As an RACV roadside assistance patrolman, Waze is not only superior with speed accuracy but amazing for identifying where a potential breakdown vehicle is and warns others to slow down and watch out for me keeping me safe especially on freeways. I encourage everyone to not only run Waze but to report everything along the route. It could quite literally save mine and my customers lives!!
Unfortunately the sound seems to be an issue for me when I pair to my Polo. I can't hear the instructions even when putting the sound up. If I can sort that, I'll certainly use WAZE only
Google maps will it give directions in some o/s countries. Waze is so superior it’s not funny. I was warned today of a couple,coppers hiding up the road in a Victorian BMW Highway patrol station wagon with their speed camera.
Our Google maps speed indicator doesn't fluctuate like the example did,however if it's that inaccurate, that's concerning. One other issue, everyone thinks heavy trucks are speeding when they overtake on motorways and Highways,actuallytheir speed limiters are set more accurately than light vehicle speedos, so they're not speeding,they're running just below the limiter speed setting and the light vehicle speedo is inaccurate.
@@Harrybollox Looks like you shared a class with him. Accuracy doesn't care about the numbers involved - its about how close to the correct value it is and when there are different values the only easy way to quantify that is by using percentages. If you are 2k's over at 80 you're further away from the target value than 2k's over at 100.
@@Harrybolloxbut percentages do apply in another way, let’s say you get fined X amount for 15-30km/h over, 30km/h over at 60 is 50% over whereas at 100, it’s only 30% over for the same fine. Technically, there is only one offence, and that is speeding. 1 km/h and above the speed limit is the offence. The speed brackets are only used for the purpose of writing infringements.
Waze is a life saver. i have a crazy story. I was driving to Canberra around 9 pm in the dark and there was a dead kangaroo just in the middle of the road my waze app alerted me that there was an object on the road ahead, i just slowed down to 80 from 110 and in like 2 seconds there was a full grown dead kangaroo right in front of my car, had i not been alerted i would have hit it at 110 kph dead on. its crazy how useful it is and how solid waze community is about helping each other not to mention all other benefits. i use it all the time now.
and let me guess, you drove around it,. leaving it for the next person to hit? you're useless, you know that, right? just as useless as this supposed "test" was.
In the UK at least the requirement is that you drive at a speed that you can see the road ahead to be clear, presumably without the Waze warning you would have continud driving dangerously.
My experience with Google Maps is totally different to what you showed. The speed is always rock solid. It doesn't jump around like it did during your test.
Same. I don’t have this problem with Google maps on Apple CarPlay, wireless, could be a GPS signal related issue like people have said. It’s pretty accurate and doesn’t jump at all
Likewise, never had google maps jumping like that. Have run Google and waze against each other and had the same reading on both apps. Something was wrong with your google maps there.
I commute to Melbourne every week and man, Waze gets pretty wild with the directions to avoid traffic. That should be your next test! Google Maps Vs Waze directions. Google Maps rarely diverges from the most appropriate highway route. Waze will take you through the backroads to get you there quicker, but I've got no way of actually determining whether Waze is saving me time or sending me on a wild goose chase. Either way it makes the morning drive interesting.
I feel that too. Lots of times waze will want me to take inner streets only to then come to a major busy road where I have to cross 2 lanes of traffic to enter. Sometimes its not worth the risk of doing that at peak hours and is easier to go with the flow and lose 1 minute. One time it made me take a bicycle path through a small park in order to get me across some rail tracks as well. Most recently it showed the fastest way home on single lane roads with backed up traffic all the way. I preferred going on the A road that was congested and slower, but had multiple lanes and kept moving, vs sitting still for traffic lights. I still use Waze all the time though, but try to use my judgement on roads that I am experienced with.
I found waze will tend to take all these back roads and it doesn't save any time, and you are constantly stopping and turning, then starting then stopping and turning
I cured my speedo by fitting 45 profile tyres in place of 40 (std) - this avoided the awful ride quality over our UK "speed bumps" and means that the speedo is spot on at speeds up to 100 mph - as tested on track. This also helps to protect my OZ alloys better too !
@@duncancampbell9490 I have an AU S1 wagon , stock15" rims & tyres, 2000 rpm is 100 kph on speedo, fitted AU II 16" alloys with 215 60 tyres =110 @ 2000 rpm .
I recently retired from a major Police department after 25 years, I went to radar school a long time ago. The radar gun only gives an accurate speed if the vehicle is coming straight at it. Since there is an angle from the radar gun ,the benefit goes to the driver. The further you are parked away from the road with a bigger angle the speed on the radar gun decreases. Thats why the moving radar units in police vehicles are more accurate because the vehicle is coming straight at it on the road.
He is using a LIDAR device not a RADAR device. Completely different technologies. The angle he was at in relation to the approaching vehicle would not make any difference to the LIDAR'S accuracy.
@@realperson2293 I think it might. If the lidar is measuring changes is distance over time, then the reading would need to take the angle the vehicle is travelling in into account, and divide by the COS of that angle. Not sure how the lidar would be able to measure that angle.
Real Story - a few months back I was pulled over by the HWY Patrol (I may have been speeding slightly). When I pull over Waze gave me a warning of Police reported up ahead - I responded by saying .....DER !!! BTW - I got a warning
If we just used the speedo in the vehicle, we’d never know, as long as the slower car isn’t fluctuating in speed , their slowness don’t bother me, it could be a new driver or a older cautious driver, have patience mate.
I have been using waze and have not had any speeding fines, my speedo is always showing 5 kmh over AS indicated. Your segment has now strengthen my case in using waze, as it is superior. Thank you
I'm a truck driver and use Waze as part of my MDT which is Android based. I also run Google on my Samsung and after 6 years of driving have found Waze MUCH more accurate than Google.
They should have rerun the test with Waze right away to see if it too was giving such fluctuations. GPS is based on signals from satellites and if you don't have enough of them overhead at the time the positioning (and thus speed reading) can fluctuate.
I use Waze all the time for navigation, tracking accurate speed & changing traffic situations. Occasionally, I find myself even using Apple Maps over Google Maps. I only use Google Maps to discover nearby businesses, get reviews, etc, but very rarely for nav.
Yup, I've never seen mine jump around at all. I've used both googlie maps and wayze and both show the same variance against my speedo when I'm on cruise control at a set speed. Perhaps the issue is only on iPhone and Google Maps, or even just that model. Not sure why you'd go to the trouble to get a speed detector gun and only test against one car and one phone model/ecosystem. Interesting test nevertheless. I've always assumed that my GPS was more accurate than the speedo, but it's good to have it verified.
@@-PORK-CHOP-lmao why do people always say stuff like that. It’s not that us (yeah, myself included since a few years ago) iPhone users don’t know Androids exist… Like can you say anything else or you’re a bot like almost every comment on RUclips?
In Victoria its almost impossible not to get a speeding fine at some time. Cameras are everywhere. And to increase revenue they've been aggressively lowering speeds on safe, wide, segregated roads by 20, 30, 40kmh so that even if you're literally crawling along, you're probably still doing more than the number they stuck on a pole last week. Exhibit-A princes freeway either side of Garfield. Used to be 110. Now 80. On a divided dual freeway. Meanwhile the unsafe, incompetent, aggressive driving we all have to put up with everyday, the stuff that causes real accidents, forget about it, our authorities have zero interest.
On the flipside in Melbourne's outer suburbs the biggest issue I face is drivers hogging the passing lane driving 15-20 below the speed limit. Unsafe, incompetent, underconfident, inconsiderate, inefficient drivers making it unsafe for those of us who actually can drive at the speed limit. That said there is absolutely no need for anyone to drive above the speed limit either whether on an 40,50,60,70, 80 or a 100 zone. Be safe, be smart.
You can do 80 though right? Like you don't have to do 110 in the 80 zone do you? I'm just kidding I know you can't. I'm a vic cop and we do change the limits on purpose to raise revenue. But we don't fine everyone. Just you and some others. We like to fk with the guys that say its about revenue raising because its not, we're just trolling. Funny shit. Also, your mull habit is out of control mate, next level. Watch out because no one wants a chill dude to turn into a paranoid psychotic .
And then there’s the ones that don’t understand why they shouldn’t pull out at 80 in front of a truck at 100 in their matchbox car, like it’s nothing. They have no idea but they won’t get a speeding fine so all good.
I’ve been using Waze for this for years and have always breezed past. I saw Apple had introduced the speedometer feature recently as well, and it was jumping all over the place, similar to your experience here with Google. Only used it once and back to Waze for me.
Looks like an Apple thing, I have Samsung S24+ and use Google maps, it never jumps up and down like your one did, it's always stable, been using it since it was implemented ran through hundreds of speed cameras in Sydney basing my speed in what Google Maps is saying, all ok.
After years of driving heavy vehicles, I am absolutely convinced that passenger vehicles are actually made to read 5 kph above their indicated speed, and commercial vehicles (those that are registered as heavy vehicles) are made to display the actual speed.
Up to 10% +/- 4km/h Is the Australian standard. Big variation from car to car. End result, truckies playing checkers with cars way under speed limit. Traffic Friction is no good to anyone.
You are spot on. Car Manufacturers have been doing this for awhile, for a variety of reasons, from 'safety' to reputation. The 2nd is they feel that if their cars are less involved in accidents, the better their reputation...
Every modern car I've driven does this, usually about 4Km/h reading over. Even my modern motorcycles do the exact same thing. Never seen any reading under the actual speed...
