The U.S. gig economy is huge, and it’s growing fast: so much so that it’s effectively reshaped the nation’s employment dynamics. It’s a significant element of major sectors like transportation, food delivery, and parcel services, and as of 2024, the U.S. online food delivery market (second only to China) was worth $353.3 billion, with grocery delivery alone accounting for $257 billion.
Yet to get those deliveries where they need to go, companies need drivers – lots of them. With 1.5 million traditional delivery drivers out and about every day in the U.S., the millions of additional gig economy drivers (870,000 alone across California) have made U.S. roads much busier.
This study will look at how an influx of gig economy drivers has made our roads far more dangerous, and consider how delivery companies fare when it comes to safety measures, with distracted drivers a key safety issue.
The Growing Danger of Distracted Drivers
According to Samsara’s 2022 ‘Behind the Wheel: Distracted Driving in Physical Operations’ report, for which they surveyed 1,500 commercial delivery drivers from 7 countries in 21 industries, drivers are routinely (and dangerously) distracted while out on the road. With 5.2% of fatal truck accidents due to distracted drivers, the issue really is often a matter of life or death.
For example, 74% of drivers say they use mobile phones (or other devices) for work-related tasks while on the road. 79% also admitted that they’ve experienced a ‘close call’ or near-miss while driving because they were distracted.
nd 93% suggested that seeing footage of their own dashcam – which revealed the frequency of their distracted driving behavior – made them far more aware of how distracted they are while at the wheel. (60% admitted that seeing such footage actually changed how they drive, and curbed their distracted driving habits.)
In terms of what drivers feel is missing, and which would help them avoid distraction, 44% of drivers said that improved communication systems to limit work-related calls/messages (44%) and better in-cab routing (43%) would represent huge safety improvements.
95% of drivers say that targeted training and proactive support have transformed their driving habits, while 90% of drivers are more likely to stay with companies that are proactive about the implementation of measures that would prevent them from being distracted while at the wheel.
J&Y Law Co-Founder and Co-CEO Yosi Yahoudai is shocked by how much delivery companies have allowed profits to take precedence over driver well-being. “Over the years, I’ve represented far too many families devastated by crashes that never should have happened,” he says.
“When gig drivers are pushed to juggle apps, deadlines, and GPS instructions while exhausted behind the wheel, it’s a recipe for disaster. We cannot let profit outrun safety.”
J&Y Law Co-Founder and Co-CEO Jason Javaheri shares a similar sentiment. “We’ve normalized distracted driving as part of gig culture and that’s a dangerous shift,” suggests Jason.
When multitasking behind the wheel becomes part of the job description, it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. We need to reset our expectations around what we ask of these gig workers and put human beings first.”
Amazon’s Safety Problem
While many large companies use third-party carriers to haul goods – including Costco, Target, and Walmart – Amazon’s productivity dwarfs its rivals. With that additional productivity comes a heightened responsibility for safety oversight.
The statistics suggest that Amazon has fallen short. FMCSA data tells us that the online goods giant, which used twice as many third-party carriers as Costco, Target, and Walmart combined in 2024, has been linked to more than 60 fatal crashes over a five-year period.
Several of the companies associated with Amazon’s Relay Freight Program were subject to FMCSA violations regarding unsafe driving and poor maintenance records. Some had previously lost licenses yet continued making deliveries for Amazon.
Furthermore, analysis of more than 11,000 carriers reporting at least one shipment for Amazon unearthed the fact that some companies had vehicles or drivers ‘out of service’ two, three, or even four times above the national average (22.2% for vehicles; 6.6% for drivers).
Amazon’s Relay Freight Program, which helps it deliver its freight via third-party carriers, has drawn criticism for carrying out insufficient safety screening and oversight of partner companies. Another key noted issue is the company’s rapid expansion without imposing commensurate safety standards.
The case against Amazon continues to stack up: CBS reported that Amazon contractors’ ‘unsafe driving rate’ was 89% higher than any other carrier.
