Jun 24 2008
TrafficViolators.Com - A Review
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In a country like India where there are numerous people, and humongous traffic, you cannot really expect everyone to stick to the rules. The Indian traffic mentality and machinery is totally different from the rest of the world because of the condition of the roads, the local climatic factor, the drivers’ mentality and the number of vehicles hitting the street every day, it is an impossible task for the unevenly numbered cops to manage and enforce various street laws that are supposed to keep the various traffic facades in check. So then, there arises a need for a unified national citizenship initiative, by the people for the people, a tool that actually might just be a revolutionary step towards ensuring a peaceful and time-saving journey for you, your friends, your family, and everyone else.
TrafficViolators.Com is one such non-profit independent endeavour by Abhishek Kant that seems really serious about what it says it’s out there for. With a neat but feature-rich interface and a simple objective, it is an open platform for you to act like that really responsible citizen you ought to be. Although just in it’s initial phase, the site currently covers the major cities of the nation, but new cities are constantly being added. It’s here because the only way we can get rid of all road hazards and ensuring road safety is self-regulation, and self-conciousness. No one can really enforce anything upon you, you are your best judge. TrafficViolators is the perfect media that allows you to judge yourself, gives you an oppurtunity to inform and warn fellow drivers of maniac traffic violators, and at the same time, it gives you a chance to apologize to the community on a whole. What the site does is really very simple. You report a violation, and it goes up on the site’s Shame Board almost instantly. The information you ought to mention while filing a violation report include the vehicle’s registration number & the city where the violation took place. Yes, that’s really it. You might also include other details like the vehicle make, the violation type, and the really fun-to-use VirtualEarth integration for mentioning the Geolocation of the violation. Once the details are filled up, all you got to do is hit ‘Report’. Simple, ainnit?
Wish to report a violation while you’re on the move without an internet connection? That’s not a problem at all, TrafficViolators has everything figured out for you. All you need is a Twitter account, with the SMS feature enabled. You have to submit the violation report in the form of a 140 letter-count-bound tweet, and voila! Job’s done. More information on how to submit a violation report via Twitter can be found here. And if that doesn’t helps, there are some very comprehensive video tutorials which you can watch here. Now, you know everything about posting a report. So go ahead and give it a go. There are some very interesting features that the site offers, and I probably should have mentioned it sooner. The site is Windows Live ID enabled! Yes, you’re probably thinking that makes it all really easy to register yourselves with the website, enabling a huge number of users to sign up at ease. You can also share the photos and videos of a violation you took or shot while you were on the street. You know you’ll be making a stern point about what are really willing to say. The RSS available for all the reported violators and violations makes it really easy for you to follow if you’ve ever been reported or not. The site offers an API, making it possible to make feature-rich widgets and applications one could use to report traffic violations, and you’re very much encouraged to do so. Then again if you’re an avid Facebook user, the site has it’s very own application on Facebook here.
One thing I love about this site is the ease at which you get the job done. I can never get tired of stating that fact. You aren’t being asked of much. Come be a part of the change. Until then, drive safe, and stay safe. I’ll see you at TrafficViolators.Com