Grab PH Launches 'Safer Everyday' Campaign

Grab Philippines has unveiled its latest safety efforts by syncing all transport safety standards under a new program.

The 'Safer Everyday Tech Roadmap' is made up of product enhancements that were developed to eliminate preventable incidents, encourage safer user habits, and drive long-term changes in road behavior.

Aside from that, Grab Philippines has partnered with various government agencies to address road safety issues, especifically accident and crime prevention.

In the latest campaign, Grab Philippines will be working with Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to tackle crime and accident prevention in the transport industry, and train more drivers that could act as emergency first responders for accidents on the road.

Grab Philippines Country Head Brian Cu said that ensuring safety should be a collaborative effort for everyone.

"Safety in the TNVS industry should be a collaborative effort between transport network companies, government agencies, driver-partners, and passengers. We are delighted to have everyone’s support and commitment today in providing a safer everyday for our fellow Filipinos," Cu, said.

"Our passengers and driver-partners deserve a safer ride-sharing industry. We are humbled to raise the bar for safety in TNVS," he added.

For his part, LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III expressed his support for the initiative, saying that the government's support of Grab's new campaign is one of its ways to boost road safety.

"What we are doing here is to prevent crimes on the road. Anything that is innovative that would help road safety, we should support, not just the government," said Delgra.

Aside from that, the campaign includes the prevention of transport of possible drug-related packages with the use of its couriers as well as provide the police with real-time information on possible crimes and other incidents that are happening on the road.

PNP-HPG chief Oliver Tanseco clarified that with the use of the direct line to PNP-HPG, Grab's partner-drivers can text and report to the authorities immediately.

In its bid to increase such measures, Grab will double its investments in safety measures by end of 2019.

Grab co-founder Tan Hooi Ling said that the campaign 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 center, number masking, and stringent driver background checks and verification."

"We're not going to compromise on our users' safety, and that's why even as Grab has grown much larger, safety remains a core part of our DNA and it was an easy decision to double our investment into safety next year," Ling added.

Further, Grab will also form a pool of First Responders from its driver-partner community to immediately address accidents. Grab vehicles will also be equipped with first aid kits and safety training guides.

Grab's 'Safer Everyday' is a regional campaign which aims to drive local safety initiatives across the eight countries where Grab operates.

Relatedly, Cu assured that they have allocated a separate budget intended for the latest campaign that is aimed to promote road safety to partner-drivers and their passengers as well.

"We have a separate budget for this, regardless of the PCC fine," Cu said, pertaining to the PHP16-million fine against Grab and Uber for merger-related issues, which was posted by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).