It sounds ridiculous, right? How could using delivery apps and allegedly having fewer drivers on the road, result in more traffic? It comes down to two factors: convenience and the way delivery apps are set up.
Convenience
Delivery apps are convenient. When you’re sitting at home on a Wednesday night, you can order from any restaurant in town without leaving your home. As a result, people with delivery apps are more likely to order out than people without the apps are to go out to eat.
That means far more restaurant orders are going out today than they were five or ten years ago. In turn, that means more drivers are on the road picking up food orders than they usually would. Not only that, but there’s evidence to suggest delivery drivers are going farther and using more fuel than someone going to their favorite restaurant and back home.
Deadheading
Studies examining the habits of rideshare and delivery drivers found that, on average, most of them spend around half their time “deadheading.” Deadheading means drivers are driving aimlessly while waiting for a match. There’s no way to determine exactly where they need to go because an order could come from any restaurant.
Deadheading is extremely dangerous. It wastes fuel, adds to traffic congestion, and increases the likelihood of an accident. Without a set destination, app users are driving aimlessly while needlessly increasing wait times and traffic congestion. This problem is only exacerbated at scale.
The more saturated the local restaurant market, the more people will be looking for delivery gigs which means fewer orders are picked up by the same driver. That results in more drivers deadheading for longer periods of time, which, you guessed it, causes more traffic and more accidents.
In addition to food delivery services, there are also package and parcel delivery trucks to take into account.
If you or someone you love suffered serious injuries or even wrongful death in a delivery accident, we are here for you. If you’d like an experienced Starkville injury attorney from Vollor Law Firm, P.A. Law Firm to evaluate your claim, please send us an email or call (662) 269-6188.