New app developed to improve road safety

A new app has been launched in Regina with the hopes of keeping more people safe on the road.

Be Aware by Kotia’s Innovative Technologies Inc., can be used when a person’s phone screen is on or off to alert them of special traffic zones like school, park and construction zones.

Alkesh Kotia, the app’s inventor, says the idea stemmed from a simple drive with his father.

“My dad was sitting beside me and when he realized that there are so many issues or so many things you can actually suffer when you are driving and getting involved in an accident, he started keeping an eye on the road and telling me that, ‘Hey, this is the speed limit. Hey look, that is a school zone,’ ” Kotia said. “So I thought, ‘Why can’t we have an app?’ ”

The app is designed to remind distracted drivers not to speed in highly populated zones.

“If you cross the speed limit, it gives you an audible or visible signal to alert you that you crossed the speed limit,” Kotia said. “And the most important part of this app is that when you are reaching the people-sensitive zone(s) like a school or park, it gives you advance notice that a block ahead there is a school or there is a park.”

Kotia hopes the app can help more drivers avoid accidents due to distracted driving.

“Everybody has a lot of different kinds of issues and stress and things going on,” he said. “I personally had experienced those and you lose your focus when you are driving.”

The app will make noises when drivers begin to speed in one of its special zones and then will turn red and make more noises if drivers continue to accelerate.

The app can also cut through music being played on a cellphone.

Kotia is working to expand the app to areas with heavier traffic areas, such as in Saskatoon.

By Payton Zillich, 650 CKOM