Press Releases
AusIndustry Media Release
20 March 2006
Drivers To Be Smarter With SpeedAlert™ Software
A unique software system that alerts drivers to prevailing speed limits via their mobile phone or PDA has been awarded a $64,000 Commercialising Emerging Technologies grant in the latest round of Australian Government innovation funding.
Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane today announced Sydney-based Smart Car Technologies had received the grant as part of a national innovation funding round worth more than $17 million between 26 projects across Australia.
“Smart Car’s SpeedAlert™ system combines GPS navigation technology with digital devices like mobile phones and PDAs to prominently display the current speed limit and alert the driver if that limit is exceeded,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“The system uses an extensive database of speed limits, ensuring drivers are informed of a road’s limit – no matter how often it changes- at the very time they are travelling on it.”
“It’s a clever idea and a good example of how the Federal Government is backing Australia’s natural flair for innovation and invention to ensure it translates into new Australian products, jobs and exports.”
Smart Car Technologies will use their COMET funding to develop a business plan, conduct market research and take intellectual property advice.
May 24, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Unintentional speeding in Sydney’s school zones is impossible using a revolutionary new hi-tech system called SpeedAlert™.
SpeedAlert™ combines a revolutionary digital database of Sydney’s speed limits – including all school zones – with satellite-based GPS navigation technology, and will run on many handheld electronic devices including most PDAs.
SpeedAlert™ operates unobtrusively and continuously as the vehicle is driven, assisting drivers to keep track of, and manage, frequently changing speed limits. It frees drivers up to concentrate on the dynamic traffic environment by removing uncertainty about the prevailing speed limit.
SpeedAlert™ eliminates the risk of unintentional speeding by knowing the speed limit everywhere in the Sydney Metropolitan Area, by monitoring the vehicle’s speed and location, and emitting a series of audible warnings when speeding is detected, alerting the driver.
The SpeedAlert™ system, which has been under development for over two years and is planned for release in Sydney in July, adapts automatically to the times during which school zones are active and inactive throughout the day.
Where proposed warning systems, like flashing lights, alert drivers only when the school zone 40km/h limit is active, SpeedAlert™ warns drivers if they are exceeding the limit anywhere, allowing drivers to take instant corrective action. The system operates everywhere in the Sydney Metro Area, including inside school zones during school hours.
“SpeedAlert™ is a road safety revolution,” says SpeedAlert™ CEO George Germanos. “All road users, including vulnerable school-aged pedestrians, will benefit from a technology that helps drivers comply with the posted speed limit everywhere. Fewer drivers will lose their licences and, even more importantly, lives can be be saved.”
For more information visit www.speedalert.com.au or contact Bill Roberts on
0404 247 504
