Google Maps gets new safety feature in India, to alert passengers if cab driver deviates from route

The new safety feature is now available to Android users in India using the latest version of Google Maps.

New Delhi: Google Maps in India has got a new safety feature - Stay Safer - that notifies the passenger incase the driver deviates from the mentioned route.

“At Google Maps, we have focused on building India-first features to deliver a more relevant and reliable experience for our users. Through our extensive research across India, we found that a lot of people limit their mobility due to safety-related concerns,” said Amanda Bishop, Product Manager, Google Maps.

After searching for your destination and getting directions, you can enable this experience by selecting the “Stay safer” and “Get off-route alerts” option.

If your driver deviates more than 0.5KM from the Google Maps suggested route, your phone will buzz with a prominent notification, and you can tap it to see where you are compared to the original route, she said.

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

The feature is now available to Android users in India using the latest version of Google Maps.