[kictanet] ICT for ICT's sake...road carnage - is there an app for that?

[Francis Hook]

I do not mean to throw cold water on home grown initiatives to
leverage technology...

http://www.itwebafrica.com/mobile/309-kenya/229396-dangerous-driving-app-launched-in-kenya

but sometimes I think we need to pause a little and ask a ffew questions like:

- if the app is really intended to make driving safer - bearing in
mind the person who can make  driving safer is the driver and NOT the
passenger, how does such an app really help?  if anything it prompts
the driver to fiddle more with his phone while driving thus making him
a danger to other road users.
- if I may quote the article - "Allowing users to report dangerous
drivers or vehicles as well as corrupt police officers, it is intended
to flag situations that could potentially lead to an accident before
they do." - we can already do this by dialling a number (and if we do
not have a number, then one can be put in place) - do we seriously
really need an app for this?
- "“Once the user downloads the app, he will have a map with an
updated index of the health facilities around the area they are
travelling in and the hospitals that are closest to their location,”
...Google Maps already has this.
- "The app, called ‘Nduru’ after the Swahili word for ‘scream’, allows
Kenyans to report accidents, reckless drivers, dangerous vehicles and
other high road risks."  - I think there was a similar inititiative
(overlap.co.ke) with similar intentions....but I gather that did not
grow legs and perhaps served more to vent frustration that bring about
any tangible action.

I think a bigger part of the problem is how we are as Kenyans
(drivers, police, passengers, pedestrians, etc) - our attitude is what
needs to be changed more than yet another overload of info which no
one will have time to look at/analyse and act on.

At the very best, such apps will treat the symptoms and NOT the cause.

Again, with all due respect to the developers and other aspiring developers.

-- 
Francis Hook
+254 733 504561