Amazon Delivery crash injuries and more than one Amazon Delivery death are under national scrutiny now that three investigative media teams and a trio of United States senators have raised questions about the company’s transportation arrangement. Truck accident lawyers, too, are concerned that Amazon is ducking responsibility when motorists, pedestrians and cyclists are run over by a package hauler. Contact the truck crash litigation team at Pritzker Hageman, P.A., if you or a family member have been victimized by an at-fault Amazon driver or subcontractor.
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“Innocent bystanders — as young as 9 months old — have lost their lives and sustained serious injuries from drivers improperly trained and under immense pressure to meet delivery deadlines,” the senators wrote. “It is simply unacceptable for Amazon to turn the other way.”
The public letter to Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos was written Sept. 12, 2019, by Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. They cited investigations by the New York Times, ProPublica and BuzzFeed that revealed Amazon uses hundreds of independent contractors around the U.S. to deliver an increasingly large share of its packages while also creating a legal separation between itself and the drivers.
When Amazon truck accidents happen, including numerous deaths and serious injuries, the retailer disavows responsibility, according to the reports. The investigations looked at Amazon delivery crash lawsuits and the human cost of fast shipping.
Suing Amazon Delivery
Amazon has responded to the attention by saying it has “strong safety and labor compliance record across our transportation network of employees and contractors.’’ The company said it has strict requirements for safety that meet or exceed the law. Safety is the company’s self-proclaimed top priority and Amazon Delivery vehicles of all kinds are required to carry insurance to pay for crashes, including Amazon Delivery injuries and deaths.
But when families have attempted to sue Amazon for delivery truck crashes, they come to realize at times the at-fault truck belongs to an Amazon contractor. Lawyers for victims are calling out Amazon and pressing the issue of liability in ways that will be decided by judges and juries. Transportation injury attorneys Fred Pritzker and Eric Hageman have delivered proven results for clients by winning tens of millions of dollars in major cases. They have the resources to fight Amazon and hold the company and its subcontractors accountable.
According to the New York Times Amazon delivery contractors were involved in 60 known accidents and 10 deaths since 2015. Citing a ProPublica investigation, the Times story said Amazon “argues that it bears no legal responsibility” for these accidents, some of which occurred in cars, trucks, or vans not marked as Amazon vehicles. Yet the contractors are under direction from Amazon to meet the company’s all-important on-time delivery schedule, the stories said.
Amazon Subcontractor Crash Death
One of the crashes in question killed a 10-month-old baby in January 2019 when an Amazon subcontractor slammed into the rear of a stopped SUV in New England. The baby girl, who was in a car seat, riding with her mother, died days later in the hospital. Investigators said the driver never braked. The box truck carrying Amazon packages weighed 10,000 pounds.
Media coverage this year of Amazon Delivery drivers also included a Chicago television station that observed unsafe driving habits of Amazon trucks outside a local Amazon warehouse where package deliveries originate. The CBS 2 report said a man who was severely injured at the location is suing the company.
Reporters for CBS 2 said they witnessed delivery drivers blowing red lights and stop signs, turning illegally on red, parking in fire lanes and cutting in and out of traffic without using turn signals.