Here’s how Google Maps incident reports will work on Android Auto

Ben Schoon | Sep 19 2024 - 12:25 pm PT

It’s been a long road, but incident reports are finally coming to Google Maps on Android Auto. As the full rollout takes its sweet time, we’re finally getting a closer look at how the functionality will actually work.

Google Maps first added incident reports a few years ago as a way for drivers to warn others on the road of crashes, speed traps, and other incidents along the road. But as more drivers have shifted to using their car’s display, the functionality has become less useful as Google Maps on Android Auto and Apple CarPlay lacked the ability to make a new report, only being able to see existing ones.

In July, Google finally started to change this, bringing incident reports to CarPlay, but not Android Auto at the time. Not long after, Android Auto users in India started getting access to the feature. By the end of July, Google had announced that a revamped incident reports system would launch on Maps across all platforms, including on Android Auto.

In the roughly month and a half since that announcement, though, the rollout has seemingly just not been happening, as hardly any users are seeing the functionality live. Finally, though, we’re getting a closer look at how it will actually work.

An Android Auto user on Reddit today spotted that incident reports in Google Maps are live in their vehicle, with a yellow triangle with a “+” icon appearing underneath existing icons for Settings, audio guidance, the compass, and the zoom buttons. Tapping on that icon reveals options to “add a report” for a crash, slowdown, construction, lane closure, as well as stalled vehicle, object on road, and speed trap, as are not pictured in the image that was shared but do appear in the Maps app on mobile devices.

This comes alongside a wider rollout of the new incident reporting system through the mobile app.

It’s unclear why the rollout of this feature is taking so long, but we’re glad to finally see some progress. If you’re seeing incident reports on Android Auto, let us know in the comments below!