Filipino Drivers Top Worldwide Driving Study Conducted by Shell

Driving in the Philippines' major metropolitan areas may seem like a daunting task but it seems that hasn't fazed most Filipino drivers as a groundbreaking worldwide study conducted by petroleum company Shell has revealed that the Philippines achieved "the highest driving performance score" among all the countries that participated in its global study.

With the Shell Driving Experiment which utilized emotion tracking technology, ChatBots, mobile apps, and weather and traffic information "to uncover how the emotions of drivers affected their driving performance," Shell worked with experts from Goldsmiths, University of London to monitor data points gathered from almost 15,000 journeys from participants in 11 countries to measure the driver performance of each country.

For the Philippines, Shell tapped more than 300 participants from Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao who completed nearly 2,000 journeys for the study. 

Based on the results at the end of the study, the Philippines achieved the highest driving performance and efficiency score across all the countries that participated in the study at 72 percent, with the Filipino driver having the smoothest journeys--which means less incidents of harsh acceleration and braking--at 98 percent than that of drivers from Malaysia, Germany, and the Netherlands.

The study also showed that, contrary to a common local stereotype, gender has no influence on driving performance, with one's personality type being more likely to predict one's driving style. For the Philippines, two high-performing personality types were uncovered by the study: the Modern Man and the Gamma Woman, both of which "are shaped by both internal and external factors inherent in Philippine driving conditions."

According to the Shell Driving Experiment, the Modern Man "is the type of driver that has a unique combination of sensitive and ambitious personality traits...adapt well to any situation...and exercise cautiousness on the road" whereas the Gamma Woman "is known for her openness and emotional stability both on and off the road." 

The study also showed that family plays an important part for the Filipino driver as the presence of children and additional passengers in the car often  consistently led to better driving performance. In contrast, drivers in Germany supposedly perform better when they are alone in the car.

Even food is an important factor in the Filipino's driving performance as participants who reported feeling hungry during their journey exhibited lower driver performance scores.

"The Shell Driving Experiment is part of Shell's efforts to understand the changing needs of our customers," shared Pilipinas Shell Vice President for Retail Anthony Lawrence Yam. "This helps us create better products and services, such as developing new fuels like Shell V-Power with Dynaflex Technology and the expansion of our non-fuel offers at Shell Select, which are relevant in improving the driving experience of Filipinos. At the end of the day, our goal is making life's journeys better for every Filipino on the road."