Audi and Navistar Partnership Focused on Connected Vehicle Safety

Audi and Navistar are leveraging their Volkswagen Group relationship to produce potential connected vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology in school buses and emergency vehicles, with the first deployments expected this summer.

The companies, working with Applied Information and Traffic Control Corporation, have partnered to research how to improve safety and driver information in school zones, school bus stops, and in emergency vehicle situations.

IC Bus, a subsidiary of Navistar, will see its drivers capable of receiving a visual and audible warning signal of a vehicle approaching a school bus stop, according to a news release. This would allow the driver to determine whether the approaching vehicle is likely to stop and thus, if necessary, intervene to keep passengers from leaving the bus until it is safe to do so.

If properly equipped with similar C-V2X technology, the approaching car’s driver also would receive a warning that a stopped school bus waited ahead.

“These benefits demonstrate the strength of C-V2X communications and foreshadow the level of connectivity required for automated in driving in the future,” a news release stated.

Each year, the release indicated, 100 firefighters die and another 100,000 are injured in about 30,000 crashes. Audi is working with Navistar subsidiary International Truck to demonstrate a new C-V2X application that would warn motorists when an emergency vehicle is approaching.

“When every second counts, this warning is expected to allow ambulances and other emergency vehicles to navigate their way to a patient in need or a hospital for treatment faster,” according to the release.