Delivery Vehicle Accidents

Delivery Accidents are on the Rise as More People are Getting Things Delivered to Their Home

Deliveries are on the rise in the United States and in Indiana where people expect goods and products to be delivered to their homes in a safe manner -- Amazon deliveries, pizza deliveries and all kinds of other deliveries are on the rise.

Although not all of these drivers are not necessarily required to carry a Commercial Driver's License, they are considered "professional" drivers by Shaw Law and will be characterized as such in front of any jury or in any settlement negotiations with their insurance companies.

As professional drivers, they are required to have the safety of the general public as their #1 goal -- not making money.

Unfortunately, as Amazon deliveries continue to rise, they do not require their drivers to earn a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) which could provide helpful safety instruction to its drivers.

Oftentimes, delivery drivers are paid by the delivery. So, speed is an issue.

We had one such case against a private school bus company that struck a bicyclist in Indianapolis. We discovered in looking at the contracts between the school bus company and the IPS school system, that penalties for late drivers were being imposed upon the company.

Naturally, this led to school bus drivers speeding and taking chances with our children. That case resulted in a $5,000,000 verdict against the private school bus company.

Another important issue in delivery truck accidents involves agency or employment.

Whether the delivery driver was an agent or employee of the business for which he was delivering (or an independent contractor) is important to determine which insurance policies will provide coverage in the accident which led to the injury.

An additional consideration is called "respondeat superior." That's a common law theory of liability that attempts to hold the business liable for the negligent conduct of its delivery drivers when they are acting in the course and scope of their employment with the company at the time of the crash. If the delivery driver was on the job and following orders, then the parent company can be held responsible for all injuries. This can be very important for the injured person, because the parent company will often have a larger amount of policy limits of insurance or assets to cover a big injury.

Sometimes, however, the parent company will claim the driver was "off the clock" such as being on his way to lunch or home at the time of the crash. Additionally, some companies will claim the driver was not following its rules at the time of the crash, thus rendering it not liable for your injuries caused by a delivery driver.

That's when you need an experienced business liability lawyer like Attorney Jeff JJ Shaw to examine the issue thoroughly to get you all of the compensation you deserve.

We've won multi-million dollar verdicts in the past at Shaw Law by investigating this issue. By gathering contracts and documents that detail how the delivery driver is paid, a jury can understand that the goal of profits overcame the necessary objective of public safety.

You can hire us to start working on your case in less than 10 minutes from your own home. Simply click Chat button or the Contact Us button and we can get started immediately.

Delivery accidents are on the rise.

Call Shaw Law at (260) 777-7777. Hire us from the comfort of your own home.