Professional drivers have been screaming this for years... Choose a speed, do your best to maintain that speed, drive in the appropriate lane for what the traffic is doing around you. Its not hard.
4:23 and here is the issue with Victorian road safety… we spent years and millions of dollars telling everyone how 5km over the limit means instant murder, and now we have a state full of drivers who struggle to drive in a straight line and no concept of the physics involved in managing a vehicle safely.
You will find, however, if you pulled up speedo data with a scan tool, your digital speed in the computer was correct before. So now your odometer will be reading 3km/h too fast now.
car speedometer will never be accurate. too many variables that influence it's reading, rim size, tyre size, tyre pressure, & tyre thickness. it needs to be calibrated after every run. that's why car manufacturer put 5-10km/h tolerance.
@@Triggy96😂rubbish, the speedometer data read from a scan tool is the same as what you see on your dash…… the signal comes from the same sensor of the gearbox output shaft……….. putting bigger tires will decrease the odometer readings not increase it.😂😂 More circumference in a bigger tire.
@direwolf4849 Sorry, yep, I got that around the wrong way with odometer 🤦♂️ dunno what I was thinking with that, lol. However, I will still stand behind my other statement. I'm sure not all vehicles do it but after being a mechanic for 10 years I can vouch most vehicles if you sit the speedo on 100kmh the scan tool will be reading a few kms slower than what the dash displays. It's law that a speedometer has to display 4-10% slower than actual speed, but the odometer has to be reasonably accurate, so that just takes the actual data coming in.
Back in the "old days" before GPS, if you asked the local HWP in my small rural NSW town nice enough they'd perform an on-road "speed check" for your vehicle with their calibrated radar.
Google maps hasn't only just introduced the speed feature, it's been there for a long time. I've found the Google maps speed to be steady and not jumping around, I'm on Android if that makes a difference though. Most cars I've checked have been around 4-5kph out, except a friend's 2002 Mitsubishi Verada, it was bang on the same as GPS at any speed.
It's nothing to do with Google maps or waze or any other app on the device - they ALL use the NMEA output from the GPS unit built into the phone or dash unit's hardware.
Yeah didn't they only just introduce the live speed readout. Previously it did display the speed limit for the road you were on but didn't actually reflect the speed you were doing in real time?
@@Devastator0 It must be on the Car play version of Google maps as it has been on the Android phone version for quite a while, I haven't seen it on the Android Auto yet but I haven't been in the car for a few days.
Another massive fan of Waze here. Pretty much never rely on the car's speedo as I know it is undercooked and Waze has been great - have never had a speeding ticket as a result of relying on it. Plus the reporting hazards functionality has certainly saved me having crashes and damage to my car on multiple occasions in the past.
This is a good experiment as it shows the mechanical/electrical losses between the sensors and the readout. Across Europe, and I guess other areas speedometers have to read in the range of +10%/0. This range allows for tyre wear. New standard road tyres typically have a tread depth of 8mm and a minimum legal depth of 1.6mm here in the U.K. meaning a loss of 6.4mm on the rolling radius over the life of the tyre. For those that don’t know the rolling radius is the vertical distance from the wheel centre to the road. Inflation pressures tyre temperatures also change the rolling radius. The rolling radius determines the number of rotations the wheel makes over a given distance and speed is measured by counting the rotations and multiplying by a nominal circumference to give the speed. If you want to know your real speed use gps as the readout will always be more accurate than a mechanical/electrical speedometer.
Great and informative video Paul. As an Uber driver, I rely on accurate directions and hazard warnings - although sometimes Waze does get the routing incorrect - it has improved over time.
Dont forget the Cosine Effect. As you are measuring it from a slightly offset position. The vehicles are not approaching you directly. So actual speed may be very slightly higher than the Lidar measures.
It was annoying that he didn't mention that the LIDAR he was using had a margin of error of up to +2/-3 km/hr (even though in reality they can be as close to perfect as possible especially compared to RADAR)
In 10 years of using Google I have never experienced the fluctuations in speed display on the open road. Driving between Melbourne and Geelong for many years the speed check has been bang on, and I have never had a speeding infringement when using Google. I tried Waze and found it inferior to Google for city navigation, Google shows what lane to be in. There is a 4kmh variation in speedometer reading currently, it's 5kmh when I had new tyres put on, more tread = slightly larger diameter so travel faster at same engine revs.
I don’t have this variation on iPhone so can we drop the Dsmsung shilling? I have tested both Gmaps and Waze. I find Waze less cluttered and more active community. YMMV
We tested our Peugeot 3008 GT / 2018 model and it's off by 4kmH ... I was told by police that live on my street that it's correct in saying that as car are design abit less as of 4k's when showing you're doing 100kmH means I'm doing 96KmH ... I very much believe that whatever they read, the intent is to give a fine as money collected for the State Government whichever way you see it! Thank you for this great video.
my concern is that the Cars speedo shown in the Google test is at the same in the Waze but the Laser show a different show to the previous shown speed by 2 km
Please realize that GPS accuracy depends on the number of (all non-stationary) satellites that is visible at any moment. Navigating between obstacles like buildings, trees, mountains may cause less reliable results when the number of sats drops below 5 or 6. The higher the number, the better. Software in the apps compensate the biggest effects, like when entering in a tunnel and the gps navigation just continues. For that reason, it’s just a consumer play-thing we cant live without anymore but the batlle against a calibrated laser gun is never a guaranteed success.
Also repeat the test on an incline / decline as that should throw the GPS speed off as relative to the satellites your speed has changed slightly compared to your actual ground speed.
@@somat111 No point as the cameras are never set up on a hill or a descent, they always are set up on a flat section of road so if contested the answer is the road was flat so if the radar indicated a speed you had to be doing that speed as road conditions didn't assist such as downhill, same as cameras in the tunnels they are not on the entry or exits because these normally not flat, the cameras are always on the flat section in the tunnel
@@-PORK-CHOP- I assume you are being sarcastic, I see speed cameras on downhills all the time, another popular spot is at the bottom of a hill pointing back up the hill.
My RAV4 and Prius speedometers, Garmin GPS, and Waze are always the same within 1 mph. Sometimes I drive 65 in the right lane with the trucks. It’s quite relaxing just watching the world go by.
Fun fact, to avoid people abusing this, in Switzerland you get fined for even going 1kmh over the speed limit. And itll range from like 50-400 aud depending on the area
No and yes, you'll get a 40.- CHF fine for going 1 km/h over the speed limit. But when measured by a radar, you'll get 5 km/h measuring tolerance deducted. When measured with a laser, it's 3 km/h. So in a 50 km/h zone, you'd have to drive 56 km/h, get 5 km/h deducted with makes you 1 km/h over.
The fines are based on your income. The proportionality of economic hurt is the same for someone who's on the lower end of society (that can drive) to that of a multimillionaire. The 5 km/h fine is not the same from one recipient to the next.
@@zoe..din switzerland? that is false. Fines for small violations have fixed prices, that you can see in the OBV (Ordnungsbussenverordnung). Everyone pays the same. Speeding fines get measured by your income at: +16km/h within city limits +21km/h out of city limits +26km/h on the highway
Google bought the app Waze a while ago, but they've kept them separate. This means different people run each app. I think Google Maps ratings aren't very accurate also! Google has been deleting my reviews for the past two months, even if they're similar to other negative reviews they've already posted. Because of this, the star ratings on Google Maps might not be real
I bought one of the kings heads up display units. It is also GPS based, and will always project up on my screen. Then I used 2 different GPS apps (which were both reading the same speed as each other) and used them to recalibrate the kings HUD (which was out by 5km at 100km/hr). I also checked the now calibrated kings unit against one of the overhead speed checkers on a fwy in Victoria. I found that the GPS apps and the kings now read exactly the same as the one on the fwy. funny enough, when I changed my 4x4 tyres shortly after this, to a larger (but still legal) size, my speedo was now reading the same as my GPS!
From all the cars I've owned in the past 30 years, from my experience the Tesla seems to have the most accurate speedo. It's almost dead on accurate with GPS speed. For 100kph the car is reporting, GPS is 98-99kph.
My understanding is that the relevant Australian Standard is that the in-vehicle speedometer must not read below the actual speed, which is why they always read high. Also your test wasn't entirely fair; to be directly comparable you would need to use 2 devices simultaneously; one running Waze & the other running Google Maps, because the number of satellites in view at any one time is constantly changing, and therefore so is the accuracy (in general terms this is reflected by a value known as the Horizontal Dilution of Precision in GPS-speak). Nevertheless an interesting & worthwhile exercise that confirms what most of us knew - thanks!
Australian Design Rules (ADR) A vehicle whos spedometer read 60, the actual road speed must be between 54 and 57 Km per hour. I worked in the car industrie for 27 years. In Quality Control and this was one of the tests that we were required to do on ALL vehicles
Disagree. The Standards require it to be at least 90% accurate. It does not require it to be no more than 57 at 60. Sounds like you are speaking from a manufacturer’s perspective, as they obviously don’t won’t to show a vehicle doing less than real speed. Highway patrol car speedos are set at 2% accurate. So that means 58 or 59 at 60 would be in breach of ADRs if we went by your standards.
Sounds like a Toyota thing perhaps? All my modern Holdens and fords have had the speedo read at worst 1-2 km more than my true speed, and this is a consistent difference, not a % difference that increases the error as the speed increases. I still have a VE, and it’s only 1km/h out at 100. My FG was out by 2 at 100, but with a slight change in tyre size, it’s spot on now. Other VEs,VZ, BF, BA and even AUs I’ve owned have all been within 2km/h at 100. The worst car I had was an ‘07 Subaru that was 9km/h out at 100km/h. A Camry I had in ‘06 was around 5km/h out.
