Deliveroo Singapore has unveiled new safety initiatives as part of its ongoing commitment to providing a safe working environment for its fleet of over 11,000 riders.
The new initiatives include a three-month pilot programme with Rider Dome, an Advanced Rider Assistance System (ARAS) based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) which analyses real-time data and detects potential threats on the road, and an extension of the firm’s ongoing partnership with ComfortDelGro which includes the launch of a new Advanced Defensive Riding Course.
First food delivery platform to partner with Rider Dome
To protect riders on the road, Deliveroo will roll out a three-month pilot programme for a select number of riders this month with Rider Dome, an AI-led system which uses front and back cameras installed onto motorcycles and proprietary algorithms to assess potential safety risks.
The system comes with a processing unit that will trigger real-time alerts in the form of light and sound for the riders, when safety risks such as collisions on the road are detected. This helps prevent accidents even before they occur.
In addition, Rider Dome also comes with an app that monitors a rider’s journey on the motorcycle, provides analytics, and automatically calls emergency services in case of an accident.
Enhancing safety awareness through Defensive Riding courses
Deliveroo will release close to 600 new slots for its Defensive Riding course with Comfort DelGro Driving Centre. The additional slots are an extension of Deliveroo’s ongoing partnership with the transport company and seek to equip riders with defensive riding techniques to improve their safety awareness and enhance their survivability on the roads.
Deliveroo first unveiled the partnership last October as part of its ‘Rider Safety Month’ campaign which was well received by Deliveroo riders. The course garnered strong satisfaction ratings (4.8 out of 5), with 98% of riders expressing interest to take part in similar activities moving forward.
For riders who have completed the Defensive Riding Course, Deliveroo and ComfortDelGro will offer a new Advanced Defensive Riding Course to all scooter riders. The four-hour course will cover theory and practical elements, including proper riding posture, motorcycle handlings and balancing, and braking techniques. The two courses will be available to riders from April to the end of this year.
“Riders are a fundamental pillar of our business and are at the heart of what we do. Their safety is of utmost importance and we are constantly looking for ways to better their daily riding conditions,” said Jason Parke, Head of Operations, Deliveroo Singapore.
Beyond a mandatory introductory programme for road safety guidance for all new riders, we hope that our new Rider Dome pilot alongside the improved Defensive Riding Courses with ComfortDelGro will continue to pave the way for riders to hone their road safety skills whilst protecting them on the roads.”
Since 2018, Deliveroo has been focused on implementing safety initiatives, which include a first-of-its-kind accident and injury insurance for riders. This insurance protects every Deliveroo rider on the road completely free of charge and gives riders security in the event of an injury while maintaining the flexible work they value.
To raise awareness of rider safety on the roads, Deliveroo last year appointed the month of October as ‘Rider Safety Month’, rolling out several safety initiatives including the launch of global safety app Busby. With Busby, Deliveroo riders will gain complimentary premium access to information like incident detection, danger hot spots as well as alerting nearby riders to RoadRadar drivers (such as drivers of trucks, lorries and cars) when Deliveroo riders are nearby.
