Shortly after COVID-19 began to shut down businesses, schools, and services across Colorado, the ridesharing company Lyft announced they would be launching a meal and grocery delivery service in several U.S. cities. Like Uber, Lyft is trying to expand their reach, going into a diverse range of areas including: 

• Healthcare rides for patients
• Public transit expansion for cities
• Autonomous vehicle tests

Now it looks like Lyft is trying to get into food and grocery delivery, which has expanded during stay-at-home orders across the country. 

Lyft Essential Deliveries

On April 15, 2020, Lyft announced the launch of their Essential Deliveries service, as “a new way for drivers to earn and support our community.” 

According to Lyft, Essential Deliveries is, “a new pilot initiative where government agencies, local non-profits, businesses and healthcare organizations can request on-demand delivery of meals, groceries, life-sustaining medical supplies, hygiene products and home necessities — all delivered by Lyft drivers.”

Essential Deliveries is initially being offered in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Orlando, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Diego, San Antonio, and Seattle. However, the company says they will expand to more cities as they develop additional partnerships. 

From the description, it appears to be a different service than the standard food delivery services, like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and GrubHub. These services operate as the delivery service picking up food from businesses and dropping them off to customers, taking a percentage of the food sales, and passing a portion of the money to the driver, with or without a tip. 

Insurance Coverage After a Car Accident With a Building

Over 120,000 Lyft drivers have signed up for Essential Deliveries. Lyft drivers cannot sign up only for food deliveries, Essential Deliveries will be in addition to their regular rides. Packages may include meals, groceries, essential auto parts, prescription, and more, with packages weighing up to 50 pounds. 

The service does not yet appear to have launched in Denver and it may be too early to determine how the service will avoid some of the pitfalls for the ride-hailing services. There is likely still the risk of increased accidents by spending more time on the road. One of the inherent risks of ridesharing services is the significant amount of deadheading involved.  

Deadheading is the term that refers to driving around waiting for a fare, driving to that fare, and driving around after completing the delivery. According to an article in the Denver Post, Uber and Lyft drivers were “deadheading,” or driving around without a passenger or en route to pick up a rider, was at least 40% of their time.

Denver Food Delivery Accident Lawyer

The attorneys at accidentdenver.com have successfully represented injury victims who were involved in car accidents with delivery drivers in Denver, Boulder, and throughout Colorado. Our experienced attorneys will fight to get the maximum compensation available for your injuries. Contact us today for a free consultation.