HALFORDS INTRODUCES FIGHTER JET TECHNOLOGY TO AID MOTORISTS
Halfords is introducing new in-car products featuring cutting edge ‘Head-up Display’ (HUD) technology - used to display fast, accurate information information to fighter jet pilots - for motorists later this year.
The navigation and entertainment devices under development with a number of leading technology companies will project essential information onto the windscreen of vehicles just below the drivers’line of sight – reducing the time spent looking away from the road at the dashboard.
Products featuring HUD technology featured prominently at the Consumer Electronic Show – the global showcase for innovative automotive technologies – earlier this month and demonstrated how information including speedometer readings, indicator signals and directions for navigation can be made more accessible.
Dave Poulter Halfords Auto Category Director said “We are very excited by the propsects of HUD for motorists. Drivers have to monitor and process a lot of information on the move, so it makes total sense to place that information in front of them so they don’t have to look away from the road.
“Until now the use of HUD technology has been limited to pilots and a few premium car manufacturers but technology advances mean that it is about to enter the mainstream and make a contribution towards enhancing road safety.”
The arrival of HUD technology comes amidst rising concern among road safety groups of the number of crashes caused by distracted drivers - a study of in-vehicle video footage found that 22% of crashes could be caused, at least in part, by driver distraction.**
The Transport Accident Commission reports that drivers who take their eyes off the road for just two seconds at 50km/h travel for 27 metres effectively blind.*
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Media contact:
James Dale, PR Coordinator
T: 01527 513315
E: james.dale@halfords.co.uk
Notes to editors
About Halfords Group plc
The Group is the UK's leading retailer of automotive, leisure and cycling products and through Halfords Autocentres also one of the UK's leading independent car servicing and repair operator. Halfords customers shop at 466 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland and at halfords.com for pick-up at their local store or direct home delivery. Halfords Autocentres operates from over 295 sites nationally and offers motorists dealership-quality MOTs, repairs and car servicing at affordable prices.
Halfords employs approximately 12,000 colleagues and sells around 10,000 product lines in stores, increasing to around 30,000 lines online. The product offering encompasses significant ranges in car parts, cycles, in-car technology, child seats, roof boxes, outdoor leisure and camping equipment. Halfords own brands include Apollo and Carrera cycles, augmented by exclusive UK distribution rights for the premium-ranged Boardman cycles and accessories. In outdoor leisure, we sell a premium range of camping equipment including brands such as Outwell. Halfords offers customers expert advice and a fitting service called "wefit" for car parts, child seats, satellite navigation and in-car entertainment systems, and a "werepair" service for cycles.