Grab is out to improve its safety procedures in a big way. The ridesharing company has announced that it is supplying 3500 female and platinum level drivers with dashboard mounted cameras; as well as deployed the government mandated SOS button in the app.
Deploying dash-cams is not something new for Grab. It has already distributed around 100 such cameras to top female drivers back in 2015, and this looks to be an extension of that programme.
Drivers that are not receiving the dash-cam for free are not exactly left out in the cold. Grab is offering the same dash-cams for sale at a significant discount for its drivers who haven’t quite qualified for platinum, but would like to have the same amount of security.
Grab has also implemented an SOS button as directed by the government. This button directly dials 999 from within the app, allowing passengers to immediately contact the authorities should something go wrong. In addition to this, Grab will log all outgoing calls in order to follow up with the passenger at a later date.
Finally, Grab is rolling out a new driver report programme. This makes use of the company’s machine learning and predictive analytics capabilities to educate drivers. The idea is that each driver will receive a weekly summary of their driving performance. Having a visual reference is expected to help drivers spot where they can improve.
Ridesharing has faced a troubling time lately due to several safety incidents in Malaysia. Things appear to have calmed down by now, and it looks like Grab is taking the opportunity to set in place new measures to minimise the risk to both its drivers and passengers.
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