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Amsterdam, Netherlands, 4 July 2022, TomTom (TOM2), the geolocation technology specialist, today announced that it will collaborate with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and five other partners to provide traffic services with more extensive and effective safety warnings to Dutch drivers.
Through a new three-year-long cooperation with the Dutch Ministry and ANWB, Be-Mobile, Inrix, Hyundai, and Kia, Dutch drivers that rely on TomTom Traffic Services will soon benefit from improved safety features.
Complete picture of traffic and hazards
TomTom’s data is combined with data from the national road traffic database (Nationaal Dataportaal Wegverkeer, or NDW). As such, it will provide an even more complete picture of traffic obstacles, slow-moving traffic, and incidents such as road works, road closures and restrictions. The quality of the data is continuously monitored, ensuring it is up to date. When sharing and combining data, the privacy of drivers is of course guaranteed.
With these improved features, which will be made available to all users of TomTom’s Traffic Services, Dutch drivers will know exactly what is up ahead and travel more safely and comfortably. Importantly, drivers won’t have to perform any actions to receive the new features. The in-car alerts will meet criteria agreed upon by the government ensuring that they will not unduly distract drivers.
In-car alerts
With the Safety Priority Services initiative, the Netherlands is anticipating European legislation that will come into force in 2025. In addition to notifications on nearby traffic, drivers will receive important information to increase road safety, such as applicable speed limits. In the longer term, it will also be investigated whether the service can help increase awareness to avoid unsafe situations in areas such as school zones.
Positive effect on road safety
“Road safety has always been a priority for TomTom” Mike Schoofs, Managing Director of TomTom Enterprise, said. This partnership will help make driving even safer. We are proud to be working on this initiative with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to improve road safety.”
“By now, 98 percent of motorists use digital information while driving”, Infrastructure and Water Management Minister Mark Harbers said. “In addition, pilots and projects have shown that warning drivers en route has a positive effect on road safety. I am keen to capitalize on these developments, not least because drivers of cars and lorries, for example, have indicated that they value these warnings and are increasingly relying on them.”