Safety Cloud Overview | HAAS Alert

Safety Cloud® Overview

July 19, 2024

Written by the HAAS Alert Team Brynne Piehowski

Safety Cloud® by HAAS Alert brings down the risk of collision 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 hazard in their proximity and prompts them to slow down and move over.

Safety Cloud sends drivers digital alerts up to 30 seconds before coming into contact with a hazard in the road. These crucial moments allow drivers more time to take appropriate action. This has been proven to reduce the risk of collision by 90 percent compared to traditional lights alone.

Analog alerting systems like lights and sirens are no longer enough. Traffic deaths in the U.S. are on the rise and first responders are constantly at risk. Safety Cloud protects the people who put their lives on the line every day.

Safety Cloud works in tandem with Slow Down, Move Over laws, which require drivers to slow down and change lanes for a stopped or moving emergency vehicle with flashing lights activated. Every state adopted some form of regulations to support these laws between 2001- 2012. Digital alerting supports these laws by sending lifesaving alerts to motorists in a way they cannot miss.

Safety Cloud is more than a collision prevention solution. It's a crucial step forward in HAAS Alert's vision of a connected, collision-free world where everyone gets home safely.

What is HAAS Alert?

HAAS Alert is a small business with a big mission. We're dedicated to reshaping road safety around the world through lifesaving mobility solutions. We envision a connected, collision-free world where all roadway users get home safely every day.

The driving force behind this vision is our flagship product Safety Cloud®, which is an advanced collision prevention service that sends real-time digital alerts from emergency vehicles to drivers and connected cars via vehicle dashboards and infotainment systems, navigation applications, and smartphones. The goal of Safety Cloud is to aid drivers earlier in making safer, smarter driving decisions. It’s the driving force behind every innovation we create and every solution we offer.

What is a digital alert?

A digital alert is a system that provides an electronic notification to drivers. HAAS Alert leverages this technology to send notifications that protect all roadway users. Your fleet activates Safety Cloud service by connecting a piece of hardware in your vehicles/assets. Or, you can activate through one of your existing telematics tools or fleet management solutions. When you activate your lights, Safety Cloud starts notifying drivers that your crew/vehicles are nearby. Those messages tell them to slow down and move over.

How does Safety Cloud work?

Roadside workers and emergency personnel send out Safety Cloud digital alerts through select telematics and connectivity platforms. Or, you can use an easy-to-install device that integrates with any vehicle or apparatus. Once the vehicle's emergency lights are activated, Safety Cloud will begin to broadcast the following alerts:

Safety Cloud provides these notifications through two alerting services — Responder-to-Vehicle Digital Alerting and Responder-to-Responder Alerting.

Responder-to-Vehicle (R2V™) digital alerting

R2V digital alerts are sent from emergency or roadside personnel vehicles straight to a civilian motorist. These alerts protect any public safety, utility, maintenance, towing, and municipal government crew. Workers in these fields are at constant risk while responding on the road. Advanced warning from R2V digital alerts helps to mitigate those dangers.

Responder-to-Responder (R2R®) digital alerting

R2R digital alerts notify emergency responders when other Safety Cloud-equipped emergency vehicles are in active response mode and approaching the same intersection. This service is similar to R2V alerting. It notifies you if you're on a potential collision course with another emergency unit. The LEDs are situated on both sides of the vehicle to give the officer and engineer advanced warning. The extra 10-15 second advanced warning will help prevent a collision with another responding unit. That leads to better communication within your cab.

R2R features an intelligent alert system to manage alert frequency. When you're responding near another unit, the R2R alerting system recognizes that and moderates the number of alerts you get. This helps to ensure your crew isn't overwhelmed by the number of alerts. The goal of doing this is to ensure each alert you receive is significant and relevant. That helps to mitigate incidents and collisions across agencies and departments.

R2R provides improved situational awareness so you and your team can make better decisions to reach incidents faster. Please note that you must first have R2V alerting before you can add R2R alerts to your existing service.

Safety Cloud features

Safety Cloud is more than a digital alerting service. You'll also get access to a situational awareness dashboard and a monthly Safety Cloud report.

