The province of North Holland is testing a technology for road safety. With this new system, a road inspector sends a warning to nearby motorists in the event of a breakdown or accident.
The province is testing the communication technology ITS-G5 that is built into a road steward’s vehicle. The idea is that in the future, in the event of a breakdown or accident, the road steward will switch on his matrix sign (with a warning sign or arrow, for example), and a warning message will be sent out.
Motorists within a radius of 300 meters will then receive an early signal on their dashboard that they are approaching an emergency vehicle. In this way, motorists can see beyond their windscreen and therefore respond more quickly to situations in traffic. This should increase the safety of all road users.
Special test car
Motorists themselves do not yet notice the warning messages, because they do not have the right technology on board. During the tests in the province, the road inspector sends warnings to a special test car.
According to the province, the tests so far show that the technology works. The province also emphasizes that agreements must be made across Europe between governments and the car industry to make the system work in all cars.