What should I do if I was hit by a DoorDash, Uber Eats, or other food delivery app driver? We get that question frequently. First, read on. Second, contact us.
Understand that if you were injured in a car accident that was caused by a food delivery driver such as Door Dash or Uber Eats, we can help you seek compensation.
While commonsense tells us that delivery drivers drive fast and often reckless as they hurry to meet job demands to make as much money as possible in as little time as possible, these delivery drivers are dangerous given how their apps function.
When we started handling these types of food delivery drivers causing car accident cases, we were shocked at what we uncovered about the delivery drivers and the apps. We discovered that many of these companies perform no safety screenings of their drivers before hiring. We found that many of these companies conduct no safety trainings for their drivers. We uncovered that many of these companies keep delivery drivers with a known, dangerous driving history. To make things even worse, many of these companies’ apps bombard their drivers—while the drivers are driving—with distracting messages/alerts. And based on how these apps evaluate the profitability of their drivers, the drivers view and respond to the messages—while driving. Obviously, with such distracting apps, delivery drivers then frequently cause serious car accidents. Through our case investigations, we found Doordash, Uber Eats, and other food delivery apps use financial incentive structures and app designs that inherently increase the likelihood of distracted driving of its drivers. Based on the safety studies, distracted driving can be just as dangerous as drunk driving.
We have learned that the delivery drivers are rated and financially encouraged to deliver faster. The drivers can stack up multiple orders—this is called batching. What that means is that drivers can be mid-delivery for one order when the app sends them one or more additional delivery job invitations. These are based on the company monitoring exactly where the drivers are and how to maximize the number of deliveries the driver can make. The companies provide financial benefits and “perks” to its busiest drivers. The opposite is also true, i.e., if the driver delivers orders too slowly, the driver is penalized financially, suffers low ratings, and receives less preferable/profitable job invitations.
These companies have large data teams that monitor countless aspects of their drivers and the delivery process—and the monitoring is aimed at increasing speed and profit rather than safety. One thing that sets us apart from other lawyers is that we at ThePhillyLawyers understand the universe of data that exists about these food service delivery apps. We consult with data scientists to help us understand their monitoring. We understand that companies—such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, and others—collect a tremendous amount of data about their drivers. One thing that the companies do not want us to know is the crash data shows an awareness by the company of unsafe driving on the part of their drivers when the drivers are delivering food as quickly as possible. This awareness by the company shows that they are consciously disregarding known risks to other drivers as the companies’ profit models are speed-over-safety.
While this article could go down a rabbit hole of technical jargon about each app, rest assured that we have expertise, experience, and contacts for these cases to hold the negligent drivers and companies accountable. What that means for you is that we can get the highest possible recovery for you.
If you’re reading this article, chances are that you, or your loved one, was injured in an accident caused by a food delivery driver’s negligence. While we are sorry for your misfortune, you have come to the right place because ThePhillyLawyers represents people injured in accidents. We bring claims against not only the food delivery driver but also against the company that they were driving for. Since gig workers often classified as independent contractors, the companies themselves are not automatically liable; however, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates, and some others provide liability insurance to their drivers depending upon what stage of the delivery process the driver is in when they cause the accident. So we will investigate those facts to find maximum coverage for your accident.
These apps’ policies to only provide liability insurance at certain stages of the delivery process is disingenuous since we know that the delivery drivers—no matters what stage of the delivery process they are in—put speed over safety to increase their, and the company’s, profits. To protect you, we work to make sure that the company’s liability is part of the claim. The reason we do this is because often the driver only carries the state minimum liability insurance coverage, which will fall far short of covering your serious injuries. However, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates, etc., carry larger liability insurance policies that can help cover serious injuries. The other reason we bring claims against the companies is to hold the company accountable for their profit-over-safety business models. Their profit is based on speed rather than safety and that harms all of us on the road.
Here’s a link to our general information sheet on “What should I do if I get into a car accident?” Because the driver in your accident was driving for a delivery app, the additional step from those listed in the prior link is to report the accident to the company for the driver, e.g., DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates, etc. Therefore, if you can, at the scene, determine who the driver was driving for at the time he/she caused the accident.
We are experienced accident lawyers. If you need a Philadelphia DoorDash Accident Lawyer, or a Philadelphia Uber Eats Accident Lawyer, call us today at (215) 884-9300. For additional information, please view our car accident page.
