Starting April 1, 2018, all cars manufactured on European soil are required by law to be fitted with the eCall system. This technology is meant to automatically alert local authorities as soon as a car is involved in a crash.
The eCall works only to notify emergency responders on behalf of the people involved in the crash, and does not send information related to the incident to nearby drivers. Ford and Vodafone are working on a system that could do just that.
The tech they are working on is called eCall Plus, and will also send information about a crash to vehicles located in a 500 meters area from the site. It will do it not so that people know what’s going on, but so that drivers can move out of the way and make room for first responders.
Together with alerting drivers of the nearby crash, the system will keep them posted on the location of the emergency services vehicles so that when they approach the scene, an emergency corridor could be created.
Info received by each car from the emergency vehicles would instruct the drivers on how to move out of the way.
The tech is required, says Ford, because studies have shown a response time that is only four minutes faster improves the survival rate of crash victims by 40 percent.
These four minutes could be shaved from the response time should drivers abide by laws and learn how to move out of the way and make room for emergency vehicles.
“The digital revolution is bringing new forms of mobility which may help save lives on our roads,” said in a statement Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO Vodafone Germany.
“When cars communicate with each other, our rescue teams get a clear path forwards, so they can provide the right help at the right time, in situations when every second counts.”
Ford and Vodafone did not announce a timetable for the rollout of the new technology. The available details are also included in the video below.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News