AP Cops not aware of free road safety apps

Hyderabad: While private companies have developed two software applications for improving road safety free of cost for the state police, questions arise on their practicality. Interestingly, not even top police officers are aware of their existence and functionality, raising doubts about the seriousness of their implementation.

One of the two apps, developed by a private company mSpace Tech, is a mobile phone based app on Android mainly to be used by traffic police constables.

The app allows them to inform the incident to their seniors and collect photographic evidence. However, the fact remains that very few police constables have Android mobile phones and the company asserts it is the police’s job to provide the phones.

The developers of the app, meanwhile, say their job was only to develop the app and claim that it is quite useful. “On most occasions, evidence from the site of the accident is erased by the time investigating officers reach. So constables can collect the evidence and relay it,” said a developer from mSpace.

Presentations on the apps were made by the two companies and the police’s IT consultant Vishram Nani-wadekar was present on behalf of Vinay Ranjan Ray, additional DGP (legal and road safety) at the Conference on Strategic Road Safety An Australian Perspective on Friday.

The second app, Violations and Accident Tracking System developed by Infosys, is similar to the Crime Records Bureau, compiling of data.

Many police officials were not aware if it was being used. When asked if anybody was using these apps, a senior city traffic police official said, “I have never heard of this application before. We are not using any such app.”