Car Accident and Urgent Delivery Systems

Brien Roche

Injuries due to time urgent delivery systems are common. We have all become accustomed to overnight or same day delivery. 30-minute delivery for food. Such time urgent delivery systems promote business. However they can have devastating effects on public safety. Any accident lawyer needs to be aware of the failures of this type of system.

In pursuing claims against companies that operate on time urgent delivery systems the claim tends to be focused on the driver. However, the analysis must be much broader. In other words his conduct is a symptom of company philosophy. The policy promotes a harried, frenzied workplace. Also this dooms the driver to a high rate of crashes. This may create direct corporate liability. Call, or contact us for a free consult.

Car Accident Urgent Delivery-What’s The Policy

The attack on these types of delivery systems should be on the following:

The Driver

• • Time urgency in the use of autos has an adverse impact on safe driving. It increases stress. It impedes several physical and perceptual abilities of the driver. In addition judgment, attentiveness and coordination are affected. Also it causes fatigue. Stress itself has several known effects. The visual field is reduced. The visual field is less than when the driver is not under stress. This is true of all sensory experiences.
  • Time urgency impacts the judgment of a driver. She does not appreciate the existence of danger. She cannot evaluate the dangers or react to them. As a result the ability to maintain control so as to avoid the danger and get out of it are impacted. These facts must come in through expert testimony.

Car Accident Urgent Delivery-The Culture

• • The culture created by the employer is one of constant hustle. This is to comply with delivery goals. To fully appreciate this obsession with speed, the entire process of the company must be looked at. As a result if the product that the company is delivering is food, then you need to look at every stage of that food preparation process. Start with the receipt of the food order. Look at their prior readiness for food preparation. How is the order sent to the food preparers? Also how is the food tendered to the driver? In addition how quickly the phone is to be answered. Is it first or second ring? Also how quickly is the food to be loaded into the oven? What is the cooking time? How quickly is the food to be out the door? Finally what is the record keeping as to how quickly the driver delivers the food?

Compensation

• • Payment to the driver is important. Is he on a hourly basis or on tips.  The system may generate a built-in incentive to speed. If the drivers rely heavily upon tips there is incentive to speed. As a result the more deliveries made, the more tips received.
  • What record keeping is there of late deliveries. Are there penalties as a result of late deliveries? The penalty may be monetary or product benefit to the customer. This impacts the gross profit of the company. Also are there any rebates for late deliveries?  In addition this puts pressure upon the driver to deliver the product on time.
  • Is there any reward or incentive system based upon speed of delivery? Internal company newspapers, newsletters or publications may show a lot in this regard.
  • This sense of hustle and speed in the food preparation process is bound to spill over into the delivery phase of the business. If the business is the delivery of packages then the same analysis must be done. Look at how the order is received, how it is sent to the driver. What is the number of deliveries expected of each driver? How are drivers evaluated? In other words it is not realistic to expect that a driver who is encouraged to run and hustle in a hurried atmosphere in the non-delivery phases will slow down and drive safely. Hence if a culture of speed has been created it will carry over to the driving. Call, or contact us for a free consult.

Car Accident Urgent Delivery-Screening of Drivers

• • Time urgent delivery systems create a great deal of stress. If the drivers are not able to handle that stress their traffic violations increase.
  • What testing is done to see if new employees are able to deal with stress in the delivery phases.
  • Are background checks conducted as to driving history both before and during employment? Also what is the frequency of intermittent checks on the employee?
  • What type of driving records preclude an applicant from beginning or staying employed?
  • Is testing done to see if an employee is directionally impaired?

Training and Policies

• • Is safety training provided?
  • What policy does the company maintain as far as bad weather driving? For instance, a company that ensures that the product will go through in spite of driving conditions and uses that as a competitive advantage has little concern for safety. As a result they are more concerned about maintaining its public image.
  • What method of accident reporting is maintained? What statistics are maintained? Some companies hide the accidents and statistics as to their individual drivers. They fail to maintain any central repository of info as to company-wide accidents. In other words that may be evidence of the employer’s awareness of the dangers. They insulate themselves from liability by simply not maintaining any records.
  • Are there policies as to regular inspections of the driver’s vehicle and are those policies followed?

Driver Support

• • What is the size of the delivery territory to which a driver is assigned? The larger the area then the more quickly the driver has to operate.
  • What are the staffing policies of the company? Also are there enough drivers and support people to make sure that the driver is not operating in a rush environment during peak hours?

Advertising

• • What is the company telling the public as to whether the customer’s time needs will be met? If in fact the customer is being told through advertising that time is of the essence, then that form of advertising must be presented to the jury.

Car Accident Urgent Delivery-Other Claims

• Have there been prior law suits wherein they have been found guilty of negligence? How did they react to such lawsuits? Call, or contact us for a free consult.

If the crash in question is a rear-ender occurring on a wet road during the peak delivery then all of the factors mentioned above must be looked at. How did they contribute? Furthermore the employer must be shown as a primary player in the negligent conduct. They are not simply vicariously liable. That picture can be painted by disclosing to the jury all of the factors mentioned above.

Call, or contact us for a free consult. Also for more info on personal injury claims see the highlighted page. In addition for info on corporate liability see the pages on Wikipedia. Also see the page on transportation networks