Belgium's mobility minister has opened an investigation into a smartphone app that lets drivers compete over how fast they can go, after road safety officials warned it was encouraging reckless driving on public roads.
The app, called TripRank, is popular among street racers around the world. Drivers log their speed and get ranked against each other on a leaderboard, with faster runs earning more points. Hitting 250 kilometres an hour is treated as a badge of honour, appearing prominently on a driver's profile.
Officially, the app's own terms and conditions ban reckless driving and street racing. In practice, that is exactly what it rewards. Minister Jean-Luc Crucke's office confirmed it is looking into the app after the story was first reported by the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
Crucke said his office was aware the app existed and was examining the situation together with other relevant partners, including the justice system. He described promoting excessive or inappropriate speeding as completely at odds with Belgium's road safety efforts.
The federal police and the road safety institute Vias have both issued warnings about the app, saying it promotes extremely dangerous driving behaviour. TripRank has reportedly been downloaded around 250,000 times worldwide, though how many of those downloads came from inside Belgium is not yet known.
It is not yet clear whether the investigation will lead to the app being banned in the country. For now, Crucke's office says it is still gathering information before deciding on next steps.