Thailand, 16^th October 2018 — Grab, the leading Online-to-Offline (O2O) mobile platform in Southeast Asia, today unveiled its ‘Safer EverydayTech Roadmap’, comprising product enhancements that aim to raise transport safety standards for the industry. This includes measures specifically aimed at changing user safety habits – such as driver fatigue monitoring and telematics reports for drivers to learn their driving patterns and identify how to drive more safely, in order to drive long-term road behaviour change and reduce the chance of incidents. As part of its ‘Safer Everyday Tech Roadmap’, Grab will double its investments in safety measures by end of 2019.

“Our business started with a simple goal – to make transportation safer for all,” said Tarin Thaniyavarn, Country Head of Grab Thailand. “We believe this is an issue that is particularly close to the hearts of Thai people. Thailand has the second highest road traffic fatality rate in the world. Every year 24,000 people die on Thai roads. It’s a problem that Grab believes we can and want to help alleviate.”

“We realize that everyone has loved ones who care for their wellbeing and want to see them come home safely. That’s why today, even as our ambitions and scale have grown much larger, safety remains a core part of our DNA. It was an easy decision to double our investment into safety next year. The Safer Everyday Tech Roadmap is an extension of Grab’s current efforts in Southeast Asia, where we are the only major player to invest in foundations like a 24/7 customer support centre, number masking and stringent driver background checks and verification.”

As a result, Grab’s incident rates have decreased by 40% over the last year since Q3 2017.

Grab has recently revamped its look-and-feel as it moves to become Southeast Asia’s Everyday Super App. The new user interface is more visually-appealing, user-friendly and comprehensive with new features such as new service category dashboard, localized news feed, rewards marketplace and games.

Safer Everyday Tech Roadmap

Grab’s Safer Everyday roadmap is part of the revamp, and features a tech and product pipeline dedicated to enhancing safety for customers, drivers, merchants, delivery partners and all transactions on the Grab app.

Tan Hooi Ling, Co-founder, Grab said, “I am glad to say we’ve raised the bar for safety standards of the overall transport industry in the region. TheSafer Everyday Tech Roadmap represents the next phase in strengthening the safety of the Grab platform. Our goal is to bring to zero the number of incidents that are completely preventable, and as far as possible, reduce the number of road accidents. Key to achieving our goal is to make it easy for users to make an actual change to their road behaviour habits.”

The product enhancements in the Roadmap are guided by four safety principles:

1. Know who you ride with: More transparency and peace of mind for everyone through authentication for both passengers and drivers, as well as rigorous driver background checks that include criminal records and inspections on dormant driver accounts
2. Get help when you need it:The Share My Ride and Emergency SOS features currently available on the passenger app will be extended to drivers where they can share their live location with loved ones
3. Build new andsaferhabits: Grab’s analytical tools allow the app to help drivers understand how they drive and where they can improve. The driver fatigue monitoring system will send reminders based on how long a driver has been active without rest in between trips. Drivers also regularly receive telematics reports on their driving patterns like speeding, acceleration and braking, and more parameters will be added over time. Since the rollout of telematics, there has been a 50% reduction in speeding incidents and 20% reduction in hard braking and sudden acceleration, which are potential causes of road accidents.
4. Protected at every touchpoint:Safety on the Grab platform is comprehensive, with robust app fraud detection, secure transaction mechanism, and data protection.

Public-private partnerships to support local safety priorities

Grab has also partnered with public and private sector organizations across Southeast Asia to develop tailored, localised initiatives that address the top safety concerns in each market. Southeast Asia contributes a disproportionately high 25%[1] of worldwide road traffic fatalities, and the public and private sector can drive more impact and engage more people by working together.

In Thailand, as part of its Safer Everyday commitment, Grab has joined hands with the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE, a multi-year effort campaign, which calls on governments, civil society, women’s organizations, young people, the private sector, the media and the entire UN system to join forces in preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls around the world. As part of the campaign, Grab will launch a series of initiatives including surveys, in-car safety cards, online advertorials, etc. to raise awareness on safety concerns for women and general commuters. 

• In Cambodia and Myanmar, the focus is on road safety education and more driver training for the more informal, localised three-wheel driver community. Grab will work with the Ministry of Public Works and Transport in Cambodia and the police in Myanmar.
• Grab Philippines will work with Philippine National Police, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and Drug Enforcement Agency to tackle crime in the transport industry, and train more drivers to assist as emergency first responders for accidents and disaster relief on the roads.
• In Singapore, Grab drivers will have access to a more holistic healthcare programme with the Health Promotion Board, to face their unique challenges as they sit and drive for long hours.

“Everyone at Grab is proud that we have helped raise the bar for safer transportation. Just six years ago, we often had to negotiate fares when we wanted to use a taxi or bike service. We didn’t know who our driver was – we entrusted our lives into the hands of complete strangers. Today, you know who’s picking you up or delivering your food/parcels. Your loved ones can follow your journey in real time. We have done a lot but we want to do more. We know the bigger we get, the more responsibility we have to put in place the right framework and measures to deliver a safer everydayfor our driver-partners, and passengers and their loved ones,” Tarin concluded.

Grab’s Safer Everyday is a regional campaign which aims to drive local safety initiatives across the eight countries where Grab operates. More information on Grab’s commitments and goals under the Safer Everyday Tech Roadmap can be found here: www.grab.com/safety.