KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the continuous efforts and measures undertaken by delivery services providers in the country, some riders are still found breaking traffic rules, failing to follow the designated safety practices and lack a sense of road safety ethics.
These actions pose an imminent risk not only to the riders themselves, but the community they serve.
Delivery service providers using motorcycles in Malaysia such as Grab and foodpanda Malaysia have several strategies and strict standard operating procedures (SOP) in place for riders to follow but the unwarranted acts of a few paints the rest in bad light.
Time and again, we read about riders not following road safety rules, speeding, not stopping at traffic signals and taking matters into their own hands when something goes wrong.
With today's case of five delivery riders charged with the murder of a motorist after an accident in Semenyih, the New Straits Times reached out to service providers to learn about the safety measures they have in place.
In a statement, foodpanda said all its riders are given comprehensive training on road safety and are required to adhere to strict SOPs, designed to promote safe and responsible riding practices.
It said riders are given regular safety SOP training and exposed to awareness campaigns, including attending road safety talks held in collaboration with enforcement agencies to keep them on the ball.
"These SOP encompass various aspects, including road safety, traffic regulations, and customer interaction protocols. As a responsible aggregator platform, foodpanda Malaysia prioritises the safety and well-being of both our delivery partners and the community they serve.
"We have also implemented a comprehensive approach to rider safety, which includes regular road safety talks in collaboration with the police the Road Transport Department, and several road safety NGOs," it said.
The company added that regular communications are also sent out to remind delivery partners to be safe on the roads.
"We have recently developed a structured syllabus in partnership with the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to provide delivery partners with comprehensive training including road safety modules.
"Safety is our priority, and any form of non-compliance may lead to the termination of the delivery partner's contracts with us," it said.
Based on 2022 report, Grab said it has successfully maintained safety standards as 99.99 per cent of rides and deliveries occurred without incident in the Southeast Asia region.
Checks on its website showed Grab driver-partners on motorcycles and bicycles can be easily assessed via the driver apps and a safety report.
"The report is generated from the Grab app's telematics data, which senses driving habits such as speeding, aggressive braking, and sharp cornering for example. This is flagged back to the driver so that they can be more mindful of these habits while they are on the road.
"Drivers get a daily and weekly recap of detected incidents, with an overall safety score so they can keep track of how the riders are doing.
"The new version of the driver safety report now available includes a risk assessment based on past driving behaviour, helping them improve their riding habits overall.
"The new report also includes a map view of where the app detected unsafe riding so they can better recall what happened. We're also adding speeding alerts and fatigue nudges to drivers if we've detected that they're been on the road for a long time without a break.
"Those updates are coming soon to the Grab driver app," it said on its website.