Situational awareness dashboard

No matter what industry you're in, your people are constantly on the move. You can use Safety Cloud’s situational awareness dashboard as your own customizable control center. It allows you to view the location and alert status of your equipped vehicles and assets from any connected device. With the situational awareness dashboard, you can:

Monthly Safety Cloud report

Every month, HAAS Alert emails you a link to access your personalized Safety Cloud report. It includes statistics such as drivers alerted, events, calls, time-to-scene, and time-on-scene. With this data, you'll be able to 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.

How do drivers receive Safety Cloud alerts?

Currently, civilian motorists receive Safety Cloud digital alerts in two ways — through Waze or compatible Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles.

Navigation apps

Currently, civilian motorists receive Safety Cloud digital alerts in two ways. Users of the free navigation app Waze will receive both moving and stationary alerts. When an emergency vehicle is in the area, the Waze map will display an emergency vehicle icon. It will then display a message that notifies drivers of the vehicle's presence and how far away it is. When a driver sees this alert, they can tap "There" to confirm the vehicle is nearby. If the alert is not needed anymore, drivers can tap "Not There."

In-vehicle alerts

Drivers of compatible Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram vehicles (models 2018 and newer) will also receive Safety Cloud digital alerts. This is possible through Stellantis' Emergency Vehicle Alert System. If an emergency vehicle is nearby, the driver will receive an audible and visual alert in their vehicle's infotainment center. Drivers will hear two dings. Then, a message with the appropriate hazard message will appear on their infotainment center's screen. Drivers can tap "Dismiss," once they've seen the alert. Or, they can click "Not There" if the alert is not needed anymore.

Drivers of 2024 and newer Volkswagen vehicles receive Safety Cloud alerts. Mercedes-Benz drivers who have opted into the Emergency Vehicle Alert Beta Program receive digital alerts as well.

How do I equip my fleet with Safety Cloud digital alerts?

HAAS Alert offers the three following options to outfit your vehicle with Safety Cloud:

Preinstalled and prepaid on new apparatus

Thanks to partnerships with leading manufacturers in public safety, Safety Cloud comes preinstalled and prepaid on select vehicles and apparatus. When you select this option, your vehicle will include digital alerting capabilities without any additional installation needed. Contact HAAS Alert or your dealer to learn if you can include Safety Cloud service on your next purchased vehicle.

HA-7 transponder: integration with existing warning lights

The HAAS Alert HA-7 transponder is a piece of hardware that can be installed on any alerting vehicle. It doesn't matter the make, model, or age. The HA-7 connects directly to your vehicle and synchronizes with your on-vehicle warning lights. That means that whenever you activate your emergency lights, your vehicle will automatically begin to broadcast digital alerts.

HA-D integration: activate on leading telematics platforms

Safety Cloud also integrates with leading fleet management and telematics solutions. If your fleet is currently using a wireless platform, telematics hardware, or other select fleet management solutions listed there, take a look at our Integrations page.

On that page, you'll find a list of all HAAS Alert technology and integration partners. These partners integrate with Safety Cloud service. If your business uses one of those platforms, you'll be able to activate Safety Cloud without any additional hardware.

Why should my department get Safety Cloud?

Cars have become more soundproof and technology has made drivers more distracted, meaning that traditional analog alerting is not enough anymore. The risk for emergency personnel responding on the side of the road are at an all-time high. The statistics are clear: every 60 seconds, 27 responders working on the road are at risk. That equates to 38,880 per day.

The fallout of a struck-by collision impacts a department in so many ways. They put human lives on the line and the damage to these vehicles hinders the protection of both responders and the community.

Fixing a damaged apparatus is an expensive and lengthy process. When a department has to undergo this process, that’s one less vehicle that is protecting the community. Safety Cloud mitigates this issue by sending alerts up to 30 seconds before a driver encounters a roadway hazard, allowing drivers crucial extra time to take appropriate action.

Advanced warning systems like digital alerts can reduce the risk of collision by 90 percent, compared to traditional flashing lights alone. Real Safety Cloud customers like the Columbus Fire Department have seen results themselves. The department saw a 15 percent reduction in struck-by collisions after just one year with Safety Cloud.

Benefits of Safety Cloud digital alerting

Safety Cloud goes beyond collision risk reduction to include the following benefits:

Safety Cloud for every fleet

Ready to see what Safety Cloud can do for your fleet? Explore our segment-specific pages! We offer benefits, features, and content for every fleet. It doesn't matter if you're a road work crew or emergency response fleet — Safety Cloud has your back.