Drive safely, get a coffee!

Drive safely, get a coffee!

The first traffic safety initiative in Japan involving a smartphone application – which is carried out and jointly promoted by an automobile company, a communication company and a food and beverage company – has been launched. Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Komeda Co., Ltd. (Komeda), and KDDI Corporation (KDDI) began the initiative on September 20.

The smartphone application, called Driving Barista, is aimed at motorists in Aichi Prefecture, which, for the past 13 years, has had the highest rate of traffic fatalities in Japan.

The Driving Barista application can currently only be used within Aichi Prefecture. It measures the distance the driver has driven while leaving the smartphone face down. When the cumulative distance reaches 100 km, the driver can receive a coupon for a cup of blended or iced coffee at a Komeda Coffee Shop.

“South Africa has one of the world’s highest road-accident rates, with around 25 percent of these being caused by drivers using their cellphones while driving. There has been an increase these accidents, resulting in a major economic impact on the country’s gross domestic product,” says Glenn Crompton, vice president of marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors.

“Apps like Driving Barista will assist in dramatically reducing road accidents caused by the use of cellphones, which will make our roads safer and will reduce the impact on the economy. Driving Barista is currently in the pilot stage, but we hope that similar apps will make their way to South Africa soon,” he concludes.

Published by

Focus on Transport

FOCUS on Transport and Logistics is the oldest and most respected transport and logistics publication in southern Africa.
Hit or miss?
Prev Hit or miss?
Next SA Mover 2016-2017