Emergency
S fety
Solutions
S fety
Solutions
H.E.L.P.® Emergency Mode can be deployed via both automatic and manual activation.
H.E.L.P.® auto-deploys when conditions indicate a safety need, such as when a collision or airbag sensor is triggered, a tire blowout, or during an Autonomous Driving System “safe stop” takeover.
Drivers can also activate Emergency Mode manually if the vehicle is in Park or has the Parking Brake engaged. Manual activation is available via in-vehicle head unit confirmation or a secondary button near the vehicle’s hazard light button.
H.E.L.P.® is a regulatory compliant software-based solution, which utilizes existing vehicle hardware and lighting systems.
Implementation requires minimal, low-cost firmware updates to new vehicle safety, lighting controls and telematic systems.
Since many vehicles already have LED turn signals, in most cases, no hardware upgrades are required.
Julian Dench, ESS Executive Director of Technical Business Development, shares key details regarding how H.E.L.P.® makes disabled vehicles dramatically more visible, how it’s activated, as well as ease of implementation and automaker adoption.
Digital Alerting has been shown to reduce hard braking events by a staggering 80%. When H.E.L.P.’s Emergency Mode is activated, digital alerts and notifications are automatically communicated to approaching drivers via traffic data and OEM cloud providers. In certain events, such as an airbag deployment, emergency responder channels are also notified with the information they need to respond efficiently.
H.E.L.P. places the vehicle in emergency mode through:
Manual Activation by the driver when the vehicle is in park.
Automatic Deployment - Collision - triggered when a vehicle’s airbag or other OEM preferred sensory equipment is activated.
Automatic Deployment - Enhanced Triggers - other safety trigger events such as a tire blowout, driveline failure, automated driving take-over, or other vehicle system failure.
When the H.E.L.P. emergency mode is activated, it communicates in two forms:
1. Visual - 4.5 Hz emergency flash rate through the hazard lamp circuit
2. Digital – Deployment of an emergency warning to traffic data infrastructure. Approaching drivers receive advanced warnings of hazards ahead through audio, visual and other alerts.
Hover/Tap over the steps to learn more.
ounded in 2018, Emergency Safety Solutions, Inc. (ESS) is singularly focused on reducing injuries, fatalities and economic loss attributable to collisions between moving and stationary vehicles.
ESS has three primary focus areas:
1. Consumer: Automotive OEM new vehicle and post-production deployment of our Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol (H.E.L.P.)
2. Commercial: Offering DeliverSafe (a version of H.E.L.P. for commercial vehicles) fleet upfitting as well as OEM new vehicle deployments.
3. Production and distribution of accessories such as our synchronized, wireless H.E.L.P. Beacon.
2020 Impact Research study analyzed 11 years of U.S. government crash data and quantified a growing trend of disabled vehicle-involved crashes for the first time. The statistics are alarming – and trending in the wrong direction. Even more troubling: most of these crashes are preventable.
Drivers currently receive insufficient warning of disabled vehicles ahead, resulting in more than 71,500 people involved in crashes and nearly 15,000 injured or killed annually in the U.S. alone. The societal cost of these crashes is immense at nearly $9 billion annually.
nchanged since 1951, current hazard flash rates of 1.0 – 2.0 Hz were established under the limitations of legacy incandescent bulbs and control relays rather than Human Factors science.
ESS’ Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol (H.E.L.P.) combines existing LED and electronic control technologies to enable intelligent emergency communications unachievable with 20th century lighting technology.
The H.E.L.P. solution flashes hazard lights at a much faster and more conspicuous 4.5 Hz rate, and deploys a digital emergency warning to traffic data infrastructure – which approaching drivers receive via audio, visual or other alerts.
.E.L.P.™ is designed to provide highly conspicuous lighting and digital communications using existing vehicle lighting systems and equipment-agnostic traffic data platforms.
H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts – The H.E.L.P. solution is an upgrade to the standard hazard light communication system that adds intelligence, higher emergency-based flash rates, and a digital signal of disabled vehicles when in an emergency state.
