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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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New smartphone app to allow D.C. residents to report traffic violations

D.C. residents will soon be able to report traffic violations they observe in the District through a new app.

OurStreets, a smartphone app that will allow users to notify the D.C. government about roadway violations like cars improperly blocking crosswalks or occupying handicap spaces, will launch in January, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The app will transmit data to the District’s Department of For-Hire Vehicles – an agency that polices rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber –  according to The Post.

“We think there are a lot of people out there who care about street safety,” Mark Sussman, OurStreet’s chief executive officer, told The Post. “This is a low-cost way of capturing this data.”

The app, which will be available on Google Play Apps and the App Store, will allow users to report details about incidents they witness, like the offending car’s license plate number and location, according to The Post. The department will be able to use the data to identify patterns and respond to individual incidents appropriately.

Traffic deaths in the District have increased annually since 2015, hitting 36 deaths in 2018. Mayor Muriel Bowser has engaged more than 20 D.C. government agencies in her Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate motorist and pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries by 2024.

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