Frequently Asked Questions

Emergency Safety Solutions (ESS) is an Advance Warning Solutions company dedicated to making roads safer by giving drivers earlier awareness of stopped and vulnerable vehicles before they become a crash hazard. ESS combines digital hazard alerts, enhanced lighting alerts, and a connected safety network via the H.E.L.P.® (Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol) platform — shifting roadside safety from after-the-fact warning to proactive hazard communication.

ESS delivers Advance Warning Solutions that give drivers earlier warnings about stopped, disabled, or dangerous vehicles on the roadway, using digital alerts, enhanced vehicle lighting, and a connected safety network. Powered by patented H.E.L.P.® technology, the solution is deployed in commercial fleets, emergency response, and consumer vehicles. By combining in-vehicle digital alerts with highly visible lighting, ESS ensures approaching drivers can see and respond to hazards on the road ahead.

ESS is a global company, headquartered in Houston, Texas, with engineering, operations, and commercial team members worldwide.

ESS was founded in 2018 to address a deadly and preventable category of roadway crashes: collisions with stopped and disabled vehicles. The company has been developing Advance Warning Solutions since its founding and currently partners with OEMs, fleet operators, insurers, and regulatory bodies.

ESS works with commercial fleets, emergency response organizations, and vehicle manufacturers to reduce roadside crashes and improve roadway safety. Fleets use H.E.L.P.® to protect drivers, assets, and crews while reducing the risk of costly collisions. Emergency responders, highway maintenance teams, and utility companies rely on H.E.L.P.® to provide advance warnings that protect personnel and approaching motorists during roadside operations. Vehicle manufacturers integrate H.E.L.P.® to enable advanced lighting and digital hazard alerts that protect occupants and other motorists.

H.E.L.P.® was created to solve one of the biggest problems in roadway safety: drivers often do not receive enough warning to avoid stopped, disabled, or vulnerable vehicles ahead. Traditional hazard lights and reflective triangles are limited in effectiveness. H.E.L.P.® bridges the “actionable awareness” gap by combining enhanced lighting with real-time digital alerts that warn approaching drivers before the hazard is visible. By turning passive warnings into active advance communication, H.E.L.P.® gives drivers the critical extra time needed to slow down, move over, and help prevent avoidable crashes.

ESS is a privately held company.

Advance Warning Solutions are a category of vehicle safety technology that gives drivers earlier awareness of stopped or vulnerable vehicles, before they become a crash hazard. The category combines three layers: digital hazard alerts delivered through navigation systems and in-dash displays, enhanced lighting alerts on the vehicle itself, and a connected safety network that scales both. The category shifts roadside safety from passive warning (a reflector someone has to see) to active communication (an alert that reaches the driver in advance).

Advance Warning Solutions go beyond traditional hazard lights by actively warning approaching drivers earlier and more effectively. While standard hazard lights only provide limited line-of-sight visibility, H.E.L.P.® combines enhanced lighting patterns with real-time digital alerts delivered through connected vehicle and navigation systems — giving drivers more time to slow down, move over, and avoid potential collisions. Research by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) demonstrated the impact of H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts: drivers changed lanes up to 12 seconds earlier (360 meters farther away) when approaching vehicles equipped with H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts compared to standard hazard lights. Field research on digital alerts found 80% fewer hard-braking events around protected scenes. Advance Warning Solutions shift roadside safety from passive, too-late reaction to active, advance communication that gives drivers the critical reaction time they need on modern highways.

Reflective triangles and roadside flares were designed for a driving environment that no longer exists. Modern drivers travel at higher speeds, often with reduced attention to the roadway shoulder, and at night or in poor conditions a passive reflector is not visible in time to react. By the time an approaching driver sees a triangle, they may not have enough distance to brake or change lanes. Advance Warning Solutions address this by alerting drivers before they reach line of sight to the hazard.

The category has four pillars. Advance Warning Solutions is what ESS delivers (the outcome). Digital Hazard Alerts is how ESS reaches drivers (the in-vehicle and navigation layer). Enhanced Lighting Alerts is how ESS creates visibility (the at-vehicle layer). Connected Safety Network is how it all scales (the platform layer).

