Uber will tap into the GPS capabilities of its drivers' mobile devices to measure their driving speeds, as well as how hard they brake and how rapidly they accelerate. Daily reports will be given to drivers about how their driving behaviour compares with their peers'.
Ms. Dorothy Chou, Head of Public Policy for Safety, Privacy and Security at Uber, told The Straits Times yesterday, "We want to improve the safety and smoothness of the ride. This will help drivers understand their driving style and how they can improve."
Ms. Chou said Uber tested this 'telematics' system in a six-month pilot in the U.S.A earlier this year and is progressively rolling it out in the Asia Pacific region now. Vehicle telematics is a field, which uses sensors to track the vehicle's location and the driver's behaviour - from speeds to braking patterns. The data is then transmitted to computers to be analysed.
Ms. Chou said there was a 10 percent drop in the incidence of drivers braking abruptly and accelerating rapidly in the U.S.A pilot, but did not give exact numbers. She said the new feature will provide more transparency. "Before we had this technology, it was 'driver said this, and rider said this'. But now we have evidence, which says this is what empirically happened."
