back to article UK cops' road accident reporting going paperless

The British police road accident reporting and mapping system is to go paperless, it has been announced. Officials believe that replacing paper forms with electronic ones on mobile terminals will allow faster and more accurate identification of trouble spots. “Britain has one of the best road safety records in the world," said …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Duh

    Ah, so now they've found a use for the hand held data terminals Wacky Jacqui wants to issue to the Police.

    A very appropriate use of the new handheld terminals ( I think not!).

    Since when is a Police officer in a patrol car going to need a map showing him where the most likely places where road traffic accidents occur?

    The information is not operational, it's a strategic type of information. The information would be gathered by Plods back at Police stations across the country, shared, and then disseminated to the planners in the Police service deciding where to site fixed and mobile trafffic cameras, or passed up to the local Council to decide in where to place road signs warning and setting speed limits on roads.

    Plod on the beat doesn't need this strategic information in his day to day driving around the street role!

    This is a case of, in my view, we're gonna give the police some hand held terminals and now we have to find a use for them. It's another wrong idea by Wacky Jacqui.

  2. Simon
    Coat

    CRASH?

    Is this going to be a Microsoft Windows based project then?

  3. Dr. Mouse
    Coat

    Obligatory

    So what happens when CRASH crashes?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Better Name

    Accident Recording System.

  5. Jonathan Carlaw

    @Duh

    Try reading the article again.

    This is for the police to record the info on an accident, when attending the site of an accident.

    The data they enter is then collated back at base - hopefuly by simple upload, but I'm sure somewhere they'll print it out and type it in again given the last paragraph on potential savings in back office staff varying from force to force!

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Make the roads safer for all

    I don't believe them.

    If the Chief Constables REALLY wanted to make the roads safer for all they would shut down their roadside ATM's and get the traffic cars back on the road.

    Speed camera's do not stop lethal tailgating (with 32 tonne trucks 5 feet behind small saloon cars) or warn of transient dangers on the road (diesel spills etc) nor does their presence calm and slow down those who may be prone to road rage.

    Plods in traffic cars can spot and stop dangerous vehicles, when the plods can actually be bothered) cyclists going the wrong way along a one way street or riding on the pavement.

    All in all there is a lot to be said for getting plods back out onto the streets (and roads) rather than filling forms (paper or electronic.)

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    @Rotacyclic

    I think they mean more gps-based location information would let them see exactly which corners etc are more dangerous than others (rather than just "the A90 somewhere around Arbroath" as they'll have now). And this data could be sent back to "home base" pretty quickly- alongside photographs of the crash scene, spoken or written statements from people at the crash scene at the time.

    If they pulled someone over for (say) speeding and it was in a known accident blackspot, they'd be able to tell the person they pulled over that it was a blackspot.

    With decent time and location information, you could even compose plots of what times of year certain corners are most dangerous (i.e. icy patches). So they'd be able to sort out the issue there (water collecting & freezing) and make the road a safer place (by pushing the council to sort out the drainage or road surface).

    For example, on a road in Aberdeen that goes along the edge of the river Dee there are quite frequently crashes or at least people going off the road. There was a civic that crashed recently and was utterly mangled. The council would be able to see that there's one corner in particular that's bad for this and, say, remove some trees or install some reflective pillars to tell people there's a tight corner coming. As opposed to deciding "that road's dangerous, drop the speed limit to 15mph".

    So not a stupid idea after all- it's certainly more likely to do good than ID cards could ever achieve!

  8. Dogbyte
    Stop

    So...

    ...this will speed things up and stop them closing the roads for hours to gather "crime scene" data after an accident?

    No, thought not.

  9. Jamie
    Linux

    Perfect Name

    Perfect name for another gov't IT project.

    Complete Rubbish And SHit.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Re: Better Name

    You forgot the Electronic bit - just add it to the end:

    Accident Recording System Electronic

    Or:

    Scene of Accident Recording and Collision Accumulation System Methodology?

  11. Onionman

    Accident investigation

    Is this going to stop them closing the M3 for a couple of days every time someone drops a fag end out of their car?

    O

  12. TeeCee Gold badge
    Joke

    Even better?

    Accident Recording System Electronic for HAndheld Terminals?

  13. Adrian Jones

    Re: Make the roads safer for all

    "...shut down their roadside ATM's and get the traffic cars back on the road."

    Whereupon, having been stopped by a traffic car for speeding, he will ask "Why aren't you out catching criminals?"

  14. james
    Paris Hilton

    sooo.....

    anyone with half an ounce of wit (ie, who knows default passwords for the system theyll use or what pub any careless officer drinks in) will be able to wipe their speeding record then? sweet.

    paris - cause shes probably the only thing thats easier to breech than a gov it system

  15. Travis Vowinkel
    Thumb Down

    Political Lobbyind

    The poor policeman at the scene will be expected to punch in info at the scene of possible mass destruction? This tastes of excessive lobbying of MP's (maybe with great financial gains) by some IT companies who stand to make lots of money out of the tax payer (who me).

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I hope all the switches are sparkproof...

    'Cos if not, and they're standing in a pool of petrol punching buttons it could be spectacular!

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