With its cloud-based wrong-way driver warning system, Bosch has developed a solution that warns both the wrong-way driver and all road users at risk of the impending danger within seconds – much faster than traffic news on the radio. Now Skoda is the world’s first automaker to opt for the Bosch wrong-way driver warning system. Thanks to a new infotainment app, Skoda owners will receive the lifesaving warning directly via the display in their vehicle’s cockpit.
Starting in the first quarter of 2021, Skoda will offer the wrong-way driver warning system in numerous models, such as the Superb, Scala, Kamiq, Karoq and Kodiaq. Other vehicle models are scheduled to follow before the year is out.
Accidents caused by wrong-way drivers are fortunately rare, but when they do happen, they usually have serious consequences. In most cases, however, the warning of the unforeseeable danger comes too late: one-third of such incidents generally end after just 500 meters – in the worst case, with fatalities. With Bosch’s cloud-based warning system installed directly in the head unit of Skoda vehicles, the two companies now want to further reduce the number of accidents caused by wrong-way drivers.
As a vehicle approaches a freeway entrance or exit, the system automatically sends its current anonymized GPS position to the cloud. In the Bosch cloud backend, the software then compares the vehicle’s current direction with the permitted direction of travel. If these two pieces of information clash, the system will alert the wrong-way driver to their mistake by flashing a warning on the display. The distinctive feature of this solution is that the warning occurs within just a few seconds.
In the vast majority of cases, this is before the driver even gets on the freeway. In addition, Bosch and Škoda are planning that the app will also immediately warn all oncoming road users who are connected and potentially at risk. This feature should be available later this year.