Food Delivery Accident Lawyer

Food delivery is a very popular service across the US, particularly in large cities. The proliferation of delivery service providers has made it more convenient for customers to get food items at their doorsteps. However, with an increase in the food distribution vehicle count in LA, comes a greater possibility of accidents.

When you are hurt in a collision with any food delivery service vehicle, you should call an experienced LA-based personal injury attorney sooner rather than later. You might have the entitlement to substantial damages for the following.

• Lost wages
• Emotional distress
• Loss of property
• Loss of consortium
• Medical bills

1. Food Product Delivery Service Vehicle Accident Policies
2. Could I Litigate A Restaurant Business For Foodborne Illness?
3. Filing An Accident Claim Related To The Delivery Service

Determining Legal Responsibility For The Accident

4. Compensation Available For The Delivery Service Vehicle Collision
5. Resources On Food Delivery Automobile Crashes

Postmates, Uber Eats, and DoorDash are the best-known food delivery service vendors in LA. The three entities have insurance policies, where the coverage amounts vary by the damages that occurred due to the delivery vehicle collisions.

DoorDash

As per the website of DoorDash, the company offers excess automobile insurance for their drivers, but for just bodily injuries or property damage occurred to others. DoorDash requires every driver to have a personal automobile insurance policy, and this would serve as the main coverage, should a collision occur. The driver’s auto insurance is regarded as primary coverage.

Imagine that your collision occurred when DoorDash’s driver was actively delivering food and that your damages are above the delivery service driver’s policy provision. In this situation, the company’s contingent liability insurance policy would come into force.

Uber Eats

The insurance policy available for Uber drivers is akin to the coverage for those who work for the company’s subsidiary, Uber Eats. If Uber Eats’ application was enabled and their driver was yet to start picking up or transporting food, the following amounts would be available to meet the latter’s liabilities.

• $50,000 per person;
• $100,000 per accident; and,
• $25,000 for property damage.

In the case they were on active food delivery, automobile liability coverage would increase to as much as $1.0 million. Note that the insurance policy of Uber’s subsidiary lacks the provision to cover for underinsured or uninsured drivers.

Postmates

This food delivery business has insurance coverage that is identical to DoorDash’s policy. Postmates’ policy has a provision to offer $1 million as excess liability coverage to accident claims of third-parties, but there is a catch. It would come into effect only after Postmates’ driver uses up their personal automobile insurance coverage.

Postmates provides ‘occupational accidental liability’ coverage as extra insurance coverage, with a maximum provision of $50,000. This means in the case of a collision and injuries when PostMates’ driver is actively delivering products, a maximum of $50,000 would be available to pay for the concerned medical expenses.

Delivery service providers like Postmates usually distribute food items for many different restaurants in the US. Unlike other restaurants that distribute food items, such as pizza chains, these offer the service only through Postmates.

Nevertheless, any restaurant which brings about food poisoning of an individual can usually be found legally responsible for whatever loss this causes to the party. The same goes for delivered food items too since California’s legislation allows holding restaurants liable for bringing about foodborne illness in most cases. Click here to be more aware of the food tampering legislation in California.

Every restaurant has a duty of care, which means a legal obligation to guarantee the safety or wellbeing of customers. This means all forms of restaurants must deliver or serve uncontaminated food to customers. Do you feel that the reason for your sickness is any restaurant’s food or the negligence of someone who works for that business? Even if it happened, you should still establish that the concerned party’s negligent action is the reason for your foodborne illness, to get compensation from them.

Let us elaborate on this further with an example. Imagine that Jacob is dissatisfied with his role as a fast-food chef. To make matters worse, Jacob found that he has an infectious illness, which is transmittable through saliva. Jacob does not regard it as being important, and he chooses to spit in the newly made fast food item. The product reaches the customer address and it enters the body of Alex, an immunocompromised individual. Alex soon gets ill, and he feels that the food item caused it.

As a part of pursuing a claim for compensatory damages, Alex must prove the following things.

• The restaurant and the person at issue owed the aforementioned legal obligation to ensure his wellbeing or safety.
• Both violated this legal obligation through their negligent action, like trading infected food.
• The negligence thereof played a key part in the harm that Alex suffered.

It is possibly challenging to prove that an American restaurant’s food item caused you harm. Some forms of disease symptoms show instantly, whereas other illnesses might take longer to cause one to be sick. For instance, it occasionally takes as many as 7 days for E. coli to have any undesirable effects.

