Stellantis‘ Uconnect infotainment system will now notify drivers of oncoming emergency vehicles, but only if you’re in the United States or Canada.
1.8 million Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep vehicles with Uconnect from 2018 onwards now support the feature, called the Emergency Vehicle Alert System (EVAS).
Using a trigger alert system, if an emergency vehicle has put its lights on, it will relay its GPS co-ordinates to the HAAS Alert Safety Cloud Platform.
A notification from the cloud-based platform will be sent to nearby drivers alerting them of the oncoming vehicle that may be traveling at high speeds.
In addition to emergency vehicles, the HAAS Alert platform also receives and delivers notifications to tow trucks, disabled vehicles, construction sites, temporary traffic sign boards and highway gates.
The company is looking to extend its vehicle-to-vehicle communication system by allowing passenger vehicles to communicate with the HAAS Alert platform using Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol (H.E.L.P.)
The feature will allow drivers to receive notifications of broken-down vehicles up to 500 metres ahead of their route, and will work similarly to EVAS.
When a driver has activated a disabled vehicle button, it will alert the H.E.L.P. system and send exact GPS co-ordinates to the HAAS Alert Safety Cloud Platform. The cloud platform will then pass a notification onto nearby drivers via Uconnect.
The intention is to give drivers an advance warning of 15-20 seconds of the broken-down vehicle, which is roughly 500m at highway speeds.
H.E.L.P. will be manually activated unless the driver is involved in a collision or has a tyre blowout.
The company is looking to additionally improve the software with LED H.E.L.P. lighting alerts which will flash hazard warning lights and other exterior lights at a “scientifically tuned rate and pattern to better grab the visual attention of oncoming drivers”.
The company has been analysing data from its Uconnect app including EVAS alerts, SOS calls and vehicle health reports to help it enhance its advanced vehicle safety technology.
