New mobile phone based system to track rash drivers

MUMBAI: After drunk motorists, rash drivers are now in the sights of the city's traffic police who are hoping to curb the number of habitual offenders with a new mobile phone based system.

The new system, which operates through SMS, will allow police officials to send details regarding drivers caught for rash driving to a central server which would then supply information if the driver had a previous record.

The system is already in place for catching drivers driving under the influence of alcohol and would soon help curb offences like rash driving, lane cutting and jumping signals, Sunzay Passari, Vice President (Value Added Services), BPL Mobile said.

"The traffic police is presently in the process of getting their database converted into a digital format and we expect the process to take about three weeks," Passari told PTI.

A database is already in place for the drivers driving under the influence of alcohol and has been in use since September. In a stringent drive against drunken driving since last year the Mumbai Traffic Police has caught over 4,000 offenders, many of whom have also had their licenses permanently revoked for being habitual offenders. The SMS system being used has been jointly developed by BPL Mobile and Hyderabad based IMI mobile.

A new feature that is also being worked on is sending SMS alerts prior to festive occasions warning drivers caught earlier for committing traffic offences.

"However, the system is still in the development stage and we are still working on it," Passari said.