Emergency Safety Solutions is an Advance Warning Solutions company that delivers earlier awareness of roadway hazards to approaching drivers through an integrated system of physical and digital alerts. While others in this space focus on either digital notifications or lighting alone, ESS combines H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts — which immediately draw a driver's attention at the point of risk — with H.E.L.P.® Digital Alerts and the H.E.L.P.® Alert Network to extend warning coverage beyond line of sight. This dual-layer approach is critical because digital alerts alone cannot change driver behavior at the moment of greatest risk; drivers need both the immediate visual signal and advance notification to make smarter decisions and gain the seconds that save lives. That's the gap ESS fills: delivering not just awareness, but actionable awareness. Earlier Awareness. Smarter Actions. Safer Roads.

Advance Warning Solutions operate under a comprehensive regulatory framework spanning federal motor vehicle safety standards, motor carrier operations, and state traffic laws. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a formal interpretation confirming that H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108, and H.E.L.P.® meets all Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) operational requirements and state traffic laws. ESS is currently pursuing an exemption from FMCSA that would recognize H.E.L.P.® as an equivalent safety alternative to traditional reflective triangles — often referred to as the “3-triangle exemption” — which would allow drivers operating H.E.L.P.®-equipped vehicles to forgo manual deployment of reflective triangles when parked on the roadside, eliminating one of the most dangerous tasks in commercial motor vehicle operations while providing significantly enhanced advance warning to approaching drivers.

They are complementary but different. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) operate inside a single vehicle — the driver's own assistance features. Advance Warning Solutions operate between vehicles: a hazard at one vehicle is communicated to the drivers approaching it. An ADAS-equipped vehicle that receives an advance warning can act on it through its own systems.

H.E.L.P.® (Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol) is ESS's platform that delivers Advance Warning Solutions to make roads safer. It combines enhanced hazard lighting with real-time digital alerts that notify approaching drivers of stopped or vulnerable vehicles — giving them critical extra time to react and avoid collisions. When activated, H.E.L.P.® simultaneously broadcasts the vehicle's location to connected navigation systems and in-dash displays while switching the vehicle's lights to a highly visible enhanced hazard pattern.

H.E.L.P.® can be activated manually by the driver or automatically when a properly equipped vehicle detects a safety event such as a crash, rollover, or other emergency condition. Once activated, H.E.L.P.® simultaneously triggers two safety actions: enhanced lighting that switches the vehicle's lights into a high-visibility warning pattern, and a real-time digital alert that broadcasts the vehicle's location through the H.E.L.P.® Alert Network to connected vehicles and navigation platforms. By combining visual and digital warnings, H.E.L.P.® helps approaching drivers receive critical advance notice before reaching the hazard, giving them more time to slow down and move over safely.

H.E.L.P.® works across passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, delivery vans, motorcoaches, and specialty vehicles. The technology can be factory-integrated by vehicle manufacturers, retrofitted into existing fleet vehicles, or deployed through compatible connected vehicle and navigation platforms. This flexible approach allows H.E.L.P.® to adapt to a wide range of vehicles and integration needs, whether installed at the factory or added through aftermarket solutions.

Roadside assistance apps are designed to connect drivers with help. H.E.L.P.® serves a different purpose: it is a comprehensive Advance Warning solution that protects the driver, the vehicle, and everyone else on the road. When activated, H.E.L.P.® immediately notifies approaching drivers that a hazard exists ahead, giving them critical advance warning to slow down, move over, and avoid a collision. While roadside assistance helps resolve the immediate problem for the stranded driver, H.E.L.P.® works to prevent secondary collisions — the leading cause of fatality in roadside incidents. Both play important roles, and many fleets use them together.

The enhanced lighting layer works regardless of connectivity because it operates on the vehicle's own lighting system, immediately making the stopped vehicle highly visible to approaching drivers. The digital alert layer requires cellular connectivity to broadcast the hazard through the H.E.L.P.® Alert Network and connected navigation platforms. In areas with limited or no coverage, the lighting layer continues to provide visual warning while the digital alert is queued for transmission once connectivity is restored. This dual-layer design ensures drivers always get immediate visual warning at the scene, even in remote areas without service.

No additional action is needed beyond normal practice. H.E.L.P.® activates with the vehicle's hazards — manually or automatically on a detected safety event — and both layers fire. No training, no SOP change, no incremental workload.