BTW the actual design rule in ‘07 when I argued with Subaru was that a speedo could not read lower than the true speed, but it was allowed to be up to 10% optimistic with its reading, so displaying 109 when I was doing 100 was perfectly acceptable to them. Edit - just checked and it’s still the same ADR requirement.
@@Madracer09 Speedos ALWAYS read fast, if they read slow, they'd cause hundreds of speeding fines, the car manufacturers would get their butts sued off.....Think about it, It's ALWAYS been this way....
Great video guys! Waze user here for many years and have always trusted its accuracy across several vehicles but have also wondered how spot on it was compared to a calibrated speed checker so thank you for answering that! Possibly the only other consideration is the orientation of the phone whilst using. Weirdly I've noticed some fluctuations when the phone is stored somewhere forward of the gear shifter horizontally and I guess out of line of sight of the sky vs say on a dedicated air-vent or windscreen mount in a vertical position.
From my reading, the new ADR 18 says speedos cannot indicate less that the true speed, and over-indication accuracy is limited to a maximum 10 % plus 4ks. Most are about 6% from my reading.
1:15 well the actual reason is that all speedometers in cars must never show less than the actual speed... so therefore car manufacturers just to be safe and prevent recalls artificially add couple of kmph to the speed reading to be compliant with the law/regulations. This way of solving this issue is a lot cheaper than individually calibrating and certifying the speedometer in the car to show precise speed.
Very interesting video! here in the UK, a loooottt of people simply do not understand the rules and other variables around speeding tickets and what you can get way with. For example, my car normally shows about 8% above what I'm doing in terms of MPH. so it will say 32/33 when I'm actually doing 30, and 75/76 when I'm doing 70. But speed camera enforcement laws state that the speed to get a ticket is actually ((speed limit * 1.1) +2) or the '10% plus 2 rule'. So in a 70mph limit for example, you will have to do 79mph to get a ticket, and on the average car speedo, that's like low to mid 80's. So I do 80mph on my speedo (to play it safe) in a 70, and follow that rule elsewhere, so 34 in a 30, 45 in a 40, 56 in a 50, 67 in a 60 etc. Never had a speeding ticket once, and on top of that, its great for overtaking traffic sitting there at the "speed limit" unknown that when I fly past them, I'm still within the law 🤣
In the UK, specifically in London, a surprisingly large proportion of drivers seem to be completely ignorant of what GPS speed really is. I always use Waze for GPS speed and despite the ability to go even faster before getting a ticket, I tend to stick to the correct GPS speed utilising Waze. Despite this, I generally find my self passing other traffic on the A406 and travelling faster than them. What is annoying is trying to get to work in the early hours and having some bone headed fool blocking the overtaking lane while doing 44mph while the speed limit is 50mph - and stubbornly refusing to move over when it is possible. My speedometer / GPS readings are: 32/30 , 43/40 , 54/50 et al. I find Waze invaluable for my daily commute and always have it up and running.
It’s not the law, it’s an old national agreement between enforcement agencies. No one involved in that agreement has the inclination to revisit it because, in general, it works. HOWEVER, if there is a local problem in town or city, then a local enforcement agency can, and will, drop the 10% to 5% and issue warnings to those pushing their luck. Southend on Sea had a problem with cruisers who regularly whizzed alone the seafront. GATSO cameras were installed @ 10% and eventually speeds came down. But there were still some problems and incidents. So the cameras were reset to 5% intolerance and a lot of people got ‘pack it in’ letters, those over 10% still got the ‘who was driving’ intention to prosecute letter. All those 5% letters, and there were a lot, caused premature grey hair in some households - especially where several letters arrived almost simultaneously shortly after a Bank Holiday weekend! Repeat ‘offenders’ were successfully prosecuted at 5% because they were ‘on notice’ about the previous offences. The Magistrates had a number of field days and things calmed down. This was all back when GATSO was a new kid on the block, so before lots of you started driving. I was driving a Ford Escort when I got my 5% award!!
Lets also not forget tyre size makes a difference, on my GU Patrol I went up to 33" tyres on the 16 rim (stock) which has brought my speed to exactly the same as GPS, so now I also know on the Speedometer, is the speed Im actually doing.
Hi Paul, Just wanted to say thankyou for confirming what we have experienced also. However both my wife & I have used Google maps to confirm our speedo's are incorrect by 4-5 KMH. By chance we have had the opportunity to to check our speed with roadside radar that displays your speed which has matched Google maps. We will try Waze now thanks to your research to compare. Love your work!
One thing not mentioned about GPS is it’s measured horizontally so if you are driving down a hill and the GPS speed says your are doing 100kph a radar gun will clock you slightly faster depending on how steep the road is. Another way to look at it is if you jumped out of a plane and fell straight towards the ground, Waze would say zero speed where as a radar gun on the ground pointing at you falling would pick up your falling speed. This is only very minor but for those that push the boundaries of speed limits it could be the difference between a speeding fine or not.
GPS works in X,Y,Z axis, via triangulation using at least 3 satellites, commonly 7-10. your statement is incorrect. I use Waze, Strava and a GPS speedometer, the latter two also display elevation above sea mean sea level. If a GPS speedometer can tell you altitude above MSL, then it can measure speed in any direction, straight up, straight down or while going up or down a gradient.
When I’m driving interstate, I don’t use either Google or Waze. I use GPS speedcheck. I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but I’ve driven past highway patrol and have never been fined by a camera - yet.
I thought it was 3kmh and 3% over 100kmh, wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve tightened that up in the name of revenue (Oh sorry, I mean safety) Victoria is a joke.
@@JFMagnet I'm not sure... think I quoted what was said in the video. I was booked in NSW, for being 6 kph over the 50 kph limit. The camera was placed on the side of a wide road that was descending and had little traffic. The fine came from *"NSW Revenue".* 🤦♂
Though the GPS speed will be less accurate when going up and down hills. As the GPS is measuring horizontal movement rather than vertical, so if your going up a hill for example the GPS speed would read slightly lower as your horizontal movement is less of that than going on a flat road. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Correct me if I'm wrong: but how is that "calibrated speed gun" accurate when you are measuring at an angle? Is the speed gun not measuring the speed of approach between the vehicle and the gun? Because the vehicle isn't directly approaching the gun. Its approaching the road to your left.
Never had a speeding ticket in 25 years of driving. What's my secret? I drive to the posted limit, check for any sneaky sneaky speed changes, and I compare my speedo vs what GPS speed says and drive accordingly. No way am I paying any more voluntary tax to the gov.
I changed tyres on my old 2003 Prado from standard Dunlop Grandtrek (28 PSI) to Michellin which I could run at 41psi for better “rolling resistance” / fuel economy- however savings were lost with speeding fines as was getting pinged for about 1-2 kms over the limit before running a GPS speedo on my phone! Good segment BTW!
It's nothing to do with Google maps or Waze or any other app on the device - they ALL use the NMEA output from the GPS unit built into the phone or dash unit's hardware.
It's all to do with how the app is displaying the data. Waze is sampling positions over a greater time period, so the speed doesn't fluctuate as much. Google is calculating speed multiple times every second, and because the standalone GNSS and IMU is only accurate to 5m at best, the speed is varying constantly even though the vehicle is set to cruise control.
Serves you right Paul for using an iPhone! Google maps on my old Google Pixel 4a show speed ss steady as a rock. I've had it cross checked with other GPS tools. I pass under speed cameras regularly on Monash Freeway near Burke Road both ways doing 100 km/h bang on and never had a problem.
Considering how inaccurate google maps is, I make sure to sit at least 20 km/h on the right lane when I’m travelling on the freeway. I’m actually doing everyone a favour by keeping traffic at a slower speed, not sure why people starts flashing me or give me the evil eyes when they overtake me.
Always use GPS for accurate speeds here. Plus in the UK speed cameras are set to a 10%+2mph tolerance. So you can do 78mph in a 70mph without fear of getting a ticket.
In Victoria, we had the +10% + 3kph, but they needed more revenue so got rid of the 10% and made it over 3kph, got a fine. Now it is at 3 kph over get a fine, Revenue over safety.
The GPS i use in my vehicle shows the speed but it is behind that is Laggs showing the speed of the vehicle,it's better to still keep checking the speedo.Using Cruise control on long trips is a good plus.
In recent years I've had Ford, Skoda & BMW and the Ford had the most variance. Ford at 70 mph on the speedo was just 66.4 mph on my GPS so 3.6 mph / 5.8 kmh under. Skoda was 1.2 mph under @ 70. And at 70 mph indicated the BMW was 1.0 mph under with new tyre and 1.5 mph under with tyres worn close the the UK legal limit. The Andoid app I use is GPS Test and the variance between different smartphones was just 0.1 mph. Not sure what was going on with the Google app in the video, mine has always been stable and agreed with TomTom or GPS Test. It's also good to see someone else's experiments match my own findings, cheers.
My only issue with Waze is the GPS navigation, a lot of the time it completely gets the end destination of certain places completely wrong, sometimes by 10 km. Once it took me to the electrical wholesaler which I thought was in the middle of the highway😂 Goulburn TLE is soo wrong.
