The start-up eCall road safety solutions company VESOS says its latest award is a further demonstration of how the industry is understanding the technology’s life-saving potential.
The TeCall data processing platform won the Connected and Automated Vehicle Award at the ITS UK President’s Dinner last week. The solution delivers faster response and detailed information using the data collated from eCall-enabled vehicles, which includes almost every new car and van sold in the UK since 2018.
In the event of a collision with an airbag activation, TeCall almost instantly provides emergency services and highway operators with enhanced information detailing a vehicle’s exact location, the vehicle make and model and propulsion type. This also potentially includes other data such as wheelchair adapted vehicles, indicating vulnerable people, that enables the emergency services and road operators to respond more effectively and better prepared.
The ITS UK Award follows VESOS winning Department for Transport’s Chief Scientific Adviser’s Award for the ‘most innovative proven idea’ for the Transport Research and Innovation Grants 2022 programme, delivered by Connected Places Catapult on behalf of the Department for Transport.
The judges said “The solution proposed by VESOS has the ability to very quickly improve the speed of response to road traffic collisions, which will result in fewer fatalities and life changing injuries. What makes it stand out from the others is that it is built on a proven and established and growing platform that doesn’t require large deployments of roadside or in-car infrastructure, providing its saleability and longevity.”
TeCall ensures only genuine and validated eCall data is presented to emergency services and road operators, with false alarms filtered out and data then presented automatically into emergency Control Centre systems.
Danny Woolard, founding director of VESOS commented: “Being short listed with some other great projects for the ITS UK CAV award was further endorsement for the work we have been doing, but to win the award and having had time to digest the judges’ comments, demonstrates others’ recognition of the benefits of how our use and enhancement of eCall data can save lives”.
Independent road safety campaigner, Meera Naran MBE, whose eight-year-old son Dev, died in a motorway collision on the M6 in 2018, added: “This innovative and evidence-based solution has provided a real opportunity to focus on the post-crash care element of the safe system. eCall plays an essential role in the event of a collision, where there is no doubt that every second counts. Losing a loved one is devastating, and this is an additional layer of safety that could help save lives. A win for VESOS and one giant leap for the future of road safety.”
The VESOS team has built a proof of concept and is currently undertaking research with Warwickshire and Surrey Fire and Rescue Services.
(Picture shows Danny Woolard, centre with ITS UK President Steve Norris, left, and CEO Max Sugarman, right, courtesy ITS UK.)
