Roadside emergencies are as old as the vehicles themselves. While the number of vehicles you see around have gone up, the ratio of roadside emergencies has only gone down. You’d think that we’re moving in the right direction.
Of course we are, but fewer more road incidents, or even zero would be better.
So, what’s the current innovation in the automotive industry that’s helping with emergency services and roadside assistance?
Real-Time Visibility for Faster Emergency Response
At the core of transforming roadside emergency response are technologies like GPS fleet trackers (view details) that provide real-time visibility into vehicle locations. You can swiftly reach the vehicle when you know where it is.
There are now platforms leveraging cellular and satellite connectivity to help rescue professionals find any connected vehicle quickly and efficiently. Swiftness and efficiency of the rescue operations are the keywords here.
Understanding exact incident location is the critical first step in mobilising assistance rapidly. Detailed GPS guidance then enables precise navigation to render aid promptly even in tricky terrain. Without such tracking visibility, precious additional minutes or hours may expire exploring areas searching for those stranded.
So at a basic level, GPS-enabled emergency locating paves the way for radically improved response efficiency compared to relying on descriptions over phone calls. But additional layers of rich telemetry and sensor data promise even more profound impacts.
Sensor Data for Informed Emergency Dispatch
The current modern vehicles are coming with innovative solutions to increase the safety of everyone on the road. You’ve probably heard about fleet tracking solutions outfitted with diverse sensors that can provide detailed snapshots of emergencies to assist dispatch operations.
Read the features of a current new vehicle and you’ll find similar features.
Some of these modern vehicles have crash detectors that can automatically trigger emergency alerts including precise coordinates when airbags deploy or other signals indicative of an accident are detected. The driver doesn’t have to do anything in this case.
On the other hand, telemetry feeds might pick up signs of potential medical emergencies like extended idling with the engine still running.
With this contextual data, emergency responders get informed early on the scale and specialised resources different roadside incidents might require. As a result, they can dispatch suitable ambulances, repair teams, fire brigades, or heavy tow trucks right away, cutting down total intervention time.
And sensor capabilities continue advancing to enable ever-smarter dynamic dispatch intelligence. The future potential is tremendous whether leveraging vehicle cameras, vital sign monitoring, maintenance issue detection, or environment sensors to relay situational insights to emergency coordinators in real-time.
Two-Way Communication for Reassurance
While visibility and sensor alerts enable faster outside emergency response, two-way communication capabilities provide reassurance to stranded motorists during what can be tense wait times. Many modern connected vehicles integrate functionality for occupants to instantly trigger emergency calls or roadside assistance requests via voice commands or in-car buttons.
What better way is there than to ask the driver involved in the crash about their situation? Two-way communication capability compliments the visibility and sensor alerts. It’s where we say more is better – at least when we’re talking about roadside emergencies tech.
Additionally, integrating messaging functions into fleet tracking apps gives users and emergency services a secure channel to relay updates. Stranded drivers can confirm details on their status and specifics of required assistance.
Meanwhile, emergency coordinators can provide estimated arrival times of dispatched help and guide users if any immediate actions like relocation are advisable depending on traffic conditions or other hazards detected.
This real-time relay of context in both directions eases uncertainty and empowers both parties with lifesaving coordination ability – a feat unimaginable not long ago without advanced mobile technology infrastructure.
Ongoing Innovation Across Automotive Technology
We’re in the age of technology and so that means more innovation in vehicle safety and rescue. So, what’s on the horizon to boost roadside response and safety?
Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) is the newest tech in the block, which allows your vehicle to communicate with others on the road to promote safety and efficiency on the road.
Other safety-promoting communications systems being developed at the same time as V2V is vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I).
With V2I, your vehicle will be able to interact with road infrastructure such as sign posts and act accordingly. For example, your vehicle will soon be able to read a traffic stop sign or traffic lights and act without your input. Imagine your driver assistance tech stopping at the red light and accelerating when it’s clear to go.
Your vehicle is getting smarter by the day, and that’s good for your safety. Many errors of judgement and impaired thinking have for a long time been the main culprits for car accidents. Smarter cars promise to do most of the decision making for you, without distractions.
So, as smart cities and intelligent highways mature, they carry the promise of revolutionising emergency response ecosystem-wide. This has wide implications even for the healthcare system and average quality of life in the society.
One example is integrating public CCTV feeds and sensors from smart infrastructure to give emergency dispatchers access to multiple vantage points of any highway incident beyond onboard vehicle detection capabilities.
So, while vehicle autonomy promises to address a major root cause of accidents by eliminating human errors, next-generation batteries and powertrains aim to minimise breakdowns themselves.
The Future of Roadside Emergencies Tech is Good
Leveraging the power of technology is fundamentally transforming our capability to assist motorists in roadside emergencies. GPS tracking establishes rapid response foundations while telemetry and sensors enable optimised dynamic dispatch based on detailed incident context. Two-way communication provides stranded travellers essential reassurance while ongoing innovation across smart mobility promises to further enhance proactive accident prevention and emergency response efficiencies ecosystem-wide in the future.
With players like PAJ GPS pushing boundaries around applying cutting-edge GPS, IoT and predictive technology specialised to the automotive sphere, the outlook shines bright for continued innovation in revolutionising assistance for troubled travellers. By embracing these exponential technological advances, we move towards a reality where help is always on hand – no matter where the open road takes you.
