weighing me, I don't use weights for the detour 😒
All navigations (but absolutely all!) are already mobile based on their functionality. Do you know it? 😊
If only waze would do something about the clarity of their maps! I don't know the stupidest and most confusing navigation! It's really only for those who drive blindly according to navigation. Those who know how to drive according to the map are just infuriating! Mapy.cz and then google are clearly the most detailed. Waze can also come up with some pretty silly routes sometimes! So it's already uninstalled :-)
Waze great. Just please fix it, the braking distance is extended twice due to the ice on the road. That's really not true.