The Sunday News
Walter Mswazie in Masvingo
A MAN from Masvingo has launched a computer and mobile phone application, e-box, a safety tool that helps in the recording of road traffic accidents and updating relatives and emergency services.
Mr Tongai Sithole (27) of Mucheke suburb said he came up with the application after discovering slow reaction to accidents.
The application, which is now on Google App Store works even when one is not on Internet as it also sends text messages on one’s mobile phone.
Mr Sithole said the application requires the traveller to fill in contact information, time of departure, type of vehicles he or she is using including its registration number, phone numbers, details of next of kin, destination and residential address. He said it also provides map tracking. Mr Sithole said the application is also a safety tool kit for all travellers and he was working on having the application adopted by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe.
“This is an application that I have created after I discovered that there is generally a slow reaction to road traffic accidents in the country. It helps travellers and relatives to know if the one travelling has reached his or her destination safely.”
Mr Sithole, an accountant with a parastatal, said the motivation to develop the application was rooted in his own experiences.
“I have a relative who had a serious road traffic accident some time when I was still at the University of Zimbabwe. What disturbed me the most was that all relatives, including me, only knew about the accident after one day, as there was communication blackout. I then approached software developers who helped me but I paid $2 000 to have my software done. I only supplied them with the prototype that I wanted and they were done. My aim is to sell this idea to TSCZ and I hope that they can adopt after appreciating how it works,” he said.
He said the application puts the person travelling under surveillance until one is back and readily informs the next of kin, police and ambulance service providers through a text message when the user is involved in an accident.
“Any witness with the same software would enter the registration number of the vehicles involved in the accident and the application would send warning messages to users. The next of kin of the accident victim will readily know that his or her relative has been involved in an accident and also raise ambulance or hospital and police using the same software,” he said.
Mr Sithole said he was also working on another software, a password delivery application called Wako, which will be used for parcel deliveries.
