Hyundai and Kia will have access to more Dutch traffic data for research into smart safety functions. The automakers concluded a declaration of intent with the Dutch government for this purpose. The companies already participated in an earlier Dutch safety program.
With the new agreement, Kia and Hyundai will use data from matrix signs to inform drivers of the current speed limits and lane closures or openings. They will also provide cars with warnings of approaching ambulances and school zones. Further research is being conducted into whether the battery of an electric car can serve as temporary energy storage for households. We are also looking at how cars can register themselves for access to restricted areas, so that, for example, posts are lowered automatically for emergency or emergency vehicles. It is not known when the functions will become available in practice and for which cars this will be.
The Netherlands signed the letter of intent with Kia and Hyundai in South Korea on Tuesday. The central government said this in a press release. The car companies do not have to pay for the data. The collaboration is also not exclusive, which means that the traffic data that the companies will use will also be accessible to other automakers.
The new collaboration with Hyundai and Kia is the successor to Safety Priority Services, a pilot of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure, in which six companies shared information between cars, apps and the government. Hyundai and Kia also participated in that program. The aim of SPS was to make roads safer by, among other things, communicating current speed limits, reporting traffic jams and warning of approaching ambulances.