KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As online shopping surges, so do crashes with Amazon drivers who are racing to meet tight deadlines. But when something goes wrong, who’s really responsible?
The driver, the “local delivery company” or the billion-dollar company using them to deliver their packages? And what should you do if you’re involved in a crash involving one of these vehicles?
Simon Law attorney Johnny Simon recently sat down with KSHB’s Legal Talk segment to explain the recourse for those involved in accidents involving Amazon drivers.
“First and foremost, you want to get the police involved and make sure everyone's OK, but the idea behind these cases is the company that you might be dealing with might not be Amazon,” Simon explained. “And that doesn't mean that Amazon's not ultimately responsible.”
Getting the police involved immediately following a crash is key, Simon said.
“You want to preserve any evidence that there might be,” he said. “There are things that generally come standard on the branded vans like cameras, data applications that, if you don't act quickly to save them, you're losing an important layer to the story.”
Amazon’s central defense in cases like this is that the drivers are not Amazon delivery drivers but are independent contractors working for a “local delivery company” called Amazon Delivery Partners. That defense means they are not vicariously liable or liable for the conduct of those drivers.
“Amazon has created this program that they've pitched as, a kind of ‘Operate your own business program,’ called Amazon DSP,” Simon said. “Sometimes it's run through the Amazon Flex program.”
Amazon DSP generally assists people who want to own a delivery business by developing an employee handbook, hiring and training policies.
“They even have to pick a business name that is acceptable to Amazon,” Simon said. “So, what you're thinking you're dealing with, with the Amazon truck and the Amazon person wearing the Amazon vest, they're going to claim that they're not responsible for those folks.
“That is their central defense. Their central defense is, ‘Look, this is not on us, you can go sue the local business. Which, if you have a serious injury or a death or a catastrophic injury, there's generally not enough resources there to compensate you adequately.
If you have been impacted by an accident involving an Amazon driver, contact Johnny Simon at 314-241-2929 or visit www.simonlawpc.com to fill out an online case summary.