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Turkey Seeks to Limit Traffic Accidents through Warning System | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Traffic in the Turkish city of Istanbul. (AFP)


Ankara – The growing number of traffic accidents in Turkey has forced authorities to consider adopting a new system to reduce them.

An “interactive warning and monitoring system” app is currently being developed in cooperation with the general directorate of security and Istanbul University to limit traffic accidents.

Turkey is known for its high rate of car use, especially in the city of Istanbul that is congested with millions of cars. According to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute, over 1.4 million traffic accidents took place in the country, killing and wounding 186,999 people.

Although many measures were taken to reduce accidents and the deaths they cause, the traditional speed and traffic monitoring system was not sufficient to solve this problem.

The new interactive warning and monitoring system app known aims to reduce the number of accidents, provide drivers with information on the weather and traffic and give warnings concerning speed.

Speaking about the app, a Justice and Development MP Mustafa Ilicali said this it is in its first phases and that humans contribute to 98 percent of traffic accidents. This rate can be reduced by raising awareness of the people in committing to traffic regulations and by adopting stricter monitoring methods.

He added that human capabilities cannot accomplish perfect monitoring operations. Electronic monitoring systems are therefore needed and the new system fulfills this need. The system takes the shape of a device that should be placed in vehicles so that it may provide monitoring and send warnings to the driver.

Ilicali explained that the system sends warnings and directions on the traffic activity, the weather, possible accidents and information on the police to drivers via short messages. It also detects the vehicle speed through the GPS system.

The MP said with the deployment of this system, traditional systems of speed and traffic will become useless.