MINDFULDRIVINGDRIVER’S MANUAL

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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THE MINDFUL DRIVING TECHNOLOGYCars 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 PORTALThe 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).

THE DRIVE STYLE SCOREThe 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.