The winter holidays are already in full swing, and the vast majority of people have begun their holiday shopping online – whether that’s food, gifts or decor.
Do you know what all that online shopping creates? A lot of deliveries, all of which have to somehow make it to consumers’ doorsteps, despite the ongoing shortage of drivers. The increase in orders coupled with the lack of available drivers creates the potential for some serious motor vehicle accidents.
What makes seasonal deliveries so dangerous?
There are several different factors that come into play, but they all boil down to one basic problem: There aren’t enough delivery drivers and truckers to go around, and the ones doing the job are ill-equipped to handle the existing workload.
That means you get the following kinds of problems:
- Young or newly-trained drivers who don’t have the experience to handle inclement weather or emergency situations as they arise, leading to foolish mistakes
- Drivers who are working double or triple shifts without adequate breaks and rest, leaving them too exhausted to concentrate on the road or half-asleep behind the wheel
- Delivery drivers rushing through residential neighborhoods to make deliveries on time, which means they may not see the kids walking to school, the guy who always jogs in the early morning or the lady trying to walk her dog before bed
- Drivers who are unfamiliar with the routes they’ve picked up, so they’re blindly following GPS devices and not paying enough attention to traffic as they hunt down a street address
Because delivery trucks – even the smaller kind used by UPS, FedEx and Amazon – are so heavy and large, the damage they do to another vehicle or a pedestrian can be considerable. Your entire life may change in an instant.
Delivery companies and trucking companies won’t do better for their drivers and everyone else on the streets until they’re held financially accountable for their actions. Find out more about what you can do to protect your interests after a motor vehicle collision.