Emergency
S fety
Solutions
S fety
Solutions
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.
A 2023 update to the original study confirmed that drivers currently receive insufficient warning of disabled vehicles ahead, resulting in nearly 125,000 people involved in crashes and nearly 23,000 injured or killed annually in the U.S. alone. The societal cost of these crashes is immense at nearly $20 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.
J.D. Power & Associates conducted a study of consumer interest in H.E.L.P.® in September 2020.
Click here to view an Executive Summary of the study.
Key Findings:
H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts:
1) 63% (644) of respondents had experienced a disabled vehicle situation where they felt their safety was compromised. J.D. Power & Associates conducted astudy of consumer interest in H.E.L.P.® in September 2020.
2) 96% of all survey respondents thought EmergencyEnhanced Lighting would be helpful in preventing / reducing crashes.
3) 90% (920) of all survey respondents felt EnhancedEmergency Lighting is more effective than today’s standard hazard lights.
H.E.L.P.®Digital Alerts:
4) In terms of whether or not an advanced digital notification/warning would be helpful in preventing a collision with a disabled vehicle along the road ahead, the majority of the respondents (75%) agreed it would at least be very helpful. The majority of respondents (75%) felt that an advanced digital notifcation /warning would be helpful in preventing a collision with a disabled vehicle along the road ahead.
5) Among respondents who had experienced or approached a disabled vehicle, there was a much stronger appreciation for advance notification when approaching a disabled vehicle situation (81% versus 66%).
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.
lerts are available now to automakers for deployment in the U.S.
H.E.L.P. Lighting Alerts are currently available on most existing and new Tesla vehicles in the U.S., as announced by Tesla in October 2023 via social media platform X. Additionally, Stellantis announced in May 2023 it is assessing H.E.L.P. Digital Alerts and H.E.L.P. Lighting Alerts for integration into its connected safety platforms. ESS is also actively working with Volkswagen Group of America on testing and timing to bring to H.E.L.P. to market, while collaborating with a range of other vehicle manufacturers to implement H.E.L.P. safety features across the industry.
Given the magnitude of the safety opportunity, we expect 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.
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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.
