China Academy of Safety Science and Technology and Chinese navigation firm Amap on Friday upgraded the "Eagle Eye Guardian" road safety warning system ahead of the Chinese New Year travel rush.

The upgrade focuses on risks from extreme weather such as heavy rain, snow and dense fog. By integrating data from multiple meteorological sources, the system can now detect sudden, localized weather changes within minutes and alert drivers in advance to reduce speed and increase following distance.

The system has also been adjusted for truck drivers, with braking warning thresholds optimized for heavy vehicles under severe weather and on high-risk road sections, allowing more reaction time.

It relies on China's extensive network infrastructure, including 4.838 million 5G base stations and high-precision positioning services from the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.

Road safety is a major concern during the annual Spring Festival travel season. Cross-regional passenger trips across China are expected to reach 9.5 billion during the period, with self-driving accounting for about 80 percent, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

A strong cold wave swept across central and eastern China from February 5 to 7, triggering sharp temperature drops and rain and snow. Some roads in harder-hit provinces, including Zhejiang, Anhui, Shanxi and Gansu, may face snowfall or sleet, according to China's National Meteorological Center.

Drivers using navigation on the Amap app are automatically connected to the "Eagle Eye Guardian" system. When vehicles ahead suddenly slow down or brake sharply, sensors detect the changes and upload anonymized data to the cloud, where AI models assess road conditions in real time and push warnings to affected drivers.

Since its launch four months ago, the system has issued 11.2 billion alerts, averaging 88 million per day, including more than 147,000 alerts involving multiple vehicles.