Development of a mobile application system for road accidents reporting and driver’s over-speeding behavior awareness in Tanzania

Abstract

Road traffic accidents account as one of the major causes of injuries and loss of human lives. Various studies have shown that the implementation of road accident reporting systems can reduce road accidents injuries and deaths through time minimization in assisting the victims and also in the mapping of road accident-prone areas. This study reviewed several in-vehicle and smartphone sensor-based systems for road accident reporting and driver’s behavior awareness. Questionnaires, interviews, observations, document reviews were used to collect data from road users and traffic police officers. The study developed a mobile application system using the evolutionary prototyping method, where users tested the system and their feedbacks were incorporated iteratively. Findings from the survey revealed that road traffic accidents are mostly reported through police emergency numbers which are sometimes unreliable and unavailable giving traffic police officers challenges in knowing the precise accident location. Since traffic police officers are the recognized first responders in Tanzania, road accident information delays may increase the time taken to help road accident victims. The developed mobile application system has the potential to provide an alternative tool for the reporting of road accidents and over-speeding drivers in addition to the existing methods. The system would serve as a source of road accidents data from road users. The mobile applicat ion also collects users’ smartphone sensors logs for the future development of automatic road accident reporting systems. The developed mobile application system was validated and accepted by the users who agreed on its usefulness in improving road safety.