Responder-to-Responder Digital Alert Overview
Responder-to-Responder (R2R®) digital alerts from HAAS Alert are electronic notifications that let first responders know when other Safety Cloud®-equipped emergency vehicles are actively responding and are approaching the same intersection as your vehicle. This service is similar to HAAS Alert’s responder-to-vehicle (R2V®) alerting service, but delivers alerts to responders rather than civilian drivers.
R2R alerting warns you if you're on a potential collision course with another Safety Cloud-equipped apparatus. LEDs are mounted on both sides of the vehicle to give the commanding officer and/or driver a clear view of the advanced warning. That 10-15 second warning helps to prevent a collision with another responding unit in the area.
R2R alerts are powered by Safety Cloud, HAAS Alert’s connected alerting platform, which features an intelligent system to manage alert frequency. Let's say you're responding and another Safety Cloud-equipped apparatus is in the area. The R2R alerting system recognizes that and adjusts the number of alerts that your vehicle receives. This helps to make sure that each alert you receive is significant and relevant, which helps to mitigate incidents and collisions across agencies and departments.
R2R alerts provide your team an opportunity for improved situational awareness. That way, your crew can make informed decisions that serve your mission of swiftly reaching incident scenes and saving lives. However, please note that R2V service is required in order to add R2R service.
What is Safety Cloud?
Safety Cloud® by HAAS Alert reduces the risk of collision for first responders, roadway workers, and civilian motorists. It does this by delivering real-time electronic notifications, known as digital alerts, directly to nearby and approaching vehicles. These alerts warn drivers of an emergency responder, work zone, or other nearby hazards and prompts them to slow down and move over.
Safety Cloud sends alerts up to 30 seconds before they approach that roadway hazard. These extra moments allow drivers more time to slow down and move over. Advanced warning systems like R2R alerts have been proven to reduces the risk of collision by 90 percent compared to traditional lights alone.
In addition to R2R alerts, Safety Cloud also sends R2V alerts, which are designed to specifically notify civilian drivers. R2V is a crucial tool in roadway safety because analog alerting systems are simply not enough anymore to get drivers' attention. Traffic deaths in the U.S. are rising and emergency personnel are in constant risk. Safety Cloud digital alerting provides an extra layer of critical protection that all roadway users desperately need.
Technology like Safety Cloud digital alerting helps to support Slow Down, Move Over laws. These regulations prompt drivers to slow down and move over when an emergency or municipal vehicle is nearby or approaching. Every state adopted some form of regulations to support these laws between 2001- 2012. Whether it’s R2R or R2V, digital alerting supports these laws by sending lifesaving alerts to motorists.
Safety Cloud is more than just the leading collision prevention service. It's a crucial step forward in HAAS Alert's vision of a connected, collision-free world where everyone gets home safely every day.
Who is HAAS Alert?
HAAS Alert is a small business with a big mission. We’re aiming to reshape road safety around the world through mobility solutions. Our vision is a future with a connected, collision-free world that allows all roadway users to get home safely.
The driving force behind this vision is our flagship product. Safety Cloud digital alerting is an advanced collision prevention service that sends real-time digital alerts from emergency vehicles to drivers and connected cars. These are delivered through vehicle dashboards and infotainment systems, navigation applications, and smartphones.
What is a digital alert?
A digital alert is a system that provides an electronic notification to drivers. It’s a form of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, which enables things on the road to send and receive safety-related information to each other. H. Any fleet can start Safety Cloud service. Connect a piece of hardware in your vehicles/assets. Or you can activate through select telematics or fleet management solutions.
When your emergency lights are on, Safety Cloud starts broadcasting R2R and/or R2V alerts to nearby drivers. They notify those drivers that your crew is approaching or working on the road, and they need to slow down and move over as soon as possible.
Safety Cloud features
Safety Cloud goes beyond digital alerts. The solution also offers access to a situational awareness dashboard and a monthly Safety Cloud report.
Situational awareness dashboard
Your people are constantly on the move — keep tabs on their location with the situational awareness dashboard. Use it as your own customizable control center. View the location and alert status of your equipped vehicles and assets from any connected device. You can also perform the following actions within the dashboard
- Create up to 99 user accounts or share your dashboard with other responding fleets
- Nickname and group trucks, define alerting exclusion zones, and more
- Track trends for post-incident reporting and more leverage in liability situations
- Access your dashboard remotely from any internet-connected device
- Create lane closure hazards for when your vehicles are not on-scene (this includes roadway flooding, downed trees, or post-crash care)
Monthly Safety Cloud report
Every month, HAAS Alert emails you a link to access your personalized Safety Cloud report so you can look back on historical data. The report includes statistics such as drivers alerted, events, calls, time-to-scene, and time-on-scene. You can monitor your performance and identify trends with verifiable, objective data. Vehicle data may also be exported at-will for one or more vehicles which can be used for analysis and validation.
What is Responder-to-Vehicle (R2V™) digital alerting
R2V digital alerts are electronic notifications that are sent from an emergency apparatus straight to a civilian motorist through select navigation apps and certain in-vehicle infotainment centers. This advanced warning provides additional protection for any public safety, utility, maintenance, towing, and municipal government crew. Workers in these fields are at constant and very real risk while simply just doing their jobs responding to incidents on the road. R2V digital alerts. Advanced warning helps to mitigate those dangers. An advanced warning system like R2V digital alerts helps to mitigate those dangers for all roadway users.
