Food delivery cyclists are frequently ending up on major motorways and inside tunnels, causing traffic delays and risking lives as they deliver dinner across Sydney.
But labor law experts say these riders are pushed to the limit and are being forced into dangerous territory by an unsafe system.
“We are seeing sometimes once a week these cyclists in our tunnels, and that’s causing significant delays for the whole network,” Alisa Hitchcock from Transurban told 9News.
Video shows one delivery rider in too deep on the Eastern Distributor, before the rider edges out and into oncoming traffic.
Once free from the immediate danger, the rider is followed by Transurban’s Incident Response team.
In another close call, a different rider found themselves wedged against a wall before they managed to make a slow and shaky escape.
Inside the Cross City Tunnel, CCTV shows one car being forced to swerve to avoid another worker on a bike, narrowly missing a truck and motorcycle in the process.
Delivery riders face a $302 fine for disobeying road access signs, or up to $2200 if it goes to court, but many don’t realise until it’s too late.
“It is often new migrants, backpackers,” Professor Joellen Riley from the UTS Faculty of Law said.
“Often their English language is not great, they’re local knowledge is not great.”
Plus many of these delivery riders are following directions on apps which will lead them straight into tunnels, especially if they’re not switched to cyclist mode.
“In an ideal world, food delivery services would have their own platforms with pop up notifications to tell cyclists to avoid a tunnel,” Hitchcock said.
However, Riley explained there are other pressures on the riders too.
“They’ll suffer economically if they don’t hurry to get work done, and that can create dangerous circumstances,” she said.
Eight delivery riders have died in crashes on the job in New South Wales since 2020.
But reform is just around the corner, and in August the Fair Work Commission will be given the power to set minimum standards for “gig economy” workers.
The federal government hopes it will improve wages and safety, but not everyone is convinced.
“There’s not a lot you can do to ensure that they’re enforced,” Riley said.
Who has right of way when a bus wants to pull out?
Both Uber Eats and DoorDash said safety is a “top priority” for their delivery people.
“To ensure bicycle delivery people can travel safely on the road, we’ve worked with Transurban over the years to double down on our education and awareness of the proper use of navigation systems,” an Uber Eats spokesperson told 9News in a statement.
“This includes reminding bicycle delivery people that it is important to choose a navigation app designed specifically for cyclists, not cars, to help avoid being navigated towards motorways and tunnels. We always remind delivery people that their navigation map should be on cyclist mode at all times.”
A DoorDash spokesperson said all delivery riders “using a two-wheel vehicle have access to safety training that covers Safety, Road Rules and Fatigue Management”.
“When riding a bike and ebike, Dashers select this as a vehicle type and are guided to the delivery location using bicycle directions when they use the in-app navigation system,” the statement said.
9News also contacted Hungry Panda for comment.