I have an Ultraguage plugged into the OBD2 port of my FJ Cruiser, amongst the many gauges it gives me is a digital speedo, it reads 2 - 3km/h higher than the analogue speedo across all speeds, but dead on the same as Waze. I've been using Waze for many years, its hazard warning is excellent, it could be parked cars, roadworks, potholes, or even the Fuzz, it is a licence saver.
Ever since I started using my Garmin GPS Navigator I've always driven using GPS as my speed, and have never had a speeding ticket. (Now I use Waze as well). My only complaint about Waze, is the size of the display for speed. What would be an interesting one for you to look at is some of the GPS apps that show speed, but aren't navigator apps
Lidar and radar are subject to cosine error. If the target is not travelling in line with the beam from the instrument, the speed will be reported as lower. Lidar slip is also responsible for inaccurate readings as are a bunch of other factors.
I have an MG4 EV (in the UK) and it is the first car I've ever driven whose speedo is accurate - it shows the same speed on the driver screen as GPS apps (including Waze etc.) show on my phone. 🙂 (Cars in the UK - and I guess also the EU - *must not* under-read, i.e. they must not show a speed that is less than actual. However they are allowed to over-read by up to 10%, so an indicated 60 mph may be a real 54 mph).
I drive rental vans for touring guiding. I always use Waze. Recently I was pulled over doing 102 downhill. The cop asked me how fast I thought I was going. I told him I had just touched on 102. He agreed and waved me on.
Perhaps the problem with Google is how often the app recalculates speed. Both systems rely on GPS coordinates and time travelled since the previous calculation. I would be curious to see results on hills as I noticed my trusty Tomtom "loses" speed when climbing. Whatever the case, the car speedo will always register low and that's the safest system to trust.
Have noticed this for a while now, when i worked at a hire car place most car from corolla to vf commodore etc, most were 4-5 some as 7 as 100 speedo 92 GPS.....once again the numpties in power making our roads slower so we spend longer on the road as some people "drop 5" so they can be doing 80 odd in a 100 zone 😂😂🤦♂️🤦♂️
Before google maps introduced this feature, i was using dedicated gps speed apps, and while there is some jumping around (even in waze) even they were more consistent and probably more accurate than google maps's half baked feature.
Waze is excellent the only thing that annoys me is people that report a car on the shoulder of the road when it is no where near the road , even behind a guard rail people still report it , crazy
I set my cruise control based on GPS even when it's in a 40 zone or whatever. There are sections in Victoria where there are long sections of 40 kph and trying to keep your car at 40. I basically use cruise control to control vehicle speed rather than the pedal
I was in sweden 2 or 3 years ago and google maps on samsung already had the speedo and I have never seen it fluctuate. And whenever I use it here(Montenegro) it still doesnt fluctuate. It always shows 5 or 6 km/h below the car speedo depending on the car that i drive that changes but still below and never fluctuating.
I regularly run both Waze and Google Maps when driving in the UK. I find Maps does give a consistent reading just like Waze but its sometimes 1mph faster than Waze.
I’ve been using a GPS "speedometer" app (not on map apps) to check against the car speedometer… and get consistent read differences between both, the gps is actual, the car always a few under what the readout says. Wouldn’t rely on the ones that come on through various zones on the map/s) yes, I was told years ago about the calibration in the car is always "slightly" less and the variation is a little more extra as the car is reading 110 compared to say 50 or 60 … anyway cheers 👍🏼
In the UK, car speedos are not calibrated (except for some police vehicles). Normally, car speedos are set to over read slightly, to protect the driver from speeding. In my car, 32 indicated = 30, 42 indicated = 40, 53 =50 etc.
Ex auto industry engineer... Clusters were calibrated intentionally+3 or +4 km/h at 100 km/h. However that error decreases with speed, so at say 60, it might only indicate 61. Of course tyre size and other factors can affect it, but that will be the norm out of the factory for most cars
This confirms something for me. The roadside speed indicators with the LED readouts have always seem to underestimate actual speed, and I have always wondered if police speed guns were similarly calibrated. If your unit is showing 3 or 4kph under, this also aligns with the old "10% grace" number...if you're caught doing 88 in an 80 zone, you're likely doing 92, and fresh out of excuses.
Car Speedo error was consistent at both speeds and didn't change. 5 percent. 80 kmh x 5pc is 4 kmh 100kmh x 5pc is 5 kmh This is why hat wearing Camrys are so frustrating on the road - they think they are doing a conservative 95 and they are only doing 90 :)
Suspect some car manufacturers influence the displayed WAZE speed when via CarPlay. When connected to BMW it will display 1km less than the car speedo. However, if used via phone app only it displays a variance of 4 to 5kph.
Interesting observation. I have a brand new BMW X3 and it is showing around 1km/h under compared to Waze. Though not sure how the car could be interacting in that way. As I understand it when CarPlay is active the phone is basically taking over the screen and doesn’t take any input from the car.
@@ashleyw1393 I had an issue, so reached out to Waze support. They asked if the car was a Ford, apparently a known error existed where the telematics from the car was causing issues with the Waze Speedo info. The other hint of some sort of interaction from the car data to Waze is the lack of Speedo fluctuation, something Paul raised as a concern to the Google comparison where the Google speedo fluctuated. It would be good if Paul could do the comparison again but not connected to the car but stand alone on the phone only. I suspect the Waze Speedo will also have swinging variations as mine does when disconnected from the car.
@@darrenransley9719 good info. Will look into it. Would explain why my car is “so” accurate and I have cars flying past me when I’m smack on the limit.
The accuracy of GPS varies according to the number of satellites the unit is locked onto. I suggest you have a dedicated GPS handheld that can display how many satellites are available. There are many more satellites available now, but the configuration of available satellites is constantly changing. Ideally, you need an even spread of satellites across the sky.
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As an RACV roadside assistance patrolman, Waze is not only superior with speed accuracy but amazing for identifying where a potential breakdown vehicle is and warns others to slow down and watch out for me keeping me safe especially on freeways.
I encourage everyone to not only run Waze but to report everything along the route.
It could quite literally save mine and my customers lives!!
@purehardstyles 💯 Also has " Object on Road " Which saved me one time. Some knob head, dropped his spare tyre on the freeway...
Unfortunately the sound seems to be an issue for me when I pair to my Polo. I can't hear the instructions even when putting the sound up. If I can sort that, I'll certainly use WAZE only
I have had google maps do everything you say waze does
Google maps will it give directions in some o/s countries. Waze is so superior it’s not funny. I was warned today of a couple,coppers hiding up the road in a Victorian BMW Highway patrol station wagon with their speed camera.
Our Google maps speed indicator doesn't fluctuate like the example did,however if it's that inaccurate, that's concerning. One other issue, everyone thinks heavy trucks are speeding when they overtake on motorways and Highways,actuallytheir speed limiters are set more accurately than light vehicle speedos, so they're not speeding,they're running just below the limiter speed setting and the light vehicle speedo is inaccurate.
Going faster didn’t change the inaccuracy.
The error is 5% in both examples of 80 and 100 kph.
Correct. Our erstwhile reporter works that out to be 10%. Clearly he failed common sense and maths at primary school.
Percentages do not apply in speeding fines, it’s pure kmh
@@einfelder8262 I came here to say that!
@@Harrybollox Looks like you shared a class with him. Accuracy doesn't care about the numbers involved - its about how close to the correct value it is and when there are different values the only easy way to quantify that is by using percentages.
If you are 2k's over at 80 you're further away from the target value than 2k's over at 100.
@@Harrybolloxbut percentages do apply in another way, let’s say you get fined X amount for 15-30km/h over, 30km/h over at 60 is 50% over whereas at 100, it’s only 30% over for the same fine. Technically, there is only one offence, and that is speeding. 1 km/h and above the speed limit is the offence. The speed brackets are only used for the purpose of writing infringements.
Waze is a life saver. i have a crazy story. I was driving to Canberra around 9 pm in the dark and there was a dead kangaroo just in the middle of the road my waze app alerted me that there was an object on the road ahead, i just slowed down to 80 from 110 and in like 2 seconds there was a full grown dead kangaroo right in front of my car, had i not been alerted i would have hit it at 110 kph dead on. its crazy how useful it is and how solid waze community is about helping each other not to mention all other benefits. i use it all the time now.
It's people on waze reporting it, it doesn't just know
@@notxander6838 He knows, he literally mentioned the helpful Waze community at the end of the comment.
and let me guess, you drove around it,. leaving it for the next person to hit?
you're useless, you know that, right? just as useless as this supposed "test" was.
In the UK at least the requirement is that you drive at a speed that you can see the road ahead to be clear, presumably without the Waze warning you would have continud driving dangerously.
Impressive, not something I’m likely to come across on the M25 around London
Waze has saved my ass too many times times to count. I can't drive without it running.
Same
💯 Plus the sneaky Police reports, you can post.
Same, thanks to the input of others.
Same here. When I moved out here, I wasn't used to all the speed cameras. But Waze made me an instant veteran
same 🙂
My experience with Google Maps is totally different to what you showed. The speed is always rock solid. It doesn't jump around like it did during your test.
Is it possible that the stability of the Google Maps speed reading is affected by the make and model of phone that you are using?
Could be less consistent satellite coverage
Same. I don’t have this problem with Google maps on Apple CarPlay, wireless, could be a GPS signal related issue like people have said. It’s pretty accurate and doesn’t jump at all
Likewise, never had google maps jumping like that.
Have run Google and waze against each other and had the same reading on both apps.
Something was wrong with your google maps there.
@@cedriclynchgood point. I wonder if the same phone was used for both Waze and Maps.
