ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Atlanta leaders and people on the forefront of transportation technology demonstrated a new way to keep first responders safe while they do their jobs.
Our sister station, Atlanta News First, got a look during the Intelligent Transportation Society of America at the World Congress Center Tuesday morning.
“Because of this technology and what we are doing today, lives will be saved,” said Commissioner Solomon Caviness with the Atlanta Department of Transportation.
With the emergence of self-driving cars in Atlanta, like Waymo, Caviness pushed the importance of connected and automated cars to protect first responders.
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“Atlanta has no shortage of incidents. We have crashes and action daily and what this technology shows is that vehicles can communicate with those that are first on the scene to make sure vehicles slow down, there are warning messages that come into the vehicle,” he said. “Just makes for a more livable environment so our first responders can make it home.”
During the demonstration Tuesday, the Atlanta News First crew saw a car that could navigate an emergency response zone and stopped to avoid hitting a dummy wearing firefighting gear.
New wearable devices that will broadcast and display multiple people within an area that may be blocked visually were also on display.
We also rode along with an autonomous shuttle that recognized and moved over for responders. We even saw the alert come in on the car’s screen that there was one ahead.
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“Today, you’ll see vehicles that automatically clear the way for emergency crews, wearable technology that helps responders stay visible even in the toughest situations,” said Theo Pace, Deputy Chief Operating Officer for the City of Atlanta.
Laura Chace, CEO of ITS America, said the infrastructure is now smart enough to communicate messages between drivers and autonomous cars to make the roads safer.
“As we start to continue to accelerate technology in our vehicles and in our system, we have to be able to communicate digitally and that’s the next frontier,” she said.
Caviness said autonomous vehicles and autonomous technology innovation is at the forefront of transportation in this day in age, so he wants Atlanta to continue to be a leader in that.
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