Hyderabad: Speeding food delivery boys a traffic menace

Wrong side driving, signal jumping, over speeding, zigzag driving and not wearing helmets are the most recorded traffic violations noticed among delivery boys and bike taxi riders

Hyderabad: With quick delivery promotions of food and groceries, the delivery boys working for food aggregator companies and bike taxis are rushing to deliver the goods and in turn gaining notoriety for rash and negligent driving leading to problems for law-abiding motorists.

Wrong side driving, signal jumping, over speeding, zigzag driving and not wearing helmets are the most recorded traffic violations noticed among the delivery boys and bike taxi riders.

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“In their hurry to deliver quickly, driving in the wrong direction is a big risk for the traffic moving in the right direction. With high speed and erratic driving, they panic other motorists that could lead to accidents,” complained Neha Jaiswal, a fashion designing student.

The problem is more serious at traffic junctions. “In a hurry to deliver the parcel, the delivery boys break the traffic signals and zoom fast. Two-wheeler riders who are on the right path often get confused. There are instances wherein the delivery boys collided with other vehicles after jumping the signal,” said Mohd Moize, an IT professional.

The delivery boys on the other hand say they are under pressure to deliver as many parcels as possible in a day to earn substantial money. “We set a target of earning at least Rs 1,000 a day. If we earn less, we plan to make up the losses the next day. Otherwise, we would not be able to earn a significant amount in a month and it leads to a financial crisis,” said Saber, a food delivery boy.

When contacted, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Hyderabad, Joel Davis said the city police have conducted a coordination meeting with the management of online food delivery and e-commerce platform management regarding training and penalising part.

“We are now taking the specific details of the violations and communicating to the companies, the management can take course correction. We have also requested the companies to impose penalties on the violators,” he added.