It is possible to prove the aforementioned situation with evidence that whatever you consumed was a contaminated food item. For instance, when you have testable leftovers, it is perhaps possible to prove that the food item also made others sick, and thereby, make your claim stronger.

We suggest seeing a family doctor or medical professional for getting tested should you get ill after consuming contaminated food. There exist tests to find out which form of microorganism brought about your health issue. These tests may aid in determining whether the food source, sick worker, or restaurant is liable for it.

Those who work for businesses like Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Postmates as their delivery vehicle drivers, are incentivized to earn maximum profits. Therefore, they are likelier to operate the vehicle inattentively as compared to other drivers. Food delivery businesses pay these drivers on a per-delivery basis, so they are likelier to do the following things.

• Speeding
• Changing lanes recklessly
• Neglecting rights of way legislation
• Making deliveries when fatigued
• Driving when distracted (calling, messaging, searching for an address, and so forth)

Food delivery automobile collision claims are possibly extremely complex, particularly when certain businesses argue that their vehicle operators are not their workers but independent contractors. Usually, companies are found legally unaccountable for the negligence of these contractors. Anyhow, these laws and guidelines may change from time to time.

• Determining Legal Responsibility For The Accident

How Does An American Employee And Independent Contractor Differ?

Whether a food product delivery vehicle operator is an employee or an independent contractor, depends on the level of control that their company has over them. The greater this control, the greater the chance of them being an employee. Discovering this status of the driver who caused the injuries of yours, would make a big difference should your damages go beyond the aforementioned excess liability coverage.

They are likelier to be an employee should the company:

• Pays them on a per-hour basis.
• Pays them on a weekly or biweekly basis.
• Establishes their delivery schedule or paths.
• Gives them uniforms or tools.
• Gives them benefits, vacation time, or health insurance.
• Necessitates them to register their arrival at work and record their departure from it, through an electronic/ digital device or tool.

In the case you collide with an Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Postmates vehicle driver, you may be legally entitled to pursue compensation for the losses you incurred. Vehicle accidents tend to lead to severe injuries, which necessitate expensive medical care, and property damage. A food product delivery vehicle collision has potentially stressful, tricky, and painful consequences for the victim and their loved ones.

Shared below are some of the forms of compensation recoverable for those losses of yours.

• Lost wages
• Emotional distress
• Medical expenses
• Loss of consortium
• Property loss
• Past, present, and future expenses related to medical services
• Loss of income
• Pain and suffering
• Future loss of earnings
• Hedonic damages

Common Food Distribution Service-Related Issues

It is generally assumed that distribution services are easy ways of getting food items to your doors. Anyhow, food distributions are occasionally likely to come with more complicated circumstances.

Operating A Personal Vehicle During Food Delivery Collision

Food delivery businesses have been proliferating over the last few years, so individuals utilize their own automobiles for the task. Owing to California’s enactment of AB5 (Assembly Bill 5), those who work for the delivery service providers are regarded as official employees instead of independent contractors, which grants them worker’s rights and insurance coverage.

Does A Delivery Driver Require Special Insurance?

The vehicle operators put their health at risk by working as a full-time delivery executive. Because of the enactment of AB5, they are offered workers rights and insurance coverage.

GrubHub Automobile Insurance Requirements

Every single food delivery business has a unique set of insurance requirements. Just click on the hyperlink to find out more things regarding insurance requirements for Grubhub.

PostMates Insurance Requirements

All food delivery companies have their own requirements for vehicle insurance. Click on this link to discover more regarding the PostMates requirements.

Insurance Policy For Uber Eats

Every single food delivery service provider has its own unique insurance policy. Open the hyperlink to discover more regarding the Uber Eats policy.

DoorDash Driver Requirements

There is a unique group of requirements for drivers at each food distribution business. Click on this hyperlink to find out more regarding this matter.

Food Delivery Worker Versus Independent Contractor

Food delivery staff has been regarded as employees ever since the passage of AB5. What is the distinction between both?

Common Reasons For Delivery Service Vehicle Accidents

Accidents are likely to occur, and food delivery vehicles are not exempt from this. As it relates to food distribution, the common reasons for collisions include lost drivers, distracted driving, and sudden turning.

Our team of expert injury attorneys is capable of assisting you in recovering compensation for any loss that you have incurred. Contact us at today or fill out our online form for a free consultation!