First Responders Face Heightened Danger on the Roadways
Lights and sirens are no longer enough. Over the last five years, cars have become increasingly soundproof. At the same time, 80% of drivers admit to driving distracted, leveraging mobile devices on the roadways for texting and calling. It’s no wonder many first responders believe it is more dangerous en route to emergency scenes than on the scenes themselves – 60% of roadside tow and maintenance workers experience a near-miss or accident while working on the roadside, and two emergency responders are struck and killed by civilian drivers who fail to move over every month in the US.
Fleets, such as fire, police, towing, and EMS, are looking for new ways to keep their people safe on the roadways.
A Connected Transportation Communication Cloud
The promise of connected vehicles creates a significant opportunity for automotive OEMs to leverage network connectivity and the Internet of Things (IoT) not only for driver convenience and in-vehicle entertainment but to increase road safety. While Deloitte projects there will be an estimated 470 million connected vehicles on highways worldwide by 2025, the transportation system remains significantly disjointed. A consistent roadblock the industry has faced is segregated communication and data protocols between OEMs, brands, and models.
With no clear independent platform through which all constituents can securely share information, vehicle connectivity and communication progress had been stunted.
Enter HAAS Alert
As such, we are thrilled to announce a growth investment in HAAS Alert, a digital alerting and communication solution for effectively notifying civilian and fellow emergency drivers of oncoming hazards up to 30 seconds in advance, reducing the likelihood of collisions by up to 90%.
When the Volition team first connected with HAAS Alert, it was clear that CEO Cory Hohs and team understood the pain points of their stakeholders and found unique product-market fit. The company is growing rapdily, with best-in-class retention characteristics and a value proposition described as a “no-brainer” to protect first-responders. The company is a built-in feature within major emergency vehicle manufacturers, with public agencies expanding coverage to older vehicles after seeing the platform’s impact.
HAAS Alert is a first mover creating a category at the center of the connected car ecosystem. Its alerts already reach millions of drivers nationwide. We believe the company is uniquely positioned to serve as a middleware for vehicle-to-vehicle communications, as evidenced by its first global automotive agreement this year with Stellantis which covers more than 2 million vehicles (2018 and newer Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Chrysler vehicles).
Above all, the Volition team is impressed with the incredible team that Cory, Jigar, and Noah have built at HAAS Alert, and the passion that they have for the opportunity. Cory and Jigar’s previous experience in navigation technology at NAVTEQ and HERE Maps paved the way for the creation of a digital alerting solution which can connect and route the right hazard information, to the right drivers, at the right time.
We are thrilled to welcome HAAS Alert to the portfolio and look forward to ensuring first-responder safety while shaping the future of transportation communication together.
-Roger, Melanie, and Michael
