Volkswagen Adds Advanced Safety Alerts

Volkswagen of America has announced the addition of new collision avoidance alerts to its VW Car-Net® connected services. These features include H.E.L.P.® Alerts from Emergency Safety Solutions, which notify oncoming vehicles of a disabled Volkswagen on the road, and Road Awareness Alerts, which provide Volkswagen drivers with in-dash notifications for various road hazards. These safety upgrades will be available in most MY24 and MY25 Volkswagen vehicles with an active Safe & Secure subscription at no additional cost.

Key Highlights:

H.E.L.P.® Alerts notify oncoming vehicles of a disabled Volkswagen.
Road Awareness Alerts notify drivers of approaching road hazards or emergency responders.
New alerts will be included in VW Car-Net Safe & Secure for MY24 and MY25 vehicles with the necessary technology.

Volkswagen is the first automaker in the U.S. to integrate H.E.L.P.® (Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol) and Road Awareness collision avoidance alerts into its connected vehicle services. According to Rachael Zaluzec, Senior Vice President of Customer Experience and Brand Marketing at Volkswagen of America, “Putting these collision avoidance alerts into Volkswagen vehicles advances our commitment to the safety of both our drivers and all others who are on the road. Volkswagen continues to democratize access to features that help both enhance vehicle safety and exceed the expectations of our vehicle owners.”

The Vehicle H.E.L.P. mode sends digital alerts to approaching drivers when a Volkswagen is disabled on the road. This mode can be manually activated by turning on hazard lights or automatically when airbags deploy. Road Awareness Alerts provide drivers with notifications about approaching disabled vehicles or emergency responders, using cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology. This technology provides advanced warnings, giving drivers more time to respond.

Frank Weith, Director of Engineering Connected Services at Volkswagen Group of America, emphasized the company’s leadership in road safety: “By working with Emergency Safety Solutions to implement H.E.L.P., Volkswagen continues to deliver on our mission to help make roads safer and lead the way in automotive safety technology. As the first OEM to adopt H.E.L.P.® Digital Alerts, this demonstrates the capability and flexibility of our Connectivity Platform in being able to quickly implement new technologies with innovative partners.”

These new features are part of Volkswagen’s Car-Net Safe & Secure plan, available for most MY24 and MY25 models at no extra cost for the first five years after the original date of purchase. This subscription also includes Emergency Assistance via an in-vehicle SOS button, which puts drivers in contact with the Volkswagen Response Center through a secure cellular connection.

Volkswagen’s investment in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology aims to provide a more advanced experience compared to crowd-sourced data from third-party driving apps. This ecosystem allows real-time communication between VW vehicles and roadway users, ensuring better accuracy and safety on the roads. Features enabled by this technology include alerts for Disabled Vehicles, Wrong Way Driver Approaching, and Roadside Assistance Ahead.

These collision avoidance alerts will be accessible to Volkswagen drivers with the necessary technology and an active VW Car-Net Safe & Secure subscription. For more information on VW Car-Net connected vehicle services and available features, visit the official website at Safe & Secure | Volkswagen.