Q-Park have joined Toyota Ireland’s “FaceItDown” initiative aiming to tackle mobile phone usage while driving, and to reward safe drivers
In 2017, car manufacturer Toyota launched the “FaceItDown” application, to help combat drivers using their phones while on the road. In Ireland, the use of mobile phones while driving is a huge problem. Research by the Road Safety Authority has shown that making a call while driving will make a driver four times more likely to crash, while texting makes crashing a staggering twenty-three times more likely. Yet many people still drive while on their phone to take a call, text, snap a selfie, update their social media channels or check an email.
Toyota Ireland introduced FaceItDown to encourage drivers to put down their phone at the start of a journey, and keep it down. The app was developed with the aim of changing driver behaviour and improving road safety for everyone. Users can download the FaceItDown app from the Google Play Store or Apple Store for free. The app can be used in any make of vehicle, not just Toyota cars.
To benefit, the user launches the app before setting off on a journey and simply puts the phone face down, the phone will then buzz to confirm it’s tracking. Points will be earned for every kilometre driven without picking up the phone. If the user turns over the phone while driving, all the points accumulated will be lost.
With each completed journey where the driver successfully kept their phone face down, a point per kilometre travelled will be earned and can be used contribute to rewards. There will also be the chance to earn more rewards over time to reward long term use. Rewards can then be redeemed at various partners for things such as hot drinks at Circle K, or money off at FBD Insurance. Q-Park are proud to be the latest partner added to this initiative, to offer drivers money off their parking as an incentive to not use their phone while driving.
The Director of Q-Park Ireland, Mark Howard had the following to say about Q-Park’s participation in the scheme - “With mobile phone usage while driving being so common in Ireland, it’s great to see Toyota taking a unique approach to reducing related incidents. Q-Park were thrilled to be invited to participate in Toyota’s FaceItDown app, and help reward users for their safer driving habits“.
Steve Tormey, Chief Executive Officer of Toyota Ireland commented “We’re delighted to have Q-Park on board as a partner of the Toyota FaceItDown app, and that thanks to Q-Park we can now offer parking rewards to users for putting the phone down while driving. We are extremely proud of what the Toyota FaceItDown app has achieved over the past 18 months by drawing more attention to road safety and the dangers of distractions while driving. The Toyota FaceItDown app is delivering on our ‘Built for a Better World’ brand promise, as we want to make Irish roads a safer place and by using the app, people can do just that. With this new incentive we want to keep this momentum going and are encouraging motorists to continue to download the app and make safety a priority when they get behind the wheel.”
Q-Park are offering safe drivers the chance to cash out their rewards for €4, €3 or €2 off pre-booked parking online. When users choose the parking vouchers as their reward they will receive an email with a promotional code to apply at checkout. Q-Park have 17 safe and secure parking facilities across Ireland, in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Ennis where the rewards can be redeemed.
How many points do you need for rewards from Q-Park?
• €2 off parking – 250 points
• €3 off parking – 400 points
• €4 off parking – 550 points
