In order to make travel via cab aggregators safer in India, Google Maps newly launched a safety feature that will alert users if their vehicle is taking a wrong or a longer route. The feature will alert travellers if their vehicle deviates more than 0.5 kilometres from the route suggested on Google Maps. The feature is currently being rolled out for Android devices. 

Here is how it works:

Once you search for your directions and start the route, select the ‘Stay Safer’ and ‘Get off-route alerts’ options at the bottom of the screen within the app. 

Now, if your driver deviates more than 0.5 kilometres from the Google Maps suggested route, your phone will buzz with a notification and you can tap it to see where you are compared to the original route. 

Then, you can also choose to share your live trip with friends and family directly from that screen itself so they can know you are off route and can keep track of your journey, and take appropriate action if required.

The feature was launched after being tested exclusively in India.

Lately, Google has been updating Maps with a plethora of features including a speedometer and support for showing radar locations.

"Through our extensive research across India, we found that a lot of people limit their mobility due to safety-related concerns. To address this, we are launching this India-first feature," said Amanda Bishop, Product Manager, Google Maps.

The company also launched three new public transport features including live train status, to help Map users in 10 of the largest cities in India to see bus travel times from live traffic, get live train status for Indian Railways and get mixed-mode commute suggestions that now combine auto-rickshaw and public transport.

With IANS inputs