Euro NCAP has partnered with Data for Road Safety (DFRS), signing a memorandum of understanding to bring live hazard warnings to cars.

Data on road hazards collected by road operators and individual vehicles will be fed into DFRS’ system, distributing safety-critical warnings to drivers with compatible cars.

Joost Vantomme, chair of DFRS, said: “DFRS is built as a cooperative platform between vehicle manufacturers, service providers, suppliers and road authorities.

“By enabling the trusted exchange of safety-related data, DFRS delivers a tangible contribution to the European Vision Zero with an ambition level of close to zero fatalities by 2050.”

From 2026, Euro NCAP will require vehicle manufacturers to share local hazard data in order to score highly in the Safe Driving Vehicle Assistance category.

DFRS’ cloud-based ecosystem is recommended by Euro NCAP to distribute hazard data to other vehicles, although manufacturers are free to use direct car-to-car technology.

Richard Scram, technical director of Euro NCAP, said: “This exclusive collaboration between DFRS and Euro NCAP is a real first for the automotive industry and will lead to the sharing of the most up-to-date and trusted safety data from vehicle manufacturers.

“This information will be used to create Local Hazard warnings as well as play a vital role in our new 2026 testing protocols leading to long-term benefits for the safety of all European road users.”