New technology for insurance checks, accident reports

STARTING in February  Police and traffic inspector s will be testing a technological program to verify the status of a car’s insurance policy and soon reporting an accident will be automated.

Traffic cops will enter the licence plate number into a mobile unit and the system will indicate if the car has a valid policy something that is mandatory by law. If the car does not have a current policy it will be towed.

Drivers are required to carry the policy in force in the car but according to Joaquín Riesen, the Superintendent of Insurance and Reinsurance, if a counterfeit policy is presented,  currently the transit agent would not be able to check its validity and the car could be driven without insurance.

In the case of a collision, a driver can verify if the other vehicle is insured or not through the Citizen Inspector cellular application, created by the Transit Authority ATTT

In addition, the authorities and the private company are working so that soon months drivers will be able to make reports of collisions through the same application, said Riesen.

When the system is operational, in the case of a minor collision, drivers can take pictures of the vehicles and upload them to the system.

An agent would receive the information in a call center and send police to the place of the accident. In this way, according to Riesen, the road could be cleared in about 15 or 20 minutes and not contribute to the congestion of the city.