UBER TO #MAKERIDESSAFER IN INDIA
Partners with Apollo Hospitals to train driver-partners in 29 cities across India, equips 8000+ Ubers with first aid medical kits
Makes a slew of announcements focused towards #MakingRidesSafer in India at an Interactive session on Road Safety organised by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and CII
New Delhi, January 10, 2016: Uber, the world's largest on-demand ride-sharing company, today announced a partnership with Apollo Hospitals to implement a road safety training programme for driver partners in 29 cities across India, at the Interactive session on Road Safety organised by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and CII. Some of the other announcements made by Uber at the event include roll out of telematics-powered features in the driver app, pan-India partnership with NGOs to promote the ministry’s road safety guidelines and pilot projects with urban planners.
L-R : Shweta Rajpal Kohli, Public Policy Head, Uber announcing our road safety related commitments; Ms Kohli & Honble MORTH Minister, Shri Nitin Gadkari discussing how we can #MakeRidesSafer
As a part of the partnership with Apollo Hospitals, a series of training videos on handling road accidents have been created, that will help driver-partners handle such situations better. These trainings will be provided in English, and one regional language. In addition to the online trainings, doctors from Apollo Hospitals will also conduct 2-week training sessions at the Partner Support Centres in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai over the next few weeks, and certify driver partners who successfully complete the trainings. Further, in each of these centres, Apollo will equip Ubers with first aid medical kits, to enable 8000+ five star rated driver-partners to provide medical-assistance to riders in times of need.
“There are numerous instances of Uber driver-partners providing timely assistance to riders or road-accident victims. Uber is taking this beyond individual acts of goodwill. The partnership with Apollo Hospitals will allow everyone on the Uber platform to develop the competence for providing essential first-aid and medical assistance to those in need,”said Shweta Rajpal Kohli, Head of Public Policy, Uber India.
Speaking at the event, Ms Kohli also highlighted how in an effort to reduce instances of dangerous driving, Uber has invested in dedicated product and engineering teams to work towards building telematics-powered features to help drivers mitigate driving risks posed by the “four D’s” identified by road-safety experts as most common reasons for crashes on the road – ‘Drunk’, ‘Drugged’, ‘Distracted’ and ‘Drowsy’ driving.
In addition to this, Uber will also be reaching out to its active rider and driver base across India to spread awareness about Guidelines for the protection of Good Samaritans issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. As part of this initiative, we will be partnering with NGOs to roll out training materials for our driver partners and run advocacy campaigns for our rider base.
“More than 1200 accidents occur every day in India. Road Traffic accidents are as grim as any other medical emergency and one should know how to handle it. Partnership with Uber allows us to leverage the huge-potential of the driver-partners on its platform, and provide timely medical, or first-aid assistance to those in need,” said, Dr. Hari Prasad, President, Apollo Hospitals.
This year, Uber plans to go beyond this and hopes to work with the city government and planners to implement safety measures that help #MakeRidesSafer.
