Spokane has some great food options and now you don’t even have to start up the car to enjoy the best local restaurants. Grubhub drivers are waiting by their phones for your order. You select the meal and the sides and they bring it to your front porch. Still warm in most cases.
These modern upgrades to the faster food industry can have a hidden downside for anyone who still drives local streets. Normal drivers need to be cautious around the extra traffic that companies like Grubhub send out on the roads every day. Their employees can glance down at their app to accept a new order and carelessly drift into a dangerous collision. You may be on the road at that moment and be the victim of this distracted driver.
If you are in an accident with a Grubhub driver, or any other delivery worker, do not hesitate to call Spokane’s CCD Law for a free evaluation of your case. If a delivery driver caused an accident that left you with serious injuries he or she can be held accountable for every hardship you experience in recovery. What’s more, the company they drive for can also be part of a lawsuit to make sure you have the compensation you need to heal and return to a normal life.
Grubhub Driver Dangers Across Spokane
According to Grubhub’s website, they now deliver food from 300,000 restaurants nationwide and provide service to almost 650,000 hungry customers a day. It’s a lot of extra trips on the roads with potentially distracted workers behind the wheel.
The Insurance Information Institute (III) compiled the dangers of distracted driving in their yearly report. They uncovered 33,564 crashes attributed to distraction in 2018. Those accidents led to 2,841 tragic deaths on U.S. roads. Over a five year span distracted driving involving cell phone use was a factor in 13% of fatal accidents. And the numbers are likely much higher than reported because drivers often don’t admit when distraction caused their crash.
Most delivery drivers depend on their cellphones as co-pilots and logistics managers. Companies like Grubhub may stress safety, but the very nature of the job ensures that cellphone use behind the wheel occurs regularly.
Here are some of the most obvious distractions Grubhub drivers deal with each shift:
- Speeding. All delivery drivers find themselves racing against the clock. Delivering food while it’s still hot can be a temptation to drive carelessly.
- Drug or Alcohol Abuse. Most delivery companies have a zero-tolerance policy for drug and alcohol consumption, but sometimes drivers make bad decisions. Professional drivers are actually under stricter guidelines. A regular driver must keep their blood alcohol content (BAC) under .08% but many delivery drivers must stay under.04% BAC to be avoid being arrested.
- On-the-clock for multiple delivery services – Many workers in fast food and grocery delivery try to juggle several apps at once. They hope for more orders and more money. A driver may take on too many orders at once, causing them to make unsafe decisions on the road trying to get it all completed.
- Driver emotional and physical state – Grubhub workers may be in an unbalanced mental state that can make them unsafe to be on the road. We’ve all had bad days. Drivers can also be suffering from sleep deprivation.
- Distracting Orders – New orders can come in with potentially unfamiliar restaurants involved. Picky eaters may also have special demands that require an extra long look at a cellphone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do after an accident with a Grubhub driver?
- See to your safety and any injuries first, and then contact 911.
- If you are feeling okay to move around, start taking photos and taking notes on the scene.
- Document any car signs and personal badges that identify the driver as a Grubhub employee.
- Ask to see the driver’s worker I-D.
- Talk to any witnesses.
- Tell officers everything that happened so they can put it in their report. You’ll need to get that report later to use as evidence.
- Get checked out by EMS crews and then see your own doctor. Remember, not all injuries are noticeable right after an accident. Sometimes injuries don’t appear until days later. Get all your pain and discomfort documented.
Does Grubhub provide insurance for its drivers?
Grubhub does not back its drivers with auto accident insurance. Drivers are required to carry their own coverage, but many insurance companies won’t cover motorists who cause a collision if they find out they were working for a business like Grubhub.
There are ways Grubhub may be forced to accept liability in an accident though. An attorney can investigate Grubhub’s hiring policies and their worker’s driving history. Did Grubhub perform a thorough background check? Are they hiring unsafe drivers? Is Grubhub encouraging workers to make unsafe decisions in order to complete orders?
Should I trust insurance companies?
Insurance agents and adjusters working for the at-fault driver and Grubhub will do their best to pay you as little as possible. It’s their job.
They can delay responding to a claim, hoping you’ll give up. In some cases, they’ll deny your claim just to see if you’ll fight back. They can use the fine print in policies to help toss out your claim, hoping you don’t understand the legal terms involved enough to contest their decision. In other cases, they’ll offer you a lowball settlement hoping you won’t know how unfair it is and accept it. The best thing to do is to have an attorney working for you to protect you from these tricks of the trade.
Contact a Spokane Delivery Driver Accident Attorney
In Washington, injury victims have up to three years after an accident to file a claim for damages. We don’t recommend waiting years to file your lawsuit. When companies like Grubhub are involved in your case, the sooner you file, the better. You will find it easier to collect documents and gather evidence and it’ll be easier to locate the driver involved, even if they quit working for Grubhub. An attorney working on your side can help you build a strong case.
Established in Spokane in 1948, Crary & Domanico, P.S. is committed to providing our clients with the absolute highest quality legal representation. If our Spokane Car Accident Lawyers represent you for your accident case, you have our assurance that we will use our absolute best efforts to win your case. Contact us after any accident resulting in a serious injury for a free, confidential consultation and case evaluation. We will only offer you advice which is in your best interest.
