Ten years ago, it was thought that same-day delivery was impossible. Now, you can get packages to your door within hours of placing an order. Customers like that Amazon promises that every order will be quick and dependable. But this convenience comes with a cost: dangerous conditions, tired drivers, and more accidents on Chicago streets.
Every day, speed limits and contract systems make roads unsafe for drivers and the public. Delivery Service Partners use numbers that put the number of packages delivered ahead of driver safety and public health. The business model is based on making people work too hard to keep their promises to customers about delivery.
This is the problem with the gig economy and last-mile delivery. It’s a problem for drivers, victims, and liability. When victims know about these problems, they can hold the people responsible accountable, and businesses will put safety first. These Amazon delivery truck accidents in Chicago show how much it really costs to get things fast.
The Race to Deliver While Driving
Accidents happen all the time, not just sometimes, because of quotas that aren’t realistic, routes that are timed, and being tired. Every day, drivers have to deliver hundreds of packages, and GPS and algorithms keep track of the exact times they need to do it.
The system punishes drivers for stopping to use the toilet, getting stuck in traffic, and taking routes that aren’t the best ones according to algorithms that don’t take real-world conditions into account.
Drivers are often contractors who have to follow strict rules instead of employees who have rights and reasonable expectations at work. Delivery Service Partners hire drivers as independent contractors so they don’t have to give them benefits or pay them extra for working late, or give them job security. If drivers don’t meet delivery quotas that require them to cut corners on safety, they could lose their jobs.
Drivers in Chicago have to pee in bottles, skip meals, and drive while tired to keep their jobs. One driver said that he delivered 300 packages in one shift without taking a break for lunch. Another person said that the app punishes drivers who take more than 30 seconds at each stop by making them park illegally and deliver packages to people’s doors.
When Stress Makes People Crash
Rear-end collisions from distracted driving, pedestrian strikes, and running red lights to get to the next delivery are all types of accidents. People looking for the next delivery address crashed into cars that were already stopped. Drivers run red lights and stop signs because they have to meet their numbers.
Because the streets in Chicago are small, there are a lot of people walking around, and the intersections are tricky, you can’t mess up. Delivery vans park on both sides of the street all the time, which makes it hard to drive safely. People who don’t know the area drive too fast while using navigation apps and delivery tracking systems at the same time.
There have been a lot of serious injuries in Chicago involving Amazon-branded cars, according to crash reports and lawsuits. One case was about a delivery driver who ran a red light and hit a family car, making a child disabled for life. In another case, a driver who hit a pedestrian while looking at the delivery app for the next address killed the person.
If An Amazon Van Crashes, Who Is to Blame?
It’s hard to figure out who is to blame for crashes that happen because of Amazon’s business model, because of how complicated its subcontractor system is. Amazon says that the people who drive for them are not employees of Amazon but Delivery Service Partners. On the other hand, Amazon picks the routes, keeps an eye on performance all the time, and fires DSPs who don’t meet their goals.
If Amazon had a lot of say in how the driver did their job, then both Amazon and the delivery partners are responsible for damages. Even if the contract says otherwise, courts are starting to agree that being able to have a lot of say over how work is done makes it an employment relationship. When Amazon uses technology and metrics to control every part of delivery work, it’s not clear if someone is an independent contractor.
Insurance layers make claims harder because DSPs have some coverage, Amazon has umbrella policies, and you have to sue to find out which policy applies. When victims try to get help, they often have to deal with multiple insurance companies that all say they aren’t responsible and point fingers at each other. This tactic of delaying wears down victims who can’t afford to fight corporations in court for long.
Fixing a System That Isn’t Working
People want better rules and fair scheduling so that businesses that hire contractors have to set limits on how much work they can do, give them breaks, and be responsible for their work. If the law treated gig workers like employees for safety reasons, Amazon would have to put safety first for its workers. Current laws let businesses use contractor classifications to their advantage while still keeping control that helps them.
Tech that tells drivers when they need to take a break could stop crashes by keeping track of how tired they are. Cameras and sensors already watch how drivers behave very closely. This same technology could keep people and drivers safe. But companies don’t want to use monitoring technology to keep people safe instead of making them work harder.
Responsibility must be in line with the size of the business. Companies that make billions of dollars in profits should not be able to avoid responsibility for the problems that their business models cause. Amazon, being a rich company, can easily pay the victims or make things safer. The thing is, only lawsuits make them do that. When making money means putting safety at risk, voluntary corporate responsibility doesn’t work.
Final Thoughts
The chain of responsibility starts with what customers want and ends with company rules and tired drivers who cause accidents that could have been avoided. Companies are under a lot of pressure from customers who want things delivered right away. This pressure is passed on to drivers who can’t say no to dangerous situations. It’s everyone’s fault in this chain, but the companies that run the system are mostly to blame.
If people who buy things and people who make laws know, they could push for changes that make things safer, easier, and fairer for workers. People might be okay with it taking a little longer if they knew how much it would cost to speed up delivery. Policymakers could treat delivery work like other jobs that are dangerous for workers, where their lives depend on their working conditions.
The accidents involving Amazon delivery trucks in Chicago show the hidden human cost of fast shipping that advertising never talks about. There is a driver behind every quick delivery who is pushed beyond safe limits to keep Amazon’s promises without thinking about what will happen in the real world. Accidents will keep happening as long as the system is broken and puts speed ahead of safety.
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