Saturday 11 January 2020

So, Basically, They Are At The Same Risk As Anyone Else?

Feeding on from the last post, we have the reaction from the...errr, the food delivery community, I guess:
Alex Marshall, chair of the couriers and logistics branch of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), said the union had noticed a rise in delivery drivers facing abuse when out on the road.
He told The Independent: “More members of the public are treating delivery drivers with utter contempt. The companies they work for treat them awfully.
“If the companies, who are supposed to be the ones looking after them, are treating riders with a lack of respect then it sets an example to so many other people to treat them in exactly the same way.”
Wait, what?

Because someone's low paid, or working in the gig economy, they are seen as fair game by everyone else? Really?
Mr Marshall believes employers could do more to improve the safety of drivers – such as providing onboard cameras and cars rather than bikes – and the police could provide more support.
Why? For that matter, how?

They can't follow every Securicor van, so they are hardly going to follow every Ahmed on a scooter delivering pizza, are they?
“When it comes to keeping them safe, a lot of the time the police are nowhere to be seen,” he added.
I think you'll find that's not a situation limited to UberEats delivery drivers, chum!

And this situation doesn't seem to even be related to the usual mugging-for-a-scooter crimes so prevalent in London:
Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, who is leading the investigation, confirmed the victim’s next of kin have been informed, but that a post-mortem and formal identification have yet to take place. DCI John said: “The investigation is at a very early stage. It would appear at this time that an altercation has taken place between the victim, who was riding a motorcycle, and the driver of another vehicle in the vicinity of Lennox Road and Charteris Road, Finsbury Park.“
He added: “The incident itself appears at this early stage to have been spontaneous and not connected to, or as a result of, anything other than a traffic altercation.”
It's a road rage attack. Could have happened to a plumber, lawyer, CEO, whoever got on the wrong side of another maniac with a knife...

2 comments:

John Tee said...

I wonder if anyone has asked the motorcycle couriers / pizza deliverers whether they would like police following them at all times? (I know I drive safer when I have a police car on my tail .... )

JuliaM said...

" (I know I drive safer when I have a police car on my tail .... )"

Heh! True! :)