Press Release
Safety Warning System Announces Tests in Dayton Area
12/13/96
Montgomery County To Test Innovative Safety Warning System ENGLEWOOD, Fla., and TIPP CITY, Ohio, Dec. 10 -- The Dayton area could soon become the site of a pilot program demonstrating an innovative new technology that alerts motorists to a wide variety of hazards and special traffic conditions. Safety Warning System, L.C. (SWS, L.C.) will this week demonstrate the technology for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department and donate a transmitter for independent testing by the force. The Safety Warning System(TM) is a new twist on a pair of well-established, interrelated technologies -- traffic radar and radar detectors -- now beginning to be used to warn drivers that they are approaching a traffic accident, an active rail crossing, an emergency vehicle in transit, an ice-covered bridge or dozens of other potential hazards. The SWS(TM) transmitter can trigger over 60 specific messages built into the latest generation of "smart" radar detectors now on the market, according to Jason Richards, Legislative & Public Relations Director with SWS L.C., the organization overseeing development of the technology. All radar detectors signal an alert when encountering one of the transmitters. "Because there are already radar detectors in tens of millions of vehicles, the Safety Warning System(TM) makes enormous sense as a path toward the intelligent highways and vehicles of the future," he said. "Montgomery County officials have expressed an interest in the system, and we want to show them how useful a highway-safety tool it can be." After this week's demonstration, the sheriff's department will keep a transmitter for evaluation. SWS, L.C. plans to propose a pilot project under which Montgomery County will receive up to 50 more transmitters to use in a wide variety of applications, Richards explained. There are five broad categories of messages which the transmitters can trigger in SWS(TM) detectors, including highway construction or maintenance, highway hazard zone advisories, weather-related hazards, travel information/ convenience and fast/slow-moving vehicles, each broken down into several precise text messages. Transmitters also are capable of sending variable-text messages, and following an initial message with a second one. "The beauty of the Safety Warning System(TM) is not only that motorists are warned of hazards nearby but also that they know exactly what sort of hazard and how to respond. Being aware ahead of time that a school bus is stopped around the corner or that you are approaching a utility crew at work is the kind of knowledge that can yield tremendous safety benefits," he added. The Safety Warning System(TM) is the product of a collaboration between the radar detector industry, the Tipp City-based Radio Association Defending Airwave Rights, Inc. (RADAR) and Georgia Tech Research Institute. Industry partners in the project are BEL-Tronics Limited, Sanyo Tecnica USA, Inc., Uniden America Corporation and Whistler Corporation. Initial licensees are Sunkyong America, Inc. and MPH Industries, Inc. A well-known manufacturer of police traffic radar devices, MPH Industries of Owensboro, Kentucky, was selected to manufacture Safety Warning System transmitters for the law-enforcement market. "MPH Industries brings to our team a track record of excellence in product development, manufacturing and marketing, and we are very excited to have them as a part of this revolutionary project," said Jason Richards.