The LZPD NRW has launched a pilot project for accident recording via app. Police officers in the four police authorities of Borken, Dortmund, Recklinghausen and Wesel are now recording all information about a traffic accident using their official smartphones.
Until now, an accident report has been several pages long, of which several copies are often made. With more than 650,000 accidents per year, this adds up to an enormous amount of paper. Until now, the data was written down by hand at the scene of the accident and later transferred to the computer at the police station. This time-consuming multiple recording will no longer be necessary in future, as the pilot authorities can now do this with just a few clicks on a smartphone. The "mViVA Erfassung" app, which was specially developed for the NRW police, processes the accident data immediately and on site. Further data queries, such as ID cards or license plate numbers, can be completed by scanning.
The accident report for citizens will also be digital: those involved in an accident will receive a link and a QR code on a flyer to the North Rhine-Westphalian police's citizen portal, where the accident report can then be downloaded as a PDF document. This allows the accident report to be forwarded directly to the insurance company of those involved. Those who prefer the analog paper method can have the accident report printed out at the nearest police station or pass the flyer on directly to the insurance company.
The app not only saves time for citizens; it also significantly reduces the processing time for the police. During the pilot phase, which will last several weeks, officers in Borken, Dortmund, Recklinghausen and Wesel will test the app in action. This will allow improvements to be taken into account before the app is launched in all police authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia in the summer.
Mobile accident recording is further progress towards a digital police force. Since 2019, the official smartphone with numerous police apps has been part of the basic equipment of the North Rhine-Westphalian police.