With the demand for food delivery services being high in dense cities across the country, so is the need for drivers who deliver people’s orders. Yet, many have complained that these workers drive recklessly and make the streets feel more dangerous, leading to authorities cracking down on these workers.
Boston, New York, and Washington D.C. officials have begun issuing warning letters to food service companies, seizing illegally registered or driven vehicles, and launching special street patrols to enforce speed limits. These crackdowns are also occurring outside of the country in London and other English cities.
In New York City, authorities have seized 13,000 illegally registered scooters and mopeds so far this year. Just this last Wednesday, they confiscated more than 200 mopeds and other delivery vehicles.
“They have terrorized many of our pedestrians, particularly our senior and older adults,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday while at the scene of an incident in which two mopeds were destroyed. “Riders who think the rules don’t apply to them, they’re going to see an aggressive enforcement policy that’s in place.”
Many food delivery workers, a considerable portion of whom are working class migrants from other countries, argue that they are just trying to make a living and fulfill the expected service of delivering customers their food as quickly as possible.
“We’re not all bad,” said Luis López, a delivery driver from the Dominican Republic who spoke to The Associated Press on Friday from his motorcycle. “We come to work, to earn a living, pay the rent and send something to our families.”
López acknowledged that some drivers are unlicensed or drive unregistered vehicles, also noting that he’s seen some of them run red lights and ride recklessly on sidewalks. Though he says that a great portion of workers want to follow cities’ rules and regulations so they can work legally and safely.
William Medina, a delivery worker in New York who is also an organizing leader with the Los Deliveristas Unidos Campaign, argues the delivery companies are also to blame for these safety issues, as they place strict time limits on workers to transport orders, leaving them with little options but to rush.
“If you have to complete the delivery 6 miles, 7 miles, you have to complete it,” he said.
In response to the crackdowns, Grubhub and DoorDash have issued statements saying their employees will obey traffic laws, though neither addressed the issue of the conditions apps place on workers.
