Safety first

Never touch your phone while driving. In Ontario, holding or using a hand-held device while driving is illegal (Highway Traffic Act, s. 78.1). A phone in a secure mount may be used hands-free, but you may not scroll, tap, type or watch video on it while driving. Penalties include fines, demerit points and licence suspension. Rules differ by province and change; check current law yourself.

How Pavement Patrol is designed

Start a patrol only while parked. One tap, then the phone does the rest.
The driving screen is nearly black with a few large words. It takes no input while the vehicle moves (touch is blocked above 5 km/h) and plays no sounds.
No map, no reports and no notifications are shown while you drive. Reporting to 311 is for when you are parked.
There are no driver scores or rankings, so nobody is rewarded for chasing bumps. Rankings are about streets only.

Your responsibilities

Mount the phone securely where it does not block your view or airbags.
Do not seek out potholes or drive differently to collect data. Do not swerve for the app.
Keep the phone charging; a screen-on phone gets hot and drains the battery. Remove it from a hot car.
Stop using the app if it distracts you in any way.

Disclaimers

Pavement Patrol is an independent pilot, not affiliated with any municipality. Pothole locations and severities are estimates from vibration and may be wrong or out of date. Do not rely on the map for navigation or road-safety decisions. Reporting through this app does not file a claim for vehicle damage and is not legal advice; claims against a municipality in Ontario generally need written notice within 10 days.