Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    THE safety of Didi riders will be further enhanced through the safety supervision role of Shenzhen police on a new feature of the Didi Chuxing app, the most-used car-sharing app in China.

    According to a strategic agreement signed by Shenzhen police and Didi Chuxing yesterday, Didi will add a new feature called “Shared Trip to Police” on the “Shared Trip” module, and app users can choose to share their trip with the police database as a record, based on which police can conduct an investigation if an accident or incident occurs during the trip.

    Didi will also build a credit system for drivers and regulate the industry by referring to the data gathered by the ID-based user system of Alipay and Sesame Credit Management, an Internet credit agency under Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Financial Service Group. Alipay and Sesame Credit Management both partnered with Shenzhen police to build the star driver system. Didi will add a Star Driver Module feature to the driver version of the app and encourage drivers to register as star drivers with the police so they can use the police’s intelligence service.

    “The two sides will jointly intervene to prevent DUIs and promote High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes. The intervention against DUI driving includes a series of activities to improve public awareness of DUI driving, reduce DUI violations and nurture the good habit of ‘Don’t Drive if You Drink’ among drivers,” Xia Xukun, deputy chief of the commanding department of Shenzhen’s traffic police bureau, said at a news conference yesterday.

    The two sides will jointly launch the annual forum on DUI intervention and set up an anti-DUI alliance, integrate resources and encourage eateries and bars to get involved by calling Didi drivers to offer chauffeur services for drinking or drunk customers. Didi will also encourage drivers to use HOV lanes and set up a safe driving training base for app-based drivers.

    During the 40-day Spring Festival Transport Season, which started Friday, Didi will offer a free chauffeur service through cooperation with police departments in 10 cities including Shenzhen by selecting drivers with at least five years of driving experience, and no record of crimes, DUIs or traffic violations.

    The drivers can carpool with less-experienced drivers, and take turns driving to reduce risks on their way home. Intending drivers can apply through the Didi app, or the WeChat or microblog of a local police department.

    The city now has 3.24 million registered vehicles, ranking first among Chinese cities in terms of vehicle density.