I commute to Melbourne every week and man, Waze gets pretty wild with the directions to avoid traffic. That should be your next test! Google Maps Vs Waze directions. Google Maps rarely diverges from the most appropriate highway route. Waze will take you through the backroads to get you there quicker, but I've got no way of actually determining whether Waze is saving me time or sending me on a wild goose chase.
Either way it makes the morning drive interesting.
I feel that too. Lots of times waze will want me to take inner streets only to then come to a major busy road where I have to cross 2 lanes of traffic to enter. Sometimes its not worth the risk of doing that at peak hours and is easier to go with the flow and lose 1 minute. One time it made me take a bicycle path through a small park in order to get me across some rail tracks as well. Most recently it showed the fastest way home on single lane roads with backed up traffic all the way. I preferred going on the A road that was congested and slower, but had multiple lanes and kept moving, vs sitting still for traffic lights.
I still use Waze all the time though, but try to use my judgement on roads that I am experienced with.
I found waze will tend to take all these back roads and it doesn't save any time, and you are constantly stopping and turning, then starting then stopping and turning
You’ll need 2 people to drive for that test at the exact same time and follow every road rule.
@@13965082 Pretty sure that's something they could manage.
Invariably when I ignore Waze I end up in a traffic jam so opt for following its guidance … works for me 😁
I cured my speedo by fitting 45 profile tyres in place of 40 (std) - this avoided the awful ride quality over our UK "speed bumps" and means that the speedo is spot on at speeds up to 100 mph - as tested on track. This also helps to protect my OZ alloys better too !
@@duncancampbell9490 I have an AU S1 wagon , stock15" rims & tyres, 2000 rpm is 100 kph on speedo, fitted AU II 16" alloys with 215 60 tyres =110 @ 2000 rpm .
I recently retired from a major Police department after 25 years, I went to radar school a long time ago. The radar gun only gives an accurate speed if the vehicle is coming straight at it. Since there is an angle from the radar gun ,the benefit goes to the driver. The further you are parked away from the road with a bigger angle the speed on the radar gun decreases. Thats why the moving radar units in police vehicles are more accurate because the vehicle is coming straight at it on the road.
only with radar, diferent with radar.
Also the iphones gps recievers are garbage, they always have been.
@@SteveBbb-y6dwell he just showed the iPhone was bang on, soo you’re talking out of your backside
He is using a LIDAR device not a RADAR device. Completely different technologies. The angle he was at in relation to the approaching vehicle would not make any difference to the LIDAR'S accuracy.
@@realperson2293 I think it might. If the lidar is measuring changes is distance over time, then the reading would need to take the angle the vehicle is travelling in into account, and divide by the COS of that angle. Not sure how the lidar would be able to measure that angle.
Yeah but with angles cops are measuring it doesn't matter, for 10degree angle it will be 1.5%~ difference (cos of 10* = 0.9848)
You missed the best feature of Waze to report Police and speed camera locations
Allegedly ??
But that’s not what Waze is for; it’s only for reporting potential hazards on the road. 😂😂😂
You can do this on google maps
Real Story - a few months back I was pulled over by the HWY Patrol (I may have been speeding slightly). When I pull over Waze gave me a warning of Police reported up ahead - I responded by saying .....DER !!!
BTW - I got a warning
Shhhhhh! All we need is legislation to outlaw Waze
Already knew this.
Hence, people driving in the right lane doing 95 is really annoying.
You mean the one who's overtaking that you're tailgating?
If we just used the speedo in the vehicle, we’d never know, as long as the slower car isn’t fluctuating in speed , their slowness don’t bother me, it could be a new driver or a older cautious driver, have patience mate.
I have been using waze and have not had any speeding fines, my speedo is always showing 5 kmh over AS indicated. Your segment has now strengthen my case in using waze, as it is superior. Thank you
I use Google maps on my Android and I can't say I've ever seen it fluctuate like that.
I'm a truck driver and use Waze as part of my MDT which is Android based. I also run Google on my Samsung and after 6 years of driving have found Waze MUCH more accurate than Google.
Google Maps never fluctuates like that for me either and running a cheap old android phone.
They should have rerun the test with Waze right away to see if it too was giving such fluctuations. GPS is based on signals from satellites and if you don't have enough of them overhead at the time the positioning (and thus speed reading) can fluctuate.
Same for me
Sponsored by Waze😂😂😂 my Google works perfectly everytime.
I use Waze all the time for navigation, tracking accurate speed & changing traffic situations. Occasionally, I find myself even using Apple Maps over Google Maps. I only use Google Maps to discover nearby businesses, get reviews, etc, but very rarely for nav.
Very informative video guys, thanks!
The google maps speed on my Samsung is pretty stable :)
Yup, I've never seen mine jump around at all. I've used both googlie maps and wayze and both show the same variance against my speedo when I'm on cruise control at a set speed. Perhaps the issue is only on iPhone and Google Maps, or even just that model. Not sure why you'd go to the trouble to get a speed detector gun and only test against one car and one phone model/ecosystem.
Interesting test nevertheless. I've always assumed that my GPS was more accurate than the speedo, but it's good to have it verified.
@@wanderer397 Yes, fanboys don't think anything exists outside their little apple community 🤣🤣😂😂😂😂
100%
@@-PORK-CHOP-lmao why do people always say stuff like that. It’s not that us (yeah, myself included since a few years ago) iPhone users don’t know Androids exist…
Like can you say anything else or you’re a bot like almost every comment on RUclips?
same here
In Victoria its almost impossible not to get a speeding fine at some time. Cameras are everywhere. And to increase revenue they've been aggressively lowering speeds on safe, wide, segregated roads by 20, 30, 40kmh so that even if you're literally crawling along, you're probably still doing more than the number they stuck on a pole last week. Exhibit-A princes freeway either side of Garfield. Used to be 110. Now 80. On a divided dual freeway. Meanwhile the unsafe, incompetent, aggressive driving we all have to put up with everyday, the stuff that causes real accidents, forget about it, our authorities have zero interest.
On the flipside in Melbourne's outer suburbs the biggest issue I face is drivers hogging the passing lane driving 15-20 below the speed limit. Unsafe, incompetent, underconfident, inconsiderate, inefficient drivers making it unsafe for those of us who actually can drive at the speed limit. That said there is absolutely no need for anyone to drive above the speed limit either whether on an 40,50,60,70, 80 or a 100 zone. Be safe, be smart.
Thats why vic sucks mate, too many toll, too much sneaky cops, revenue generator for vic govt.
Nonsense
You can do 80 though right? Like you don't have to do 110 in the 80 zone do you? I'm just kidding I know you can't. I'm a vic cop and we do change the limits on purpose to raise revenue. But we don't fine everyone. Just you and some others. We like to fk with the guys that say its about revenue raising because its not, we're just trolling. Funny shit. Also, your mull habit is out of control mate, next level. Watch out because no one wants a chill dude to turn into a paranoid psychotic .
And then there’s the ones that don’t understand why they shouldn’t pull out at 80 in front of a truck at 100 in their matchbox car, like it’s nothing. They have no idea but they won’t get a speeding fine so all good.
I’ve been using Waze for this for years and have always breezed past.
I saw Apple had introduced the speedometer feature recently as well, and it was jumping all over the place, similar to your experience here with Google.
Only used it once and back to Waze for me.
Looks like an Apple thing, I have Samsung S24+ and use Google maps, it never jumps up and down like your one did, it's always stable, been using it since it was implemented ran through hundreds of speed cameras in Sydney basing my speed in what Google Maps is saying, all ok.
Agreed ditch the apple and use an android for Google maps, I've never had fluctuations on my Google Pixel
I agree. I've been using Google on my Samsung Galaxy and it shows the exact same speed Waze shows, without jumping all over the place like in Apple.
I’ve got a 14 pro and have no issues.
My workphone is a 15 Pro Max and it jumps all over too. My older Android LG is rock solid.
100% THIS. Samsung devices are actually accurate. iPhone are crap for all kinds of sensor accuracy
A GPS will be out on uphill or downhill as it only takes point A & B, OK on the flat
After years of driving heavy vehicles, I am absolutely convinced that passenger vehicles are actually made to read 5 kph above their indicated speed, and commercial vehicles (those that are registered as heavy vehicles) are made to display the actual speed.
Up to 10% +/- 4km/h
Is the Australian standard.
Big variation from car to car.
End result, truckies playing checkers with cars way under speed limit. Traffic Friction is no good to anyone.
You are spot on.
Car Manufacturers have been doing this for awhile, for a variety of reasons, from 'safety' to reputation.
The 2nd is they feel that if their cars are less involved in accidents, the better their reputation...
Every modern car I've driven does this, usually about 4Km/h reading over. Even my modern motorcycles do the exact same thing. Never seen any reading under the actual speed...
Professional drivers have been screaming this for years... Choose a speed, do your best to maintain that speed, drive in the appropriate lane for what the traffic is doing around you. Its not hard.
Waze is not only about speed cameras, users can also report dangers and it gives you shortcut
I used to use Google Maps but I'm a convert to Waze. I find it is much more accurate and easier to use. Great topic Paul.
I wish more people knew this and calibrate the speeds they do with a gps speedo app. May make them feel less entitled to hog the right lane.
Waze has become the gold standard and it is a wonderful thing. Thank you for your content, it has been very informative 👍🏼
4:23 and here is the issue with Victorian road safety… we spent years and millions of dollars telling everyone how 5km over the limit means instant murder, and now we have a state full of drivers who struggle to drive in a straight line and no concept of the physics involved in managing a vehicle safely.
