Car horn emergency alert system proposed in Germany

In the past, Germany used sirens to warn the population in the streets against floods and other dangerous situations. Today, most sirens are gone having been dismantled after the Cold War.

Now, researchers want the population to be warned of pending disasters by use of common car horns. In fact, they have applied for a patent of a technology which allows the horns of parked cars to be activated in cases where such
an immediate emergency natice to the German public is required..

The technology is based on the Germany's eCall emergency system, with which new cars are going to be equipped with, beginning in September 2010.

The eCall system was developed to help reduce the number of road traffic fatalities. It consists of a GPS sensor and a mobile phone component, which is activated only in case of an accident, such as when airbags are triggered.

The system can then transmit data, such as the time and location of an accident and driving direction of the vehicle, to an emergency call center.

WIA