St Vincent’s study assesses delivery rider safety.
St Vincent’s study assesses delivery rider safety.
22 Jun 2022
A pilot study via St Vincent’s Emergency Department has shown a stark uptake of commercial cycling related injuries, specifically in food delivery drivers.
The medical records of 386 adult cyclists who had presented to St Vincent’s Emergency Department between May 2019 and April 2020 with cycling related injuries, were retrospectively analysed as part of the study.
Of the cohort, 43 or 12% were identified as commercial delivery cyclists and 153 (42%) were non-commercial cyclists, while the working status of the remainder was unconfirmed.
The data showed that compared to recreational cyclists, commercial cyclists were 11 times more likely to speak a language other than English, were more likely to be injured from vehicle collisions and were over 13 times more likely to present to the emergency department between 8.00pm and 12.00am compared to the early morning hours (12.00 to 8.00am), with the data suggesting these injuries occurred during the busiest evening meal delivery times.
In addition, food delivery cyclists are typically incentivised to deliver quickly, and their delivery distance range can extend up to 10km, making them more vulnerable to collision than people cycling recreationally.
“Our study found that current reporting mechanisms for commercial cycling injuries appear to be underestimating the number of commercial cycling injuries occurring”, said Dr Lauren Christie, Senior Implementation Science Research Fellow and research co-author. “NSW road crash data indicates that 50 commercial delivery cyclists were injured in 2020. We identified 43 commercial cyclist injuries just at St Vincent’s Emergency alone in a 12 month period. Additionally commercial cyclists are generally viewed as independent contractors, shifting the costs of healthcare for these work related injuries from the Worker’s Compensation Scheme, to other funding sources- such the compulsory third party insurance, the injured individual or the health service bearing the costs for Medicare ineligible patients”.
The findings highlight the need for improvements in road safety, training and education for vulnerable road users as well improved monitoring of the incidence of commercial cycling injuries.
Subsequently, the death of four food delivery riders in late 2020 while on the job sparked a coronial inquest looking at the safety standards within the industry. SafeWork NSW and Transport NSW launched a joint taskforce in to food delivery rider safety last month.
Click here to read the full research paper, published in June 2022.
