In an innovative approach to road safety Northern Beaches Council is the first in the country to encourage motorists to compete to be the safest driver using telematics technology on smartphones.
UbiCar, a free phone app, measures phone distraction, speeding, acceleration, braking and cornering using patented technology which allows an app to run automatically in the background providing feedback at the end of your trip.
Telematics technology is currently used in over 20 countries with a proven record of changing driver behaviour and is now being used in Australia through the UbiCar app.
For the month of October local motorists can compete against one another for a prize pool of $5000 to be crowned Northern Beaches Safest Driver after downloading UbiCar on their phone.
Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan said Council is very passionate about road safety and working with local stakeholders and the police to ensure we educate drivers on responsible behaviour on our roads.
“Council’s aim is to make Northern Beaches roads safe for all of us - drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
“Speeding is the biggest problem on the Northern Beaches and one of our key aims in our own 20 year Transport Strategy is to work towards zero deaths by 2038.
“We already have a number of road safety initiatives in place including bicycle safety, educating seniors, educating the supervisors of learner drivers and safety around schools, as well as funding and coordinating child safety restraint checks.
“I’m so pleased we are leading local government and taking part in this fantastic concept. It’s a personalised approach, gives immediate results and any demographic can access the app. I hope it inspires other councils to follow suit.” Mayor Regan said.
Partnerships Manager of UbiCar Carolyn Batterton said UbiCar is like a silent driving passenger.
“UbiCar operates in the background with no interaction needed by the driver. It calculates scores, so at the end of a trip UbiCar lets drivers know if they made mistakes and where they can improve their driving.
“Australia relies heavily on penalties to improve driver behaviour, which has an impact, but it’s time to introduce positive reinforcement and reward motorists for safe driving. We're thrilled to have Northern Beaches Council sponsor UbiCar's first Australian Safest Driver Competition.
“US data shows this technology leads to an average reduction of 35 percent in phone distraction, 20 percent in hard braking, and 20 percent in at-risk speeding all within 30 days of using the program.
“We’ve also started adopting UbiCar into driver education programs in schools for year 11 and 12 students. Councils are also looking to use the safe driving app to complement their existing road safety programs, making our roads safer.” Ms Batterton said.
To be part of the Northern Beaches Safest Driver competition simply download the UbiCar app from the app stores onto your phone and join the competition if you live in the area.
Motorists outside the Northern Beaches can earn UbiCoins by driving safely to spend in the UbiStore within the app to save money on thousands, of products including movie tickets, groceries, gifts and fuel.
For more information visit www.ubicar.com.au