WJ Group has announced it has integrated digital alerting from Safety Cloud® by HAAS Alert into AVERA, its connected vehicle data monitoring service. The integration allows WJ’s central monitoring hub to share what its operators see – stopped vehicles, changing road surface conditions and other emerging hazards directly with approaching drivers, live, through popular navigation apps and compatible connected vehicles.
It is the first time a UK provider has offered control room-sourced digital alerting as a service across the network nationwide.
WJ has monitored roadworks from its central hub for three years. Over that period, camera analytics and stopped vehicle detection (SVD) radar reshaped how CCTV and traffic monitoring are delivered. AVERA marked WJ’s next step: by using connected vehicle data to identify when a vehicle has broken down and reporting it in real time, AVERA cuts the time it takes to spot a stopped vehicle and allows WJ to monitor schemes with no cameras installed at all.
“WJ has been monitoring roadworks from our central hub for three years, and in that time we have seen a transformation in how CCTV and traffic monitoring is done,” said Tom Howarth, ITS Manager at WJ Group. “Camera analytics and SVD radar changed the market, but it was not until we released our AVERA service that we saw a genuine step change in CCTV monitoring and traffic management control. AVERA uses connected vehicle data to identify when vehicles have broken down and reports it in real time, which cuts the time it takes to spot a stopped vehicle and allows us to monitor schemes with no cameras at all.”
“The next step change is bringing HAAS Alert into AVERA so the two work in tandem. HAAS Alert allows us to share what the control room sees with road users, live. That helps prevent secondary incidents, and because we are also looking for changes in friction, standing water and vehicle spray, we can warn drivers ahead of changing and dangerous conditions and so prevent initial incidents as well. Warning road users before they reach a hazard will improve both safety and the road user experience. We are delighted to be working with HAAS Alert as the first provider to offer this service across the network nationwide.”
Bringing Safety Cloud into AVERA closes the loop between detection and driver. Where AVERA tells the control room what is happening on the network, Safety Cloud tells the road users heading towards it – reaching drivers in their navigation apps and on their vehicle dashboards before they arrive at the hazard.
WJ Group became the first UK roadworks agency to equip digital alerting through Safety Cloud in 2025, connecting the service to work lights on its vehicles so that drivers were alerted to live roadworks en route to their destinations. The AVERA integration extends that capability beyond WJ’s own vehicles to the wider network WJ monitors on behalf of its clients.
(Picture: HAAS Alert/WJ Group)
