Speeding Around Without a Scratch: Food Delivery Riders Get Traffic Lessons
Those food delivery riders on their mopeds or electric bikes pull off daredevil stunts to get your order to your door in no time. Things went terribly wrong in 2019 when a food delivery rider died in a collision, and ever since then delivery companies and Veilig Verkeer Nederland have been looking for a solution.
With a large square backpack or a box on the back of their scooter, they race along the bike path, ignore red lights and take a shortcut over the sidewalk to deliver that hot pizza quickly and on time. Food delivery riders are in a hurry, and they pull off the craziest stunts while making deliveries. The restaurants and organizations they work for are concerned about the road safety of their riders and everyone else in traffic, and in 2019 they signed an agreement in which they committed to doing something about the delivery riders’ road race. The reason was tragic: a 15-year-old food delivery rider was hit while on the way in Utrecht and died.
Holding out a hand
The solution: the riders are getting traffic lessons. Not like in the old days, with a trip around the city during which teachers checked whether you held out your hand before turning the corner, but through an app. Veilig Verkeer Nederland also drew up a few rules that all riders must follow. Always stop at a red light is one of those rules, just like not exceeding the speed limit and always wearing a helmet. Good idea, but is an app enough to make the riders drive properly?
Taking a roundabout the wrong way
Veilig Verkeer Nederland is not very optimistic, says Rob Stomphorst of VVN. Young people simply take risks, he tells daily newspaper Trouw. ‘They do not always fasten their helmet straps, enjoy picking up speed or take a roundabout the wrong way. Many of these things can be related to age.’
Paid per order
Some riders are paid per delivered order, for example for orders through Thuisbezorgd and Deliveroo. That lowers the threshold for accelerating rather than braking when the light is amber. Stomphorst: ‘A financial incentive like that is something our traffic lessons cannot compete with.’ The delivery services are being monitored from all sides, including by the labor inspectorate, especially now that things are extremely busy during lockdown. They see a danger: low wages, high pressure, long days – that can hardly end well. This was also shown by an inspection investigation: they examined the journeys of 178 restaurants with their own delivery riders, and half committed traffic violations.
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Source: Trouw
