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Google is facing calls to remove satnav location alerts about random speed traps and garda checkpoints amid concerns that the alerts could help reckless drivers and criminals evade detection.
Oliver Moran, a Green Party city councillor in Cork, and a software engineer, has written to the tech giant expressing his concerns about the real-time alerts on Google’s satnav subsidiary, Waze.
He has also written to An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) about the feature which encourages motorists to provide real-time updates and pin the location of traffic jams, roadworks, breakdowns, road closures, as well as identify the locations of speed traps and checkpoints.
Regulations introduced in 1991 prohibited the use of any device which is capable of being used to indicate the existence of, or to frustrate the operation of speed detecting devices.
Road safety group Parc has backed Mr Moran’s stance and said the incoming transport minister must examine this alerts issue and decided if new legislation is required.
Mr Moran said apart from diverting a motorist’s attention from the road, and revealing the location of random speed traps, informing motorists of the presence of a garda checkpoint ahead is “another step entirely”.
“Checkpoints may be in place for reasons other than the detection of motoring offences,” he said.
“Warning of its presence may interfere with garda operations and allow drink or drug drivers and serious criminals to evade gardaí.”
It emerged on Tuesday that gardaí from the Kerry Roads Policing Unit seized firearms and a substantial quantity of ammunition after stopping a vehicle at a routine checkpoint in Tralee at about 10.30pm on Monday.
The driver failed a roadside drug test, and following a search of the vehicle, three firearms and a large quantity of ammunition were seized, and are now subject to full ballistic examination.
Two men in their late teens were arrested and detained under the provisions of Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939.
Mr Moran said this is exactly the kind of detection that might not have occurred because of satnav checkpoint alerts.
“The feature requires an explanation from Google as to who they are trying to help,” Mr Moran said.
“Is it in the interest of road safety or for the convenience of people who want to evade being caught?
“It’s the digital equivalent of flashing your lights, which many people do, but it’s not appropriate for a company to embed as a feature in its apps.”
He also criticised that practise of motorists flashing their lights to warn oncoming motorists about a speed trap or checkpoint.
“It’s a phenomenon that’s given a free pass,” he said.
“Many motorists think they’re doing no harm, that it’s courteous to warn someone. But you don’t know who you might be tipping off.
“It’s not courteous, it’s not safe and it breeds a wider sense of disregard for road safety.”
Google said safety is a top priority for it and that it operates in accordance with local laws.
“By informing drivers about police presence and speed controls, we aim to help them make safer decisions on the road,” a spokesperson said.
The RSA said it will bring Mr Moran’s correspondence to the attention of the head of roads policing in Cork city.
