Ford previews new tech that clears path for emergency vehicles

Ford has teamed up with Vodafone to develop an advanced early warning system that will alert drivers of an accident on the road ahead and then help clear a path for police, ambulance and/or fire trucks racing to the scene.

Said to be at the test stage, the new system -- called eCall Plus -- has been developed to work in conjunction with the existing eCall system that automatically contacts emergency services if it thinks the car has been involved in an accident.

The new eCall Plus works with Ford's SYNC infotainment system to warn drivers if a crash has occurred up to 500 metres ahead.

Next, the new safety alert system informs the driver if emergency services are on the way and, if they're approaching, sends out instructions to help drivers in traffic clear a path for police, fire or ambulance vehicles to pass through.

The 'emergency corridor' is claimed to significantly reduce the time it takes for paramedics or fire fighters to get to victims of a nasty crash, boosting survival rates.

Recent research suggests that if injured victims of an accident are reached by emergency crews just four minutes earlier than the average waiting time they have a 40 per cent better chance of survival.

In European countries including Germany, there are currently laws that mandate drivers give way by creating emergency corridors. Unfortunately, in real-life accidents almost 50 per cent of drivers don't know how to position their car to make safe pathways for emergency vehicles.

From April this year, all cars in Europe must be fitted with the eCall alert system that, as well as auto-dialling emergency services in the event of a collision, also lets the authorities know the vehicle's precise location, what kind of fuel it runs on and which direction it is travelling.

eCall is estimated to reduce emergency service response times by 50 per cent in the countryside and up to 60 per cent in urban environments.

The new Ford-Vodafone initiative to develop and ultimately introduce the eCall Plus system is part of a €15 million ($A24 million) research study into autonomous vehicles and connected car technologies.