Boing Boing got an email from a guy who created a smartphone app called the Bad Driver Database. The idea is to enter car license plate numbers of drivers that are doing something wrong. This is problematic, because the app doesn’t verify that the driver did something wrong. It simply adds the license plate number to its database for “the world to see.”
Here’s another problem – how does this app help drivers avoid the “bad drivers” on the database? I can’t think of way that it could.
Worst of all, the app makes people who are on the database pay money to the developer get their license plate number removed from the database. Does that seem like blackmail to you?
How much longer will this app be available in the iTunes Store? Not very long, I’d wager.
Are you like most of us who are sick of encountering fellow drivers with no courtesy on the road? You are not alone. Lucky enough, I have an app for that! Bad Driver Database encourages drivers to translate their road rage to something more relevant where their voices are heard. They add these drivers to the app for the world to see and watch out for.
My name is Mitch Jansen, creator of Bad Driver Database, and an engineering graduate of the University of Iowa with a passion for tech startups. Since December 2016, this app has 2,200 app store downloads. The goal of the company is to create easy-to-use products that fill the needs people might not even realize exist.
Your website is an excellent platform to have this app featured and get the news out there that there’s a community to share your displeasure about nasty drivers on the lose.
I asked Mr. Jansen what the purpose of charging 99 cents to reset the counter is. I’ll let you know what he says.
[UPDATE 9/13/2017. Here is Mr. Jansen’s answer: The $.99 option to clear the counter is merely a novelty feature to try and increase potential revenue. As more people begin using the app, features will be added to legitimize the results (i.e. creating user accounts so they can register their license plates, limiting the number of entries a user can input in a single day, verifying bad driving reports, removal of the “counter clear” feature, etc.). Future target populations are business owners wanting to keep track of their company vehicles, or parents wanting to keeping track of kids, the list could go on.]