eForce Project

In order to combat the occurrence of road traffic offences and resulting accidents, it is the objective of the e-Force project to provide Traffic Officers with wireless, hand-held Pocket Computers, much like a PDA.

The Traffic Officer Pocket Computer (TOPC) will have continuous, fast electronic access from the roadside to the National Traffic Information System (NaTIS). This link will be used for access to, among other, real time information on drivers and driving licences, and vehicle detail.

TOPC's will allow officers to record traffic violations electronically and issue fines at the road side and transfer the information to NaTIS in real-time. Where TOPC’s are issued to traffic officers, the current process of writing out fines in a book will be replaced.

The TOPC will be able to scan the driver’s licence and the vehicle licence. The scan will return all the necessary details needed to issue a fine. This will save time during the issuing process as the Officer will not have to enter all the details manually. If there are any corrections to be made to the details, the traffic officer will be able to make them on the TOPC.

The traffic officer will then select the applicable charge/s for the infringement notice. Once selected, the officer will print the notice at the roadside and issue it to the driver.

The officer will be informed by the handheld if a driver has an outstanding warrant that has not been served yet and will arrest the driver accordingly. The officer will also print any outstanding infringement notices and enforcement orders and issue it to the driver.

In future the TOPC’s will also be used to complete Accident reports and conduct Roadworthiness tests.

The use of TOPC’s will improve the monitoring of Traffic Officers and will determine and improve the impact of traffic officers on road traffic control.