Post covid, I've noticed people are even worse at driving than ever before.
@@montyfpv2259100% ! They seem to care a lot less, too.
Just installed 10mm higher tyres, speed at an indicated 100 was a real 95, now its at 98. More accurate.
You will find, however, if you pulled up speedo data with a scan tool, your digital speed in the computer was correct before. So now your odometer will be reading 3km/h too fast now.
car speedometer will never be accurate. too many variables that influence it's reading, rim size, tyre size, tyre pressure, & tyre thickness. it needs to be calibrated after every run. that's why car manufacturer put 5-10km/h tolerance.
@@Triggy96😂rubbish, the speedometer data read from a scan tool is the same as what you see on your dash…… the signal comes from the same sensor of the gearbox output shaft……….. putting bigger tires will decrease the odometer readings not increase it.😂😂
More circumference in a bigger tire.
@direwolf4849 Sorry, yep, I got that around the wrong way with odometer 🤦♂️ dunno what I was thinking with that, lol. However, I will still stand behind my other statement. I'm sure not all vehicles do it but after being a mechanic for 10 years I can vouch most vehicles if you sit the speedo on 100kmh the scan tool will be reading a few kms slower than what the dash displays. It's law that a speedometer has to display 4-10% slower than actual speed, but the odometer has to be reasonably accurate, so that just takes the actual data coming in.
Back in the "old days" before GPS, if you asked the local HWP in my small rural NSW town nice enough they'd perform an on-road "speed check" for your vehicle with their calibrated radar.
2:51 The speedo is 5% overestimating, not 10%. 100 v 95, 80 v 76. Even 52/53 v 50
mercs are always calibrated 3 kph under the limit
Google maps hasn't only just introduced the speed feature, it's been there for a long time.
I've found the Google maps speed to be steady and not jumping around, I'm on Android if that makes a difference though.
Most cars I've checked have been around 4-5kph out, except a friend's 2002 Mitsubishi Verada, it was bang on the same as GPS at any speed.
It's nothing to do with Google maps or waze or any other app on the device - they ALL use the NMEA output from the GPS unit built into the phone or dash unit's hardware.
Yeah didn't they only just introduce the live speed readout. Previously it did display the speed limit for the road you were on but didn't actually reflect the speed you were doing in real time?
@@einfelder8262 finally someone said it
@@Devastator0 It must be on the Car play version of Google maps as it has been on the Android phone version for quite a while, I haven't seen it on the Android Auto yet but I haven't been in the car for a few days.
Nope not if you're using it on android auto.
Another massive fan of Waze here. Pretty much never rely on the car's speedo as I know it is undercooked and Waze has been great - have never had a speeding ticket as a result of relying on it. Plus the reporting hazards functionality has certainly saved me having crashes and damage to my car on multiple occasions in the past.
This is a good experiment as it shows the mechanical/electrical losses between the sensors and the readout. Across Europe, and I guess other areas speedometers have to read in the range of +10%/0. This range allows for tyre wear.
New standard road tyres typically have a tread depth of 8mm and a minimum legal depth of 1.6mm here in the U.K. meaning a loss of 6.4mm on the rolling radius over the life of the tyre. For those that don’t know the rolling radius is the vertical distance from the wheel centre to the road.
Inflation pressures tyre temperatures also change the rolling radius. The rolling radius determines the number of rotations the wheel makes over a given distance and speed is measured by counting the rotations and multiplying by a nominal circumference to give the speed.
If you want to know your real speed use gps as the readout will always be more accurate than a mechanical/electrical speedometer.
Great and informative video Paul. As an Uber driver, I rely on accurate directions and hazard warnings - although sometimes Waze does get the routing incorrect - it has improved over time.
Dont forget the Cosine Effect. As you are measuring it from a slightly offset position. The vehicles are not approaching you directly. So actual speed may be very slightly higher than the Lidar measures.
It was annoying that he didn't mention that the LIDAR he was using had a margin of error of up to +2/-3 km/hr (even though in reality they can be as close to perfect as possible especially compared to RADAR)
In 10 years of using Google I have never experienced the fluctuations in speed display on the open road. Driving between Melbourne and Geelong for many years the speed check has been bang on, and I have never had a speeding infringement when using Google. I tried Waze and found it inferior to Google for city navigation, Google shows what lane to be in. There is a 4kmh variation in speedometer reading currently, it's 5kmh when I had new tyres put on, more tread = slightly larger diameter so travel faster at same engine revs.
I think you mean to say "Don't rely on Google Maps with an iPhone" - i havn't got this fluctuation on any of my Samsung phones.
It’s media through the car ya fool 💀
I don’t have this variation on iPhone so can we drop the Dsmsung shilling? I have tested both Gmaps and Waze. I find Waze less cluttered and more active community. YMMV
Doesn’t it have a Google maps app on the car…
100% correct. Apple GPS is crap
We tested our Peugeot 3008 GT / 2018 model and it's off by 4kmH ... I was told by police that live on my street that it's correct in saying that as car are design abit less as of 4k's when showing you're doing 100kmH means I'm doing 96KmH ... I very much believe that whatever they read, the intent is to give a fine as money collected for the State Government whichever way you see it! Thank you for this great video.
Seems like real law enforcement begins only after they have made budget.
Here in South Africa we are allowed 10kph over any speed limit, not a percentage.
In STH Australia, my old licence use to say ‘not to exceed any speed limit by more than 10kmh’.
think i prefer to be under than spot on or slightly over will stick to the cars speedo
You’re 100% correct. I’ve used Waze all over the world and it is the single best one for accuracy.
my concern is that the Cars speedo shown in the Google test is at the same in the Waze but the Laser show a different show to the previous shown speed by 2 km
I've been using Waze for 5 years now, and I've never gone back to Google Maps to be my daily.
Please realize that GPS accuracy depends on the number of (all non-stationary) satellites that is visible at any moment. Navigating between obstacles like buildings, trees, mountains may cause less reliable results when the number of sats drops below 5 or 6. The higher the number, the better. Software in the apps compensate the biggest effects, like when entering in a tunnel and the gps navigation just continues. For that reason, it’s just a consumer play-thing we cant live without anymore but the batlle against a calibrated laser gun is never a guaranteed success.
Might be worth redoing this with an Android phone. Especially for Google maps
Yep I think it's worth us trying this again with Apple v Android.
Also repeat the test on an incline / decline as that should throw the GPS speed off as relative to the satellites your speed has changed slightly compared to your actual ground speed.
@@somat111 No point as the cameras are never set up on a hill or a descent, they always are set up on a flat section of road so if contested the answer is the road was flat so if the radar indicated a speed you had to be doing that speed as road conditions didn't assist such as downhill, same as cameras in the tunnels they are not on the entry or exits because these normally not flat, the cameras are always on the flat section in the tunnel
@@-PORK-CHOP- I assume you are being sarcastic, I see speed cameras on downhills all the time, another popular spot is at the bottom of a hill pointing back up the hill.
@carexpertaus 4km at 80kph is 5%.... Speedo accuracy is always inaccurate via a percentage.
My RAV4 and Prius speedometers, Garmin GPS, and Waze are always the same within 1 mph. Sometimes I drive 65 in the right lane with the trucks. It’s quite relaxing just watching the world go by.
Fun fact, to avoid people abusing this, in Switzerland you get fined for even going 1kmh over the speed limit. And itll range from like 50-400 aud depending on the area
No and yes, you'll get a 40.- CHF fine for going 1 km/h over the speed limit.
But when measured by a radar, you'll get 5 km/h measuring tolerance deducted. When measured with a laser, it's 3 km/h.
So in a 50 km/h zone, you'd have to drive 56 km/h, get 5 km/h deducted with makes you 1 km/h over.
The fines are based on your income. The proportionality of economic hurt is the same for someone who's on the lower end of society (that can drive) to that of a multimillionaire. The 5 km/h fine is not the same from one recipient to the next.
@@zoe..din switzerland? that is false. Fines for small violations have fixed prices, that you can see in the OBV (Ordnungsbussenverordnung). Everyone pays the same.
Speeding fines get measured by your income at:
+16km/h within city limits
+21km/h out of city limits
+26km/h on the highway
@@TheYamyam97 ah, thanks! I only had half the picture.
This was very helpful. It's been something that I have been wondering about for some time. I use Waze as well.
Google bought the app Waze a while ago, but they've kept them separate. This means different people run each app.
I think Google Maps ratings aren't very accurate also! Google has been deleting my reviews for the past two months, even if they're similar to other negative reviews they've already posted. Because of this, the star ratings on Google Maps might not be real
I bought one of the kings heads up display units. It is also GPS based, and will always project up on my screen. Then I used 2 different GPS apps (which were both reading the same speed as each other) and used them to recalibrate the kings HUD (which was out by 5km at 100km/hr). I also checked the now calibrated kings unit against one of the overhead speed checkers on a fwy in Victoria. I found that the GPS apps and the kings now read exactly the same as the one on the fwy. funny enough, when I changed my 4x4 tyres shortly after this, to a larger (but still legal) size, my speedo was now reading the same as my GPS!
From all the cars I've owned in the past 30 years, from my experience the Tesla seems to have the most accurate speedo. It's almost dead on accurate with GPS speed. For 100kph the car is reporting, GPS is 98-99kph.
Yep - was driving a Model Y the other day and I concluded it was reading about 1.5 over, on average. (brand new tyres)
Consistent with what I saw on my model 3 too. Basically means don’t assume you have a comfy 10% buffer when driving.
