SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WLIO) - The Shawnee Township Fire Department is adding a new tool to help drivers and first responders stay safe on the road.
The department has adopted HAAS Alert's Safety Cloud, a digital system that warns drivers when emergency vehicles are nearby or when they're approaching a scene. The alerts are sent directly to navigation apps like Apple Maps and Waze, and are even built into some newer vehicles, as soon as emergency lights are activated.
While Ohio's Move Over Law requires drivers to slow down and change lanes, lights and sirens don't always provide enough warning. The system cost about $800 per emergency vehicle and is now installed on two engines that frequently respond along busy roads.
Shawnee Township joins more than 4,000 agencies nationwide using the technology.
"We have it on both of our engines, which typically would deploy one of them on I-75," said Paul Neff, Shawnee Township trustee." The way the system works is when we turn our emergency lights on, it sends out a signal to Apple Maps, Stellantis vehicles, Waze and soon to be Google Maps. On Stellantis and other vehicles it will actually turn down their volume and let them know that there's emergency vehicles up ahead."
"I really hope it just keeps people alert, keeps them off their phone, just lets them know that there are first responders that have families that go home to their families working ahead and just prevent distracted driving," Chief Austin Miller of the Shawnee Township Fire Department.
Shawnee Township joins more than 4,000 agencies nationwide using the technology. For more information on the HAAS alert system, visit haasalert.com.