The system significantly reduces and mitigates accidents by dramatically increasing the visual and digital conspicuity of disabled vehicles to oncoming drivers. This extended early warning provides drivers more time to react, slow, and avoid collisions with stationary vehicles and those helping them.
H.E.L.P.® Digital Alerts – In addition to enhanced hazard lighting activation, deploying H.E.L.P. also activates a digital signal which warns approaching drivers of the upcoming hazard beyond line of sight via audio and digital alerts on their navigation screen, so they can react with even more lead time.
.E.L.P.® can place a passenger vehicle in emergency mode three different ways:
Automatic Deployment - Collision - Triggered when a vehicle’s airbag or other OEM preferred sensory equipment activates.
Automatic Deployment – Enhanced Triggers – Other safety trigger events include things such as a tire blowout, driveline failure, automated driving take-over, or other vehicle system failures.
Manual Activation by the driver when the vehicle is in Park.
When the H.E.L.P. emergency mode is activated, it communicates in two forms:
H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts
4.5 Hz emergency flash rate through the hazard lamp circuit
420 cd Brightness Daytime / 240 cd Nighttime
Optional H.E.L.P.™ Beacon synchronized to vehicle emergency lights to add light volume
H.E.L.P.® Digital Alerts
Deployment of an emergency warning to Traffic Data Infrastructure
Approaching drivers receive warnings of hazards ahead through audio, visual (via in-car navigation screen or phone GPS mapping) or other alerts
Broadcast notification to e911 / eCall Infrastructure
o. The H.E.L.P.® solution leverages existing vehicle hardware and lighting controls and can be simply implemented on new vehicles via software or firmware upgrades – allowing for low-cost implementation.
es. The U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a favorable interpretation of the H.E.L.P. solution’s compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108 in January 2021. Parallel regulatory validations are underway globally.
A significant component of the NHTSA approval was the facilitation of a standardized emergency lighting solution across the automotive industry. Extensive efforts with IIHS, Euro-NCAP and other NGOs are also underway. These efforts aim to add H.E.L.P. to vehicle safety rating protocols.
o. H.E.L.P.’s synchronous emergency lighting pattern emitted from lights in the vehicle’s hazard lighting circuit is unique from the variety of alternating emergency flash patterns found on police and other emergency response vehicles. Nonetheless, the H.E.L.P.® flash pattern conveys the same message as an emergency vehicle stopped along the side of the road – Use Caution When Approaching.
.E.L.P.® is designed for global adoption. ESS’ mission is to revolutionize the hazard warning system on every passenger vehicle produced globally.
number of global automakers are very interested in the H.E.L.P.® solution. With U.S. regulatory hurdles removed, automakers are considering first deployments in the U.S., given the magnitude of the safety opportunity, with international deployments to follow subsequent to regulatory clearances.
.E.L.P.® is currently designed for automaker implementation only. However, automakers will also be able to implement the H.E.L.P.® solution in many recent model vehicles via over-the-air updates or by a simple update when you visit your dealer.
We are also working with a number of Tier One aftermarket suppliers on an aftermarket solution that could be widely available via third party retailers or dealer install.
SS received its MBE certification through a regional affiliate known as the Houston Minority Supplier Development Council (HMSDC) in 2020. When automakers do business with ESS, they are in support of the minority community.
.png)
es. The ESS H.E.L.P.® technology specification is backed by a global IP portfolio. The portfolio includes 62 granted patents and patents pending in the US, Europe, China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and Canada.
These patents underpin the standard Technical Specification, which enables consistent deployment of disabled vehicle emergency communication across all vehicle makes and models globally. Once fully deployed as a standard feature on all vehicles, H.E.L.P.® Lighting and Digital Alert communication protocols, activation methods, and button icons will be uniform regardless of vehicle make and model.
Click here for a listing of ESS’ patents by family
SS’ business model is to license OEMs to implement our common and globally-patented technology specification for the H.E.L.P.® solution. This common specification facilitates, and will accelerate, industry-led standardization aligned with regulatory frameworks in lieu of government mandates.
