2. HOW DOES IT WORK?
A small piece of technology, in the form
of an electronic device, is installed in all
vehicles participating in the programme.
The device monitors and analyses your
drive style continuously in order to provide
you with relevant and precise feedback
on any areas that may need improvement.
Are you accelerating in a controlled
manner? Are your cornering manoeuvres
too fast? Are you prone to braking harshly
and repetitively? Together, these aspects
form the ingredients of the Sycada.Green
score. This score works on a scale from
A (perfect!) to H (needs immediate
remedy!) and from 0 to 100% where 100
is the optimal score.
Your personal score is visible to you in
the Mindful Driving portal of Sycada.
Green with your personal user name/
password combination. If you are a user
of the Smartphone app, your drive score
statistics can be accessed here as well.
THE MINDFULDRIVING PROGRAMME
The MINDFULDRIVING Programme of Sycada.Green is a complete system that
provides positive and on-going feedback to drivers helping them to optimise their
drive style, and hence driving skills. An optimised driving style will lead to significant
savings on fuel costs and CO2 emissions, while improving driver safety and reducing
the risk of having road accidents.
Our experience is that fuel savings in excess of 10% are achievable and that road
accidents can be reduced by more than 33%.
Hopefully, you will pick up this challenge and become a more mindful driver!
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3. THE MINDFUL DRIVING
TECHNOLOGY
Cars younger than 10 years are always equipped
with a universal OBD II port (OBD translates into
On-board Diagnostics). In most cars, this port is easy
to find and allows you to plug in the device yourself.
From that moment onwards, the technology will be
active and monitoring your driving style.
The OBD II port is usually positioned under the
dashboard on the driver’s side. In some vehicles
the port is hidden behind a small cover. The exact
position of the port can be found in your vehicle
manual under OBD II, On-board diagnostics,
service port or diagnostic port.
PS. In a small number of vehicles we have found that the mounting
of the device is impractical or that the cover cannot be closed.
In that case, an extension cable can be ordered so that the
device can be used.
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THE MINDFUL DRIVER
PORTAL
The driver portal is accessible via any PC or laptop
with Internet access.
Just type “gfm.sycada.com” in your browser to
register and to activate your personal account.
When you want to register for an account,
simply click on Create Account and follow the
instructions online.
When logged onto the portal you will see your
personal performance. This is defaulted to showing
the last 2 days, but you can change the chosen
period by selecting a different period from the
menu or by manually entering the desired dates.
When you have selected a different period, just
click on ‘Show’ to publish the results.
Depending on the arrangements that has been
made with your employer you may be able to see
the results of your colleagues as well.
If you use the Smartphone app, the steps outlined
above are similar, but you will first need to download
the app from the Google Play (Android) or App
Store (Apple).
4. THE DRIVE STYLE SCORE
The relevant criteria for determining your drive
score are:
• How often you exceed one of the thresholds
for acceleration per 100 kilometres.
• How often you exceed one of the thresholds
for braking per 100 kilometres.
• How often you exceed the threshold for unsafe
steering.
• How often you exceed the maximum speed
limit.
A ‘SAFE AND MINDFUL DRIVER’ has a drive
score of A to C or in excess of 75. Your drive
style anticipates road and traffic conditions well
and you respect your fellow road users. Your
acceleration and braking patterns are controlled
and you respect the traffic regulations at all
times.
A ‘GOOD BUT COULD BE BETTER’ has a drive
score of D and between 60 and 75. On the average
you are mindful about the way you drive but you
can still improve your drive style in one or more
specific areas.
A ‘ROAD WARRIOR’ has a drive score from
E to H or lower than 60. You often explore the
performance limits of the car. You are often
accelerating and braking somewhat harshly – a
drive style that you consider ‘sporty’ yourself.
It does mean, though, that your risk for having
an accident increases and that your fuel usage,
emissions and costs will be high.
For ease of communicating we use a ‘Star’
indication for each of the drive style criteria to
give you an instant indication of where you
perform well and where you can improve. Five
stars is perfect, 1 star shows that this is area
to be addressed. The two most important star
types are for acceleration and braking, since
this your basis for turning yourself into a more
sustainable and green road user.
