DMP launches app to identify accident hotspots

Dhaka Metropolitan Police has launched a new data-driven initiative aimed at improving road safety by pinpointing accident hotspots and analysing underlying causes.
The Database and Analysis of Road Crash (DARC) application, developed in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, is a key element of the Dhaka Road Traffic Safety Project (DRSP).
The app intends to consolidate road accident data, addressing long-standing gaps in reporting and helping identify accident-prone areas for targeted safety measures.
“The DARC application allows for real-time, detailed reporting, giving us a much clearer picture of accident patterns,” said Mahmudul Hasan, a member of JICA’s expert team under the DRSP.
This capability enables the design of more effective solutions to reduce accidents.
The app’s streamlined data fields mean traffic officers can now input accident data on-site, minimising delays and reducing inaccuracies that have often plagued manual reporting.
Historically, accident reports in Dhaka were recorded manually by the police’s crime division, although traffic officers are usually first at the scene.
The process traditionally focused only on fatal accidents, often missing non-fatal incidents and those where fatalities occur later in hospitals. These limitations have led to data inconsistencies between government departments and NGOs, hindering progress in road safety.
Modelled after the World Bank’s open-source DRIVER application, DARC consolidates essential accident information — location, date, time, weather, accident type, and potential contributing factors — into a simplified format accessible via smartphone.
This shift, from 67 data fields to just eight core fields, significantly reduces the administrative burden on officers while minimising human errors.
Additionally, each data entry undergoes verification by a supervising officer before integration into the central database, ensuring greater data accuracy.
Tetsushi Irie, a specialist in road safety planning with JICA, said, “This tool will provide a comprehensive, real-time dataset on accidents, helping to identify high-risk areas, or ‘black spots,’ and analyse underlying factors like weather, visibility, or driver behaviour.”
He said DARC is expected to streamline the data flow, making road safety planning and intervention more responsive and effective.
Ahead of the app’s rollout, DMP trained approximately 850 officers in May, covering traffic management principles, data collection techniques, and crash reporting through the app.
In June, the app was launched on a trial basis across eight traffic divisions, allowing officers to report and analyse incidents in real-time. This pilot phase has already shown promising results in terms of usability and data quality.
Additional Police Commissioner (Traffic) Khondoker Nazmul Hasan said, “With this app, we can now analyse the primary causes of accidents and identify the locations where they occur most frequently. Once fully operational, we intend to use these insights to introduce preventive measures, which will transform our approach to road safety,” added.
The DMP’s initiative has encountered some challenges, including personnel transfers and political changes, which briefly slowed the project’s momentum.
However, Nazmul Hasan said additional training would soon be provided to newly appointed officers to ensure that all traffic personnel are equipped to use the app effectively.
“The more accurate data we gather, the better we can tailor our responses. This initiative is expected to play a key role in reducing accidents and enhancing road safety in Dhaka,” he added.
Dr Kazi Md Shifun Newaz of BUET’s Accident Research Institute said police officers already have access to an Accident Reporting Form for documenting accidents but have not always used it systematically.
“With the new DARC app, if traffic officials take responsibility for filling in required fields accurately, and if the data is verified properly, it could create a highly valuable database,” said Dr Newaz.
He commended DARC as a strong first step in Dhaka but argued for the need to expand the system nationwide.
“While it’s a positive start as a pilot in the capital, establishing a unified national platform would be essential to significantly reduce traffic accidents across the country,” he added.