And CNN coverage noted that light vans used by companies like Amazon and FedEx were often not equipped with cheap, readily available technology that would have ensured far fewer road accidents. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety research confirms that the type of van in question is involved in around 935,000 police-reported crashes each year, 98,000 of which result in injuries, with 3,600 resulting in fatalities.
According to Amazon, ‘Our branded delivery vans are equipped with third-party technology that measures and monitors unsafe driving behaviors such as speeding, distraction, and failure to wear a seat belt or obey a road sign.’
Their statement to CNN went on to say, ‘Since we’ve incorporated this technology into our branded vehicles, delivery driver collision rates have declined nearly 40%, and reduced unsafe driving behaviors by 62% in the U.S.’
While this suggests a commendable response to faltering safety standards on Amazon’s part, there are still other issues to resolve – including gig driver overload and subsequent heightened accident potential.
Gig Delivery Driver Insights
Gridwise data tells us that Amazon Flex drivers’ working hours increased by 20.4% between January 2023 and December 2024. There’s no way around it: such excessive shift demands inevitably cause fatigue, cognitive overload, and subsequent accidents.
While Lyft drivers’ working hours declined by 5.4%, the intensity of their workload increased due to higher trip density. Uber drivers faced a 0.8% increase in working hours despite reduced earnings, a combination of factors proven to lead to fatigue-related accidents.
Using a dataset of 260,912 drivers across various platforms (Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Amazon Flex), Gridwise research tells us that, combined, the drivers completed over 171 million trips, traveling nearly 604 million miles in the process.
In terms of measurable insights regarding driver performance, parcel delivery drivers suffered the most notable increase in workload, which rose 55.5% between Q1 2023 and Q4 in 2024.
Food delivery drivers’ monthly hours also increased significantly, by 9.5%, while rideshare idle miles represented significant distraction periods for drivers, averaging 575 miles a month in metropolitan areas (22% of total miles traveled).
Fatigue And Distraction Consequences
There’s always a price to pay for more driving hours logged and associated fatigue. Human Rights Watch data confirms that over a third of gig delivery drivers reported at least one work-related car accident, with 25% also sustaining physical injuries from prolonged driving shifts.
Study data also confirms that 31% of police-reported crashes involve driver inattention: that’s over 1.7 million collisions caused by distracted drivers every year, or 4,600 a day. Drivers using a smartphone are four times more likely to crash, with cell phone use implicated in approximately 12% of all car accidents. And drivers using a device while driving is a sharply rising trend.
In fact, 47% of drivers admitted to texting while driving in 2022, a near-30% increase on the number recorded three years prior. Gen Z and Millennial drivers are most at risk, with 55% admitting to texting while driving.
Rideshare-Specific Accident Data
Rideshare service drivers are also often distracted, and account for 1.5% of all U.S. traffic collisions every year, with distracted driving the key determining factor in about 66% of rideshare-related crashes. Unsurprising when you consider the Gitnux data that reveals rideshare drivers face a fatigue-related accident risk that’s 2.5 times higher than conventional drivers.
And the problem is getting worse, with rideshare-related traffic incidents increasing by 15% between 2019 and 2022, with approximately 10% of all U.S. traffic fatalities involving rideshare vehicles. But which states are home to the most rideshare and delivery service workers?
Top 10 States For App-Based Rideshare And Delivery Drivers
As mentioned earlier, California is host to 870,000 gig economy drivers – a number that puts it at the top of the U.S. list. With Florida, Texas, and New York making up the rest of the top four, it’s clear that the biggest states in the country are also home to the largest number of gig drivers.
Things are not so clear-cut when we consider the top 10 states for distracted drivers (based on anonymized data from Samsara dash cams, collected per 1000 miles).
- 1. Arizona
- 2. New Jersey
- 3. California
- 4. Nevada
- 5. Hawaii
- 6. Texas
- 7. Florida
- 8. New Mexico
- 9. Oklahoma
- 10. Massachusetts
And on the flipside, here are the states with the lowest number of distracted drivers.