How do drivers receive R2V alerts?
Navigation Apps
Users of the free navigation app Waze will receive R2V alerts. When an emergency vehicle is nearby, the Waze map displays an emergency vehicle icon. Then, it shows a message that notifies drivers of that emergency vehicle's presence and how far away it is. When a driver sees this alert, they can tap "There" to confirm it is close. If the alert is no longer relevant, drivers can tap "Not There."
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram alerts
Drivers of compatible Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram vehicles (models 2018 and newer) will also get R2V alerts through Stellantis' Emergency Vehicle Alert System. If an emergency vehicle is nearby, drivers will hear two dings. Then a relevant hazard message will appear on their infotainment center's screen. Drivers can tap "Dismiss," after viewing the alert. Or, they can tap "Not There" if the alert is no longer needed.
Can I get R2R alerts without R2V service?
R2V alerting by Safety Cloud is HAAS Alert's flagship product. You need to have R2V service activated in order to receive R2R alerts. R2V service can be activated through the following methods:
- Preinstalled and prepaid on new apparatus: This means an apparatus will come standard with digital alerting. Contact HAAS Alert or your dealer to learn more about this option.
- Integrate the HA-7 transponder with existing warning lights: The HAAS Alert HA-7 transponder is a piece of hardware that can be installed on any alerting vehicle. It connects directly to your vehicle and synchronizes with your on-vehicle warning lights. Once you activate your emergency lights, your vehicle will automatically begin to send digital alerts.
- Activate on leading telematics platforms through the HA-D integration: If your fleet has a preferred wireless platform, telematics hardware, or other select fleet management solutions, take a look at our Integrations page to see if it's listed there. If so, you'll be able to seamlessly activate Safety Cloud service through that platform.
How to activate R2R service
Once your vehicles have been equipped with R2V digital alerting, you can activate R2R service. HAAS Alert will supply you with LED indicators to install in the cab of your apparatus. That is what will flash 10-15 seconds in advance to let your crew know there's another responding unit nearby.
R2R will connect to Safety Cloud through whichever channel you've implemented R2V alerting on. In a larger vehicle, the LED lights should be mounted on each side of the windshield or dashboard to ensure the driver and other officers in the cab will notice
How does Safety Cloud digital alerting work?
Safety Cloud easily connects with your vehicle/apparatus, arrow boards, or most other assets. You have a few different options to begin service. You can activate service through select telematics and connectivity platforms or through an easy-to-install device. Once you turn on your emergency lights, Safety Cloud starts sending out alerts directly to civilian motorists and other Safety Cloud-equipped emergency vehicles. R2V service comes standard with Safety Cloud, but you can add R2R alerting to your subscription at any time.
Safety Cloud can send out the following two types of alerts alerts:
- Moving alerts: When you're en-route to an incident with your emergency lights flashing, Safety Cloud alerts both civilian and emergency vehicle drivers in your path that you're approaching. Let's say you're a firefighter responding to a call. When you activate your emergency lights, Safety Cloud will let drivers and other Safety Cloud-equipped vehicles know that you're approaching. This provides all drivers with ample time to clear the roadway.
- Stationary alerts: When you're on scene, have your lights activated, and you're parked for at least 30 seconds, Safety Cloud considers this a stationary incident. It will send an alert to notify motorists of an upcoming hazard ahead. For example, construction workers doing maintenance work on the side of the road can turn on a Safety Cloud-equipped arrow board. Once that happens, drivers in the proximity will be notified before reaching the job site. Please note that stationary alerts are not applicable for HAAS Alert's R2R alerting service.
What is Vehicle-to-Everything communication?
Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication is defined as a vehicle's ability to communicate with the world around it. V2X enables connected cars to send and receive data with anything they encounter on the road. This gives vehicles the potential to share real-time data with drivers, pedestrians, responders, and more on the road. Most vehicles already come with a level of connectivity that lets them participate in V2X communication. This is powered through cellular networks, or with advanced hardware like an HA-7 transponder. That lets connected vehicles communicate with their surroundings without needing networks like Bluetooth.
Why does V2X communication matter?
Highway fatalities from car crashes are rising quickly. This includes a rise in casualties among first responders. However, NHTSA predicts that V2X will dramatically enhance roadway safety measures. It has the potential to reduce crashes by 615,000 a year. This is possible because V2X helps cars become aware of their surrounding environment. This capability enables them to alert drivers in real-time to hazards and traffic conditions.
HAAS Alert is doing its part to drive V2X technology forward with Safety Cloud. Roadside workers and first responders can no longer just rely on analog alerting tools like lightbars, sirens, and arrow boards. Digital alerts enable traditional alerting tools to be enhanced by tacking on an additional layer of protection with digital communication that notifies drivers of roadway hazards.
Ultimately, V2X-powered technology like Safety Cloud is bringing transportation into the future. With digital alerting, all roadway users can count on an enhanced level of safety and communication on the road.
R2R digital alerts for every fleet
Want to see what R2R alerts from Safety Cloud can do for your crew? Take a look at our segment-specific pages! We offer benefits, features, and content for every type of agency. When you’re on the road, Safety Cloud has your back.