I’ve got a brand new BMW X3 that is basically spot on too. Surprised me actually.
My understanding is that the relevant Australian Standard is that the in-vehicle speedometer must not read below the actual speed, which is why they always read high. Also your test wasn't entirely fair; to be directly comparable you would need to use 2 devices simultaneously; one running Waze & the other running Google Maps, because the number of satellites in view at any one time is constantly changing, and therefore so is the accuracy (in general terms this is reflected by a value known as the Horizontal Dilution of Precision in GPS-speak). Nevertheless an interesting & worthwhile exercise that confirms what most of us knew - thanks!
Australian Design Rules (ADR) A vehicle whos spedometer read 60, the actual road speed must be between 54 and 57 Km per hour. I worked in the car industrie for 27 years. In Quality Control and this was one of the tests that we were required to do on ALL vehicles
Disagree. The Standards require it to be at least 90% accurate. It does not require it to be no more than 57 at 60. Sounds like you are speaking from a manufacturer’s perspective, as they obviously don’t won’t to show a vehicle doing less than real speed. Highway patrol car speedos are set at 2% accurate. So that means 58 or 59 at 60 would be in breach of ADRs if we went by your standards.
Sounds like a Toyota thing perhaps? All my modern Holdens and fords have had the speedo read at worst 1-2 km more than my true speed, and this is a consistent difference, not a % difference that increases the error as the speed increases. I still have a VE, and it’s only 1km/h out at 100. My FG was out by 2 at 100, but with a slight change in tyre size, it’s spot on now. Other VEs,VZ, BF, BA and even AUs I’ve owned have all been within 2km/h at 100.
The worst car I had was an ‘07 Subaru that was 9km/h out at 100km/h. A Camry I had in ‘06 was around 5km/h out.
BTW the actual design rule in ‘07 when I argued with Subaru was that a speedo could not read lower than the true speed, but it was allowed to be up to 10% optimistic with its reading, so displaying 109 when I was doing 100 was perfectly acceptable to them.
Edit - just checked and it’s still the same ADR requirement.
@@Madracer09 Speedos ALWAYS read fast, if they read slow, they'd cause hundreds of speeding fines, the car manufacturers would get their butts sued off.....Think about it, It's ALWAYS been this way....
@@commodorenut Read my other comment, they ALL read "optimistic", and for good reason....
Great video guys! Waze user here for many years and have always trusted its accuracy across several vehicles but have also wondered how spot on it was compared to a calibrated speed checker so thank you for answering that! Possibly the only other consideration is the orientation of the phone whilst using. Weirdly I've noticed some fluctuations when the phone is stored somewhere forward of the gear shifter horizontally and I guess out of line of sight of the sky vs say on a dedicated air-vent or windscreen mount in a vertical position.
From my reading, the new ADR 18 says speedos cannot indicate less that the true speed, and over-indication accuracy is limited to a maximum 10 % plus 4ks.
Most are about 6% from my reading.
They never go over. The tolerance is for below only.
@@deleted.6743no the speed is always reading over. I,e it could be displaying 114km/h while you are only doing 100km/h
1:15 well the actual reason is that all speedometers in cars must never show less than the actual speed... so therefore car manufacturers just to be safe and prevent recalls artificially add couple of kmph to the speed reading to be compliant with the law/regulations. This way of solving this issue is a lot cheaper than individually calibrating and certifying the speedometer in the car to show precise speed.
Very interesting video! here in the UK, a loooottt of people simply do not understand the rules and other variables around speeding tickets and what you can get way with. For example, my car normally shows about 8% above what I'm doing in terms of MPH. so it will say 32/33 when I'm actually doing 30, and 75/76 when I'm doing 70.
But speed camera enforcement laws state that the speed to get a ticket is actually ((speed limit * 1.1) +2) or the '10% plus 2 rule'. So in a 70mph limit for example, you will have to do 79mph to get a ticket, and on the average car speedo, that's like low to mid 80's. So I do 80mph on my speedo (to play it safe) in a 70, and follow that rule elsewhere, so 34 in a 30, 45 in a 40, 56 in a 50, 67 in a 60 etc.
Never had a speeding ticket once, and on top of that, its great for overtaking traffic sitting there at the "speed limit" unknown that when I fly past them, I'm still within the law 🤣
The 10%+2 is a guide, it isn’t law. and not all police forces use it so do not rely on it as it won’t stand up in court!
In the UK, specifically in London, a surprisingly large proportion of drivers seem to be completely ignorant of what GPS speed really is. I always use Waze for GPS speed and despite the ability to go even faster before getting a ticket, I tend to stick to the correct GPS speed utilising Waze.
Despite this, I generally find my self passing other traffic on the A406 and travelling faster than them.
What is annoying is trying to get to work in the early hours and having some bone headed fool blocking the overtaking lane while doing 44mph while the speed limit is 50mph - and stubbornly refusing to move over when it is possible.
My speedometer / GPS readings are: 32/30 , 43/40 , 54/50 et al.
I find Waze invaluable for my daily commute and always have it up and running.
It’s not the law, it’s an old national agreement between enforcement agencies. No one involved in that agreement has the inclination to revisit it because, in general, it works. HOWEVER, if there is a local problem in town or city, then a local enforcement agency can, and will, drop the 10% to 5% and issue warnings to those pushing their luck.
Southend on Sea had a problem with cruisers who regularly whizzed alone the seafront. GATSO cameras were installed @ 10% and eventually speeds came down.
But there were still some problems and incidents. So the cameras were reset to 5% intolerance and a lot of people got ‘pack it in’ letters, those over 10% still got the ‘who was driving’ intention to prosecute letter.
All those 5% letters, and there were a lot, caused premature grey hair in some households - especially where several letters arrived almost simultaneously shortly after a Bank Holiday weekend! Repeat ‘offenders’ were successfully prosecuted at 5% because they were ‘on notice’ about the previous offences.
The Magistrates had a number of field days and things calmed down. This was all back when GATSO was a new kid on the block, so before lots of you started driving. I was driving a Ford Escort when I got my 5% award!!
Great/interesting video guys, accuracy didn't change though, 5% at 80 and 5% at 100
Lets also not forget tyre size makes a difference, on my GU Patrol I went up to 33" tyres on the 16 rim (stock) which has brought my speed to exactly the same as GPS, so now I also know on the Speedometer, is the speed Im actually doing.
Hi Paul, Just wanted to say thankyou for confirming what we have experienced also. However both my wife & I have used Google maps to confirm our speedo's are incorrect by 4-5 KMH. By chance we have had the opportunity to to check our speed with roadside radar that displays your speed which has matched Google maps. We will try Waze now thanks to your research to compare.
Love your work!
One thing not mentioned about GPS is it’s measured horizontally so if you are driving down a hill and the GPS speed says your are doing 100kph a radar gun will clock you slightly faster depending on how steep the road is. Another way to look at it is if you jumped out of a plane and fell straight towards the ground, Waze would say zero speed where as a radar gun on the ground pointing at you falling would pick up your falling speed.
This is only very minor but for those that push the boundaries of speed limits it could be the difference between a speeding fine or not.
GPS works in X,Y,Z axis, via triangulation using at least 3 satellites, commonly 7-10. your statement is incorrect. I use Waze, Strava and a GPS speedometer, the latter two also display elevation above sea mean sea level. If a GPS speedometer can tell you altitude above MSL, then it can measure speed in any direction, straight up, straight down or while going up or down a gradient.
Bro go back to school
When I’m driving interstate, I don’t use either Google or Waze. I use GPS speedcheck.
I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but I’ve driven past highway patrol and have never been fined by a camera - yet.
You get booked for speeding at 102 kph in a 100 zone in Vic? Man that's savage fund raising! 💩🇦🇺
I thought it was 3kmh and 3% over 100kmh, wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve tightened that up in the name of revenue (Oh sorry, I mean safety) Victoria is a joke.
@@JFMagnet I'm not sure... think I quoted what was said in the video. I was booked in NSW, for being 6 kph over the 50 kph limit. The camera was placed on the side of a wide road that was descending and had little traffic. The fine came from *"NSW Revenue".* 🤦♂
The tolerance is 2km/h regardless of speed for fixed cameras. For mobile cameras it's 3km/h up to 100km/h, and 3% above that.
They are giving less leancy because people are using GPS. Less excuse for bwing wrong.
@@rakalin9015 No doubt you would never even jaywalk. 🤮
What about using a Garmin Sat Nav. How accurate are they compared to your speed gun.
Though the GPS speed will be less accurate when going up and down hills. As the GPS is measuring horizontal movement rather than vertical, so if your going up a hill for example the GPS speed would read slightly lower as your horizontal movement is less of that than going on a flat road.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Correct me if I'm wrong: but how is that "calibrated speed gun" accurate when you are measuring at an angle? Is the speed gun not measuring the speed of approach between the vehicle and the gun?
Because the vehicle isn't directly approaching the gun. Its approaching the road to your left.
Never had a speeding ticket in 25 years of driving.
What's my secret? I drive to the posted limit, check for any sneaky sneaky speed changes, and I compare my speedo vs what GPS speed says and drive accordingly.
No way am I paying any more voluntary tax to the gov.
27 years for me, thought I had gotten caught but my inaccurate speedo saved the day.😅
That's fair enough Alf, but it doesn't sound like you have much fun driving.
