Apple Maps adds Waze-like features to iOS 14.5 for crowdsourcing crashes, speed traps and dangers

IOS 14.5 beta, available to developers and public beta testers, adds a new feature from Apple Maps that lets you report crashes, hazards, and speed checks along your route when you get directions.

When you enter an address, select a route, then choose “Go.” Siri lets you know that you can report accidents or hazards you see along the way.

If you swipe up in the ‌Apple Maps‌ interface where map details are available, you can tap the “Report” button that allows you to mark an accident, danger, or speed check, similar to other mapping applications such as Waze. If you automatically tick your location without a confirmation window, it shouldn’t be used except in a valid situation.

You can also say “Hey ‌Siri‌, there’s an accident” and ‌Siri‌ will send a report to ‌Apple Maps‌ and presumably if there are enough people reporting, a crash site will appear in the map application via crowdsourcing. It is available in the United States with test capability at the moment, and it is not yet clear if it also appears in other countries.

This also works in CarPlay, as stated in MacRumors MozMan68 forums, with the reporting interface available on the arCarPlay‌ screen.

Note that ‌Siri‌ will inform you about the new crash reporting feature the first time you look for directions after upgrading to iOS 14.5, but the feature is not mentioned later. There is no similar crash information functionality available in iOS 14.4 and it does not appear to be displayed for all iOS 14.5 users at this time according to Reddit reports, so there is likely to be an item from the server.