News item | 04-07-2022 | 9:00 am
As the first European country, it will soon be possible in the Netherlands that your car or navigation system will warn you of an approaching vehicle with a flashing light and siren. Over the next three years, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment will be working with six parties to ensure that motorized traffic provides more and better safety warnings.
The kick-off of this collaboration will take place at the new NDW office in Utrecht on 4 July 2022 at 4:45 PM. The collaboration is being developed under the name ‘Safety Priority Services’ (SPS).
Minister Harbers (Infrastructure and Water Management) says: “Now, 98% of motorists use digital information on the road. In addition, pilots and projects show that warnings on the road have a positive effect on road safety. I would like to respond to these developments, also because drivers of, for example, cars and trucks indicate that they appreciate these warnings and rely on them more and more. That is why we are now going to work with six organizations: we ensure that they provide the right information to the driver in a safe manner.”
Safety Priority Services
Users of ANWB, Be-Mobile, Hyundai, Inrix, Kia or TomTom will soon notice a difference: their car or app will warn you if a vehicle with a flashing light and siren is approaching. The message tells you which vehicle is approaching and from which side. Initially this only applies to ambulances, later this year also to other vehicles.
Drivers are further warned according to a criteria agreed upon by the government so that it does not become unnecessarily distracting. This happens when they come close to unexpected and potentially dangerous situations, such as:
• Ghost Riders
• File tail
• Obstacles on the road
• Road work
• An accident
• (Temporarily) slippery road surface
• Unusual weather, such as a hard hailstorm
• Closed lanes (‘red crosses’)
• Roadside inspectors or other emergency and emergency services
In addition, they receive information about what is allowed and what is prohibited, such as the applicable maximum speed. In due course, it will be examined whether the route advice from navigation services can take into account potentially unsafe situations, such as avoiding school zones.
Gain knowledge and experience
With Safety Priority Services, the Netherlands is preparing for European legislation and regulations that will come into effect in 2025. In the Netherlands, the companies involved can gain knowledge and experience in prioritizing, designing and passing on road safety warnings.
In the collaboration, the six companies combine their own data with that of the National Road Traffic Data Portal (NDW). The data from the companies themselves ensures that systems know where, for example, slow-moving traffic is (traffic jam tail) or where road stewards are driving/standing. The data of the NDW is accessible to everyone, it contains information about what is allowed and what is prohibited.
The six parties will provide feedback on the quality of the NDW data, so that it can be improved where necessary. Agreements have also been made with the companies about the form of their warnings: during this period the driver does not have to perform any actions, so that he can keep his hands on the wheel.
Privacy
The privacy of the driver is of course guaranteed. The six parties ask their users whether the information may be shared for road safety. If the user agrees, this data is completely anonymized and shared with other parties via a secure connection.