Shell Helix & Waze Team Up To Warn Of Accident-Prone Spots

Right now, we’re into the mid-year school holidays and in less than a month, the Hari Raya Aidilfitri travel period will start. With a significant increase of cars on the road, the risk of accidents rise as well, which is why Shell Lubricants Malaysia, through its market-leading Shell Helix brand of motor oil, has teamed up with Waze, the country’s most popular traffic and navigation app, to launch Asia’s first accident-prone spots alerts.

The objective of this collaboration is to make it safer for road users this school holidays and Aidilfitri season.

From 16 May – 15 July 15 2017, a special alert from Shell Helix will pop up on Waze to remind drivers to be extra vigilant when their cars approach any of the 50 accident-prone spots across Peninsular Malaysia.  The locations were identified based on historical accident data crowdsourced from Waze users.

The alert to drive carefully when approaching an accident-prone spot is aimed at helping drivers, especially during the peak travel periods during the school holidays (also at the beginning of Ramadan), as well as during and after Aidilfitri. The message will only be displayed when the car is completely stationary to avoid distracting the driver.

According to Shell Lubricants Malaysia and Singapore, Marketing Manager Alex Lim, the company is taking its road safety practices further through its smart collaboration with Waze so that drivers could take to the roads with less worry.

“Shell Malaysia has been synonymous with various road safety initiatives throughout our more than 125-year presence in Malaysia. This cooperation with Waze reflects our desire to take our commitment in road safety to the next level by engaging drivers in real-time,” he said.

Waze Malaysia Business Manager Edward Ling said that the accident-prone spots alert is a unique combination of two features in Waze – big data analytics, generated from a vibrant community of road users and the advertisement placement feature.

“Using the crowdsourced data contributed by Wazers, we have identified the top crash locations that reflect the real situations on Malaysian roads. We are delighted to work with Shell Helix to launch this initiative that reminds drivers to stay extra safe. By reducing crashes, we also reduce traffic jams and this benefits everyone,” he said.

During the pre-peak travel period, Shell Helix will also be running a special oil change promotion for Waze users and members of the public who catch its Aidilfitri video on YouTube or Facebook to remind car owners to service their cars before embarking on a smoother ‘balik kampung’ journey.

By presenting a unique promo code that will be flashed on the Waze app and also in the video, car owners will enjoy up to RM 30 off when they bring their cars in for an oil change service at participating Shell Helix branded workshops and Shell retail stations’ Lubebay service outlets.

Launched in 2014, the flagship Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology fully synthetic motor oil is the first and only motor oil to feature the revolutionary gas-to-liquid technology that converts natural gas into an ultra-clean and stable base oil. This enables Shell Helix Ultra to deliver higher levels of cleansing and protection, meaning that no other motor oil keeps your engine closer to factory clean. Besides keeping the engine clean, Shell Helix Ultra also helps remove sludge left behind with inferior oils (based on sludge test clean up test) and provides superior wear and corrosion protection (compared with API SN and based on sequence IVA and sequence VIII engine tests) which can help to extend engine life and reduce maintenance costs.

In 2016, Shell Lubricants Malaysia also unveiled Malaysia’s first engine warranty program, the Shell Helix Engine Warranty (S.H.E.W). This program covers the costs of repair or replacement of 15 engine components that may fail if it is ascertained that the Shell Helix motor oils fail to provide proper lubrication and protection. Available for free to Shell Helix users, S.H.E.W. is available to personal passenger vehicles that are registered to operate within Malaysia which are 8 years old or less.  Shell Helix has recently increased eligibility to cars with mileage of 150,000 km or below.

Less than 3 months ago, Shell Lubricants also launched a Helix motor oil for high mileage engines (100,000 km or more). More information on Shell Helix motor oils as well as festive promotions, please visit www.shell.com.my/helixraya.

Also, even if you know your destination (whether for school or festive holidays travel), it is advisable to switch on a crowdsourced navigation app like Waze which can help warn you of obstructions ahead be it heavy traffic, an accident or lane closure. If you’re not yet a Waze user, you can download it from Apple App Store or Google Play.