I changed tyres on my old 2003 Prado from standard Dunlop Grandtrek (28 PSI) to Michellin which I could run at 41psi for better “rolling resistance” / fuel economy- however savings were lost with speeding fines as was getting pinged for about 1-2 kms over the limit before running a GPS speedo on my phone!
Good segment BTW!
It's nothing to do with Google maps or Waze or any other app on the device - they ALL use the NMEA output from the GPS unit built into the phone or dash unit's hardware.
It's all to do with how the app is displaying the data. Waze is sampling positions over a greater time period, so the speed doesn't fluctuate as much. Google is calculating speed multiple times every second, and because the standalone GNSS and IMU is only accurate to 5m at best, the speed is varying constantly even though the vehicle is set to cruise control.
Serves you right Paul for using an iPhone! Google maps on my old Google Pixel 4a show speed ss steady as a rock. I've had it cross checked with other GPS tools. I pass under speed cameras regularly on Monash Freeway near Burke Road both ways doing 100 km/h bang on and never had a problem.
Considering how inaccurate google maps is, I make sure to sit at least 20 km/h on the right lane when I’m travelling on the freeway.
I’m actually doing everyone a favour by keeping traffic at a slower speed, not sure why people starts flashing me or give me the evil eyes when they overtake me.
gr8 b8 m8 i r8 8/8
Because you are actually slowing the traffic down illegally and aren’t actually overtaking !?
u know nothing john snow! 80km/h zone or higher keep left unless overtaking
@@robhrvat3568 The law across every state in Australia is all speed zones above 80. Not including 80
114 in a 110 zone - no ticket for 8+ years
That's exactly what I do with my i30N, it's bang on 4k's difference so yep, same case as you.
Same same
In NSW regularly 120 (on GPS) in 110 zone - no ticket for over 30 years. If you get booked in NSW by a cop for doing that they are having a bad day.
Love your work mate
Always wondered this thank you!
When I bought new tyres I fitted 55 profile tyres in place of the 50s. The speedo now reads actual speed and I can now confidently drive on the limit.
Always use GPS for accurate speeds here. Plus in the UK speed cameras are set to a 10%+2mph tolerance. So you can do 78mph in a 70mph without fear of getting a ticket.
In Victoria, we had the +10% + 3kph, but they needed more revenue so got rid of the 10% and made it over 3kph, got a fine. Now it is at 3 kph over get a fine, Revenue over safety.
The GPS i use in my vehicle shows the speed but it is behind that is Laggs showing the speed of the vehicle,it's better to still keep checking the speedo.Using Cruise control on long trips is a good plus.
You should never rely on Google Maps or Waze for your actual speed, always read your speedometer as your actual speed.
In recent years I've had Ford, Skoda & BMW and the Ford had the most variance. Ford at 70 mph on the speedo was just 66.4 mph on my GPS so 3.6 mph / 5.8 kmh under. Skoda was 1.2 mph under @ 70. And at 70 mph indicated the BMW was 1.0 mph under with new tyre and 1.5 mph under with tyres worn close the the UK legal limit. The Andoid app I use is GPS Test and the variance between different smartphones was just 0.1 mph.
Not sure what was going on with the Google app in the video, mine has always been stable and agreed with TomTom or GPS Test. It's also good to see someone else's experiments match my own findings, cheers.
My only issue with Waze is the GPS navigation, a lot of the time it completely gets the end destination of certain places completely wrong, sometimes by 10 km. Once it took me to the electrical wholesaler which I thought was in the middle of the highway😂 Goulburn TLE is soo wrong.
I have an Ultraguage plugged into the OBD2 port of my FJ Cruiser, amongst the many gauges it gives me is a digital speedo, it reads 2 - 3km/h higher than the analogue speedo across all speeds, but dead on the same as Waze. I've been using Waze for many years, its hazard warning is excellent, it could be parked cars, roadworks, potholes, or even the Fuzz, it is a licence saver.
Apple only very recently allowed Google Maps to show speed. Maybe that's why it's unstable. Speedo has been on Google Maps on Android for years.
Ever since I started using my Garmin GPS Navigator I've always driven using GPS as my speed, and have never had a speeding ticket. (Now I use Waze as well). My only complaint about Waze, is the size of the display for speed.
What would be an interesting one for you to look at is some of the GPS apps that show speed, but aren't navigator apps
Lidar and radar are subject to cosine error. If the target is not travelling in line with the beam from the instrument, the speed will be reported as lower. Lidar slip is also responsible for inaccurate readings as are a bunch of other factors.
I have an MG4 EV (in the UK) and it is the first car I've ever driven whose speedo is accurate - it shows the same speed on the driver screen as GPS apps (including Waze etc.) show on my phone. 🙂
(Cars in the UK - and I guess also the EU - *must not* under-read, i.e. they must not show a speed that is less than actual. However they are allowed to over-read by up to 10%, so an indicated 60 mph may be a real 54 mph).
I drive rental vans for touring guiding. I always use Waze. Recently I was pulled over doing 102 downhill. The cop asked me how fast I thought I was going. I told him I had just touched on 102. He agreed and waved me on.
Ace bit of experimentation, thanks.
Perhaps the problem with Google is how often the app recalculates speed. Both systems rely on GPS coordinates and time travelled since the previous calculation. I would be curious to see results on hills as I noticed my trusty Tomtom "loses" speed when climbing. Whatever the case, the car speedo will always register low and that's the safest system to trust.
Have noticed this for a while now, when i worked at a hire car place most car from corolla to vf commodore etc, most were 4-5 some as 7 as 100 speedo 92 GPS.....once again the numpties in power making our roads slower so we spend longer on the road as some people "drop 5" so they can be doing 80 odd in a 100 zone 😂😂🤦♂️🤦♂️
Before google maps introduced this feature, i was using dedicated gps speed apps, and while there is some jumping around (even in waze) even they were more consistent and probably more accurate than google maps's half baked feature.
Waze is excellent the only thing that annoys me is people that report a car on the shoulder of the road when it is no where near the road , even behind a guard rail people still report it , crazy
I set my cruise control based on GPS even when it's in a 40 zone or whatever. There are sections in Victoria where there are long sections of 40 kph and trying to keep your car at 40. I basically use cruise control to control vehicle speed rather than the pedal
I was in sweden 2 or 3 years ago and google maps on samsung already had the speedo and I have never seen it fluctuate. And whenever I use it here(Montenegro) it still doesnt fluctuate. It always shows 5 or 6 km/h below the car speedo depending on the car that i drive that changes but still below and never fluctuating.
I regularly run both Waze and Google Maps when driving in the UK. I find Maps does give a consistent reading just like Waze but its sometimes 1mph faster than Waze.
just set the cruise control on the road speed limit an enjoy driving and don't stress bu constantly checking the speedo
I’ve been using a GPS "speedometer" app (not on map apps) to check against the car speedometer… and get consistent read differences between both, the gps is actual, the car always a few under what the readout says. Wouldn’t rely on the ones that come on through various zones on the map/s) yes, I was told years ago about the calibration in the car is always "slightly" less and the variation is a little more extra as the car is reading 110 compared to say 50 or 60 … anyway cheers 👍🏼
In the UK, car speedos are not calibrated (except for some police vehicles). Normally, car speedos are set to over read slightly, to protect the driver from speeding. In my car, 32 indicated = 30, 42 indicated = 40, 53 =50 etc.
Ex auto industry engineer... Clusters were calibrated intentionally+3 or +4 km/h at 100 km/h. However that error decreases with speed, so at say 60, it might only indicate 61. Of course tyre size and other factors can affect it, but that will be the norm out of the factory for most cars
i am not an auto engineer
the speed indicated is always 3 below gps speed whatever speed. (Hyundai ioniq and kona)
This confirms something for me. The roadside speed indicators with the LED readouts have always seem to underestimate actual speed, and I have always wondered if police speed guns were similarly calibrated. If your unit is showing 3 or 4kph under, this also aligns with the old "10% grace" number...if you're caught doing 88 in an 80 zone, you're likely doing 92, and fresh out of excuses.
Car Speedo error was consistent at both speeds and didn't change.
5 percent.
80 kmh x 5pc is 4 kmh
100kmh x 5pc is 5 kmh
This is why hat wearing Camrys are so frustrating on the road - they think they are doing a conservative 95 and they are only doing 90 :)
Suspect some car manufacturers influence the displayed WAZE speed when via CarPlay. When connected to BMW it will display 1km less than the car speedo. However, if used via phone app only it displays a variance of 4 to 5kph.
Interesting observation. I have a brand new BMW X3 and it is showing around 1km/h under compared to Waze.
Though not sure how the car could be interacting in that way. As I understand it when CarPlay is active the phone is basically taking over the screen and doesn’t take any input from the car.
@@ashleyw1393 I had an issue, so reached out to Waze support. They asked if the car was a Ford, apparently a known error existed where the telematics from the car was causing issues with the Waze Speedo info. The other hint of some sort of interaction from the car data to Waze is the lack of Speedo fluctuation, something Paul raised as a concern to the Google comparison where the Google speedo fluctuated. It would be good if Paul could do the comparison again but not connected to the car but stand alone on the phone only. I suspect the Waze Speedo will also have swinging variations as mine does when disconnected from the car.
@@darrenransley9719 good info. Will look into it. Would explain why my car is “so” accurate and I have cars flying past me when I’m smack on the limit.
The accuracy of GPS varies according to the number of satellites the unit is locked onto. I suggest you have a dedicated GPS handheld that can display how many satellites are available. There are many more satellites available now, but the configuration of available satellites is constantly changing. Ideally, you need an even spread of satellites across the sky.