H.E.L.P. DeliverSAFE® is the H.E.L.P.® configuration for commercial fleets, built for the moments a truck or delivery vehicle is stopped and exposed: a disabled vehicle on the shoulder with the driver in the cab, or a parked delivery van with the driver outside completing a stop. In both scenarios hazards are on, the vehicle is stationary, and H.E.L.P.® fires automatically.

Yes. H.E.L.P.® is designed to interoperate with major telematics and fleet management platforms through direct API connection and partner integrations. The ESS team works with each fleet to determine the right integration path.

The H.E.L.P.® Alert Network distributes hazard signals to approaching vehicles through partner navigation apps and connected vehicle platforms, delivering a Road Awareness Alert to the driver's display — before the hazard is in sight.

Yes. NHTSA has issued a formal interpretation confirming H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts comply with FMVSS 108, and H.E.L.P.® meets FMCSA operational requirements and state traffic laws. Commercial motor carriers must continue to carry currently required warning devices (such as reflective triangles) unless and until FMCSA grants the pending 3-triangle exemption.

H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts comply with FMVSS 108 per NHTSA's formal interpretation. The solution is designed to align with FMCSA commercial vehicle equipment regulations and relevant SAE standards for vehicle-to-network communication, and ESS participates in standards development through SAE and industry bodies.

ESS has petitioned FMCSA for the 3-triangle exemption: recognition of H.E.L.P.® as an equivalent safety alternative to reflective triangles, allowing drivers of H.E.L.P.®-equipped vehicles to forgo manual triangle deployment — eliminating one of the most dangerous tasks in commercial motor vehicle operations while providing significantly enhanced advance warning to approaching drivers.

Collisions with stopped fleet vehicles are among the most preventable, highest-severity events a fleet faces. H.E.L.P.® warns approaching drivers before line of sight through H.E.L.P.® Digital Alerts and at the scene through H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts — giving them time to slow down and move over. Rear-end collisions have two causes: the driver who cannot see the hazard yet, and the driver who can but reacts too late. H.E.L.P.® addresses both; each layer is the other's failsafe.

Timelines depend on fleet size, vehicle types, and integration path. Small fleets can complete deployment in weeks; large rollouts run on a phased plan over several months. ESS provides a deployment plan with every fleet engagement.

Nothing new. Vehicle stopped, hazards on — both layers fire. No training and no SOP change.

ESS supports multiple integration approaches: software-only integration into existing vehicle electronics (deployable via OTA or in production), hardware-based deployment for retrofit and aftermarket, a transponder-assisted hybrid model, and H.E.L.P.-Ready pre-wiring during manufacturing. OEMs can integrate H.E.L.P.® into new platforms to raise real-world safety performance and differentiate on safety leadership.

Yes. The H.E.L.P.® API lets OEMs, telematics platforms, and connected vehicle systems broadcast hazard events into the H.E.L.P.® Alert Network and receive alerts detected by other vehicles.

Roadside crashes are a high-severity loss category: driver injury, third-party liability, and significant claim severity per event. Reducing their frequency addresses one of the most preventable categories of commercial fleet losses, and adoption is increasingly recognized in fleet underwriting.

Digital alerts alone cannot change driver behavior at the point of risk. They reach the driver who has a connected navigation system and is not yet in line of sight — but the driver already approaching the scene needs a signal they can see. H.E.L.P.® fires both: H.E.L.P.® Digital Alerts before line of sight, H.E.L.P.® Lighting Alerts at the scene, as one comprehensive Advance Warning solution. Neither layer alone covers every situation.

Because rear-end collisions have two failure modes. Delayed reaction, distraction, blocked sightlines, and poor visibility are not one problem — they are two, and they need two responses. Digital alerts address the driver who cannot see the hazard yet. Lighting alerts address the driver who can see it but needs to react faster. Together they close the full gap every state's Move Over law is designed to prevent.

The regulatory environment is evolving. FMCSA and NHTSA are reviewing the role of connected and proactive safety technologies, and several state legislatures have considered enhanced visibility or connected hazard alerting requirements for commercial vehicles. ESS engages with regulators in these conversations.

For product and fleet inquiries, contact ESS through ess-help.com. For partnership conversations — OEM integration, insurance partnership, standards engagement — contact the ESS team directly. Schedule a demo at ess-help.com/demo