How to Avoid Dirt Roads on Google Maps and Waze

Sometimes the paths that indicate the navigation apps they go beyond paved roads and recommend driving on dirt roads. Is it possible to avoid these recommendations? Two of the most popular tools in the category, Google maps and Waze, they offer very different options in this section.

Map users have always complained about the lack of an option to bypass dirt roads. On many occasions, the app recommends following these streets regardless of their condition and / or maintenance. Is there a way to avoid landing on Google Maps? The procedure, of course, is not the best of all: you could use Street view because, through the images in situ captured by this service associated with Google maps, check whether the streets that the application advises to follow are paved or not.

In fact, Street View cars only cover the roads with asphalt. Meanwhile, if a certain street is not available in this environment, there is a high probability that there is dirt instead of pavement.

Dirt paths in Waze

This application (which has belonged to Google since 2013) has the possibility of choose or avoid dusty roads. In the application you have to go to “Settings” (for this you have to touch the cogwheel inside the profile); then search for “Navigation” and finally “Unpaved roads”.

As you can see in the following screenshot, in the menu you will find three options: “Allow”, “Do not allow” and “Avoid long”.

The last element does not escape the dirt roads in itself, although yes when it comes to too long journeys.

About Waze

The app was launched in 2007 and six years later it was bought out by Google, which paid $ 1 billion to be the new app master and incorporate the improvements into its own navigation app. As we have seen in this review, not all Waze features are in Maps.

The main charm of Waze, since its origins, has been in the reports: the users themselves report incidents, vehicle traffic levels, etc., so that real-time information is displayed on the maps.

“The data we collect comes from all of the wazers who help improve traffic every day together. Whenever they notice an accident or the traffic is very slow, they have the opportunity to update this information, leave comments and help all the wazers to avoid these specific points, ”he said. explained to TN Tecno Uri Levine, the creator of this solution.