UK cops' road accident reporting going paperless

It now appears that the British police 'road accident reporting and mapping system' is to go paperless! Another step towards the digital nexus?

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 road safety minister Jim Fitzpatrick, "but we are determined to do everything we can to continue making our roads even safer.

"Detailed, accurate and up-to-date information is vital if we are to tackle the causes of crashes on our roads so I am delighted that this important project is getting under way.”

The new data service is referred to as CRASH, for Collision Recording And SHaring. It will be tried out by three forces from 2010 before rolling out nationally.

CRASH will see existing paper forms used by officers to record details of accidents replaced by e-forms accessed on data-capable handsets or vehicle terminals (such kit is now becoming universal in the police service). The technology will be provided by telecoms provider IPL, and managed by the National Policing Improvement Agency's Police National Computer (PNC) Services arm.

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