Your smartphone or tablet can now help you steer clear of road hazards that stymie traffic on South Florida roads every day.
The makers of the traffic-warning app Trapster estimate thousands of new users around the world are downloading the app every day.
“On average, we add between (8,000) and 10,000 new users a day,” explained Trapster’s product manager, Sean Farrell. “Some of our biggest cities are the major driving cities. Cities like New York, L.A. and Miami.”
The more users Trapster notches, the better the app works.
Each user is expected to post one of Trapster’s 22 warnings – ranging from school zone alerts to police checkpoints – on the app. Those warnings then make their way to other users. Simply put: it’s driver helping driver.
“Whenever somebody 30 seconds ago reports something, and if it’s on my way, I’ll get a notification,” said Jorge Reinosa, a local Trapster user and moderator for the app. Alerts posted here in South Florida get a final once-over from super users like him.
An added bonus of the app is that users don’t have to keep their eyes and hands on it.
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It plugs into your car’s sound system and transmits audio alerts – a safety-enhancing feature that the Florida Highway Patrol said could make the app more of a help and less of a hindrance for drivers.
“Sometimes people just need a little bit of a reminder when they’re driving to check the speedometer, to check the stop sign, to check their blind spot. So, if it’s giving that person that extra reminder, we encourage it, but we don’t want people to become so distracted with the device that it’s altering their driving habits on our roadways,” said FHP spokesman Sgt. Thomas Pikul.
