Why Waze Disabled Police and Speed Camera Reports in European Countries

The Tech TL;DR:

• Core Update: Waze turned off police incident reports and speed camera alerts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in August 2026.
• Regulatory Driver: The shutdown follows article 98a of the Swiss Federal Act on Road Traffic, which bans devices and warnings intended to hinder official traffic checks.
• Geographic Enforcement: Restrictions apply automatically based on real-time location data rather than user account nationality, impacting all drivers in the region.

Legislative Mandates and Regional Discrepancies

Real-time incident reporting from a community of users remains a primary differentiator for Waze compared to sibling platform Google Maps. However, localized laws frequently force modifications to these crowdsourced features. According to reporting from Radiolac cited in the deployment update, the Swiss legislation mandating this restriction has actually been in effect for 13 years, though Google only fully complied with the enforcement mechanism in August 2026. Waze documented the change in local support pages, pointing directly to article 98a of the Federal Act on Road Traffic, which outlaws devices intended to hinder, disrupt, or render ineffective official road traffic monitoring.

Because these limitations stem from regional compliance rather than application bugs, users notice distinct functionality gaps when crossing borders. Similar regulatory friction exists elsewhere in Europe. France passed a law in 2019 granting authorities the power to temporarily block police reporting in navigation applications to prevent interference with highway patrols, manhunts, or drug and alcohol testing checkpoints. These French restrictions received backing in June 2026 when the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that member states possess the legal authority to restrict roadside police check reports following a challenge by Waze competitor Coyote. Waze also temporarily suppressed police sightings in France during Covid-19 lockdowns in early 2020.

Application Configuration and Alternative Workarounds

Within unrestricted markets, Waze provides granular options for reporting roadside presence, allowing users to select general terms like “Police” or detailed sub-categories including Mobile Camera, Hidden, and Other Side. When regional legislation forces a blackout, these specific reporting items disappear entirely from the interface menu without offering a direct substitute for tracking law enforcement patrols.

Drivers navigating restricted zones must rely on built-in compliance tools rather than crowdsourced alerts to manage travel speeds. Waze permits users to activate a native speedometer function by going to the application settings, selecting Speedometer, and toggling the display option. The interface also supports enabling speed limit indicators within the navigation panel alongside configurable audible threshold alerts to notify drivers when they exceed local velocity limits. While police reporting remains disabled in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, distinct speed camera categories may be handled separately depending on regional menu configurations.