- 1. Alaska
- 2. Idaho
- 3. Minnesota
- 4. West Virginia
- 5. Maine
- 6. Iowa
- 7. New Hampshire
- 8. Vermont
- 9. Kentucky
- 10. Wisconsin
Finally, here are the states that feature the highest number of distracted driver fatal crashes (2023 Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST)).
| State | Fatalities |
|---|---|
| Texas | 366 |
| Florida | 253 |
| Louisiana | 227 |
| New Jersey | 165 |
| New Mexico | 149 |
| California | 140 |
| Kentucky | 140 |
| Washington | 123 |
| Illinois | 115 |
| Kansas | 106 |
The Gig Economy Is Here To Stay: In California, And Nationwide
A quick look at study data regarding the financial impact of the gig economy underscores both its prominence and its value to California: put simply, the gig economy has contributed $38B to the state, with 870,000 active workers now app-based.
Additionally, 46% of Californians have earned income from app-based platforms, courtesy of 660 million app-based platform transactions. In the U.S., 7.3 million app-based workers, via 4.3 billion app-based transactions, have generated a $212 billion dollar contribution to the U.S. economy.
Such figures confirm the permanent ongoing status of the gig economy, with numbers – dollars and drivers – set to rise year on year. All the more need to focus on urgently required interventions regarding driver distraction and its causes.
What’s Being Done – And What Still Needs To Be Done – About Distracted Drivers
The number of gig drivers flooding U.S. roads has caused significant safety concerns. But there are also clear ways to ease the problem.
For commercial truck drivers, their distraction risks are a combination of long-haul fatigue, the need to constantly update and consult dispatching devices, and a significant array of in-cab tech to negotiate.
With significant numbers of surveyed drivers already demanding simplified communication and navigation systems, it might be time to listen. FMCSA data shows 71% of large-truck crashes involve drivers doing something other than driving. Any measures that will allow drivers to focus on driving will save lives and prevent countless accidents.
95% of drivers say that targeted training and proactive support have transformed their driving habits, while 90% of drivers are more likely to stay with companies that are proactive about the implementation of measures that would prevent them from being distracted while at the wheel
Another simple but telling statistic is that which confirms gig drivers as four times more likely to use apps while driving. Consider the fact that the two most distracted driving demographics are parents and gig workers, with both multitasking while driving.
Add fatigue to this scenario, and that’s a potentially lethal combination of cognitive distractions, impaired reaction times, and decision-making, and potentially grave consequences.
Additionally, delivery, taxi, and rideshare drivers are constantly distracted by having to locate the next destination, drive in all weathers, including extreme heat in busy traffic, all often while waiting for drop-off and pick-up alerts and other updates as the clock ticks. Distractions for such drivers are manifold; taking your hands off the wheel and your mind off the road for even a split second can be fatal.
Ultimately, the companies – in particular, Amazon – employing overworked, overstressed, and over-distracted drivers must do their best to not only protect their employees, but make California and U.S. roads safer.
Be that through observing full due safety diligence, installing cheap safety technology in light vans, or allowing drivers reasonable break periods and manageable shift patterns without financial penalty, steps need to be taken now to offset the growing danger that distracted drivers represent.
Yosi is keen to emphasize where culpability lies. “We’re certainly not trying to blame hardworking drivers,” he says. “This is about holding billion-dollar companies accountable for cutting corners on safety. If Amazon or any delivery giant can afford next-day shipping, they can afford safe driving protocols. The law demands it, and so should we.”
“This is a leadership problem, not an employee problem,” Jason adds. “If companies flood the roads with undertrained gig workers and fail to invest in basic safety infrastructure, they’re choosing profit over public interest. Real leaders don’t wait for lawsuits or headlines: they protect people before the damage is done.”
J&Y Law is a premier plaintiff’s personal injury law firm known for delivering superior results through strategic, aggressive advocacy and compassionate client care. Get in touch with us today if you’ve suffered an injury due to a distracted driver..
