The federal police are sounding the alarm about TripRank, an app that rewards street racing – the latest craze among street racers. The police are warning of life-threatening situations on the road.
TripRank records speed, routes traveled, and driving behavior, among other things. The faster users drive on public roads, the more points they receive, and the higher they rank on the virtual leaderboard. Moreover, young people are paid to share those videos. For every 1,000 views their video receives, they earn up to 432 euros.
‘Particularly dangerous situations’
The federal police emphasize that such apps lead to particularly dangerous situations and that they will take strict action if they detect such dangerous driving behavior. Anyone caught faces a fine that can run into the thousands of euros and a driving ban ranging from 8 days to 5 years.
Vias also highlights the dangers. Videos on social media show young people pulling off reckless maneuvers to achieve the fastest times. These young people treat the street like a game, but real people are involved, and there is a risk of actual fatalities and injuries. “Speed is being glorified, and that is simply unacceptable,” warns Stef Willems, spokesperson for Vias.
This app encourages and facilitates street racing. “If this were a physical shop, the mayor would have shut it down long ago for endangering public order,” says Isolde Van Den Eynde in the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
“But what do you do about digital apps? We don’t have an immediate answer to that in this society.” Her advice? Block the app, suspend the accounts, and revoke the driver’s license of anyone who uses our streets like a video game – before there are more fatalities.
Soon to be banned in Belgium?
Since its launch earlier this year, the app has been rapidly gaining popularity in Europe, including in Belgium. The app has been downloaded around 250,000 times worldwide. Street racers from all over the world challenge each other there.
The ‘brains’ behind TripRank is the Serbian Uros Mijajlovic. He developed the platform in January of this year. The app is spreading like wildfire – the latest craze – primarily among young street racers. While the app is free to download initially, anyone wanting to show off fast runs on the leaderboard hits a paywall costing 6 euros a month or 35 euros a year.
Incidentally, TripRank is not the only app where users challenge each other to reach increasingly higher speeds. It is uncertain whether the app will soon be banned in Belgium, but the office of Federal Minister of Mobility Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) is conducting an investigation.
“Promoting inappropriate or excessive speed is absolutely undesirable and runs counter to our efforts regarding road safety,” concludes Crucke.
