Transportation network company, Uber has unveiled a new policy for its driver-partners across Sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria that will prevent its drivers from working when they are drowsy as well as enhance driver/passenger safety.
According to the company, drowsy driving is an issue for all who share the road and Uber is committed to doing its part to help prevent drowsy driving, with effect from today (Monday).
With this new feature, it stated that Uber would be taking another step forward by launching a feature across Nigeria that prompts drivers to go offline for six straight hours after 12 hours of driving time.
Uber added that drivers who do not take long and enough break would not be able to log into the app to take trips before the six-hour period expires.
It said in a statement, “Uber already has features like an in-app notification that reminds drivers to take a break when feeling tired on the road and advises drivers to take breaks if they are feeling tired. The new driving hours policy is an additional feature that will help improve safety on the roads for all.”
The General Manager, Uber West Africa, Lola Kassim, said, “We want to promote safe and responsible use of the Uber app and this feature has tremendous potential to protect not only Uber driver-partners, but also their passengers and, ultimately, all road users.
“Driver-partners in Nigeria are already driving responsibly, but safety is one of our key pillars and we believe this new feature will be adding one more safety layer.”
She said that the driver-partners would be able to track the time they spent on Uber trips and would be reminded when they have reached their maximum time on the Uber app.
“We are excited to roll this out across the rest of the region as this move will strengthen Uber’s approach to help keep riders and drivers safe on the road while preserving the flexibility drivers tell us they love.” “It provides periodic notifications when drivers are approaching the 12-hour driving time limit and then will automatically go offline for six straight hours when their max has been reached, but drivers will be able to finish any trip they are currently on,” Kassim said.
After the six-hour duration, the Uber West Africa general manager said, “driving time resets and drivers can go online again to receive trip requests.”
he said, “This will be a phased roll-out and not all driver-partners will see this right away. Last month, we rolled out this feature across South Africa. Based on drivers’ feedback, the new feature is working well and has helped to enhance the driver and passenger safety.