(Yicai Global) March 11 -- Huolala has introduced an audio recording function in its app that will record all conversations between driver and client, and will soon be installing dash cams across its fleet, after a customer died last month after she leapt from a moving removal van, the Chinese truck-hailing platform said today.

The audio recording will start automatically as soon as a driver arrives on location, will end after the delivery is completed and will be saved on the cloud for seven days, the Shenzhen-based firm said on its WeChat account.

The country’s leading freight-hauling platform is also introducing a dash cam called Anxinla, meaning ‘don’t worry’ in Chinese, that can record video both inside and outside the van and is equipped with a global positioning system and a hidden alarm.

At present, there are 10 such dash cams being tried out in Changsha, central Hunan province, where the incident took place. Another 10,000 units will soon be deployed in eight other cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou in eastern Zhejiang province and Suzhou in eastern Jiangsu province. It is then expected to be rolled out nationwide from July.

A Huolala driver was arrested last month on charges of negligent manslaughter after a 23-year-old customer jumped out of his van and died of a head injury. A police investigation has since revealed that the two were arguing over paid porter services and driving routes.

Huolala, which has 480,000 drivers in 352 cities, expressed extreme remorse over the incident, acknowledged that its safety measures had proved inadequate and vowed to do better.

Editor: Kim Taylor