Grab Introduces Telematics to Level Up Safety Game for Motorcycle Taxis
Jakarta. Ride-hailing platform Grab on Monday (19/9) announced the use of telematics to track and warn its motorcycle taxi riders when they go too fast, in a move to increase safety for both passengers and riders while on the road.
Telematics works by tracking vehicles' movements using global positioning system (GPS). Grab will be able to keep track of each motorcycle's locations, how smooth the rider is braking, how fast he accelerates, how long he has been on the road and many more.
“Many traffic accidents are both predictable and preventable, and Grab has put in place a holistic safety program to reduce this. With telematics, we have a better understanding of the speed and traffic patterns on different roads throughout the day," Ridzki Kramadibrata, Managing Director of Grab Indonesia, said.
"We help our GrabBike riders, who spend eight to 10 hours on the roads, by sending them reminders to stop speeding. These interventions have been effective at reducing the number of speeding incidences. Monitoring travel speeds is paramount in encouraging safer driving."
Ridzki said he hopes the new system — supported by offline data — will also help the company to better understand traffic patterns throughout the day.
The newly-implemented system is part of a Grab campaign launched in March to make its motorcycle taxi, or "ojek," services safer. Grab also calls on other ride-hailing companies to level up their safety standards.
Enforcing safety standards
Grab said all GrabBike riders must have a motorcycle driving license. It also claims to have trained all of them in defensive riding, and has made a defensive safety riding test a compulsory part of a rigorous screening process for all new GrabBike riders.
The company said there has been an average of 10 per cent month-on-month reduction in the number of accidents involving GrabBike riders since the company introduced defensive riding training in March. There was also a 35 percent reduction in speeding incidences in Jakarta, after Grab started using telematics to monitor and send reminders to GrabBike riders who go above the speed limit.
The company claimed there have been 1.5 times fewer fatal accidents when using GrabBike, compared to other motorcycle taxi services or transport apps.
The ride-hailing app also provides free personal accident insurance for all GrabBike passengers and riders — up to Rp 50 million per accident.
That is two times over and above the mandatory limit set by Jasa Raharja, the state-owned insurance company that manages traffic and public transportation insurance.
Fighting stigma on motorcycle taxis
The ride-hailing app has also tied partnerships with a number of hospitals in Jakarta, which allow GrabBike passengers and riders to get medical treatment without having to make a down payment when an accident happens.
"People use ojek (motorcycle taxi) every day in Jakarta but they've been accustomed to poor services. Passengers demand better safety now though, and we will improve our safety standards to a world-class one," Ridzki said.
According to a World Health Organization survey, two-wheeled vehicles are involved in at least 34 percent of all fatal road accidents in Southeast Asia — the highest rate in the Western Pacific region.
The stats mirror what happens in Indonesia, where 36 percent of fatal road accidents involve a motorcycle, causing economic losses of around 2.9 percent to 3.1 percent of the country's total GDP every year.
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