Cleveland is installing Safety Cloud technology on 36 fire department vehicles, sending alerts through apps such as Apple Maps and Waze

By Sean McDonnell
cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland fire trucks have a new way to alert drivers before sirens are even heard, using new technology that alerts navigation apps when emergency vehicles are approaching.

The Safety Cloud system, which is being installed on the fire department’s 36 vehicles, sends alerts to drivers through navigation apps such as Apple Maps and Waze. Motorists can receive warnings when a fire truck is approaching an emergency, traveling at high speed with its lights and sirens activated, or stopped along the side of a highway where drivers are required to move over.

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The alerts are activated only when a fire truck’s lights or sirens are in use and disappear from navigation apps within minutes after they are turned off.

Councilman Charles Slife paid for the new technology using $11,000 from his discretionary funds, a pot of dollars each council member gets to spend on neighborhood projects. Those dollars were enough to install the Safety Cloud system on fire trucks throughout the city.

Slife said he and Councilwoman Nikki Hudson are working on a plan to install the technology on Cleveland’s EMS vehicles in the future.

The councilman said that because so many drivers rely on navigation apps — and because fire trucks and ambulances are struck so frequently — it makes sense to give motorists another way to receive emergency vehicle alerts instead of relying solely on sirens.

“I think it’s a relatively cost-effective way to use technology that most people are already using as they’re driving around town to promote public safety,” Slife said.

Public Safety Spokesman Jamil Hairston said the devices were on roughly 25% of Cleveland’s fire trucks at the end of May, with all vehicles expected to get the technology relatively soon.

The Safety Cloud system directly integrates with Apple Maps and Waze but does not have a direct integration with Google Maps, according to the company’s website. The technology also works directly with many vehicles’ dashboards directly.

Cleveland is one of 4,000 agencies nationwide using the tech, Hairston said.

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