How Amazon Sacrifices Safety For Speed For Its Delivery Network (theverge.com) 65
An anonymous reader shares a report: The speed and convenience of Amazon's own delivery network has regularly come at the price of safety, as detailed in an extensive report by BuzzFeed News and ProPublica -- including the death of Joy Covey, Amazon's first CFO, who died when a van delivering Amazon packages turned left in front of her while she was riding her bike. The report details many ways Amazon has sacrificed speed for safety to grow its delivery network and how drivers have made dangerous decisions to keep up with the demands of their job. For example:
— In the lead up to last year's holiday season, Amazon said it would make a five-day course to assess and train new delivery drivers to help improve safety. That class was never implemented, and an Amazon memo said that the company "chose to not have onroad practical training because it was a bottleneck."
— In 2013, early on into Amazon's work building its own delivery network, a proposal to improve driver safety by giving longer rest breaks -- and capping packages per route. That would have added an estimated cost of four cents per package, if it were implemented. But it was apparently shot down by Amazon exec Dave Clark, who is currently the company's SVP of Operations. He called the proposal "garbage."
— Drivers rely on an app called "Rabbit" to tell them which packages to deliver and where to deliver them. An early version of this app apparently gave very poor directions, navigating drivers onto dangerous routes, and some drivers felt they were under such time pressure for deliveries that they didn't take breaks for meals and would urinate into bottles. Amazon told BuzzFeed and ProPublica that it has made more than 500 changes to the app this year.
— In the lead up to last year's holiday season, Amazon said it would make a five-day course to assess and train new delivery drivers to help improve safety. That class was never implemented, and an Amazon memo said that the company "chose to not have onroad practical training because it was a bottleneck."
— In 2013, early on into Amazon's work building its own delivery network, a proposal to improve driver safety by giving longer rest breaks -- and capping packages per route. That would have added an estimated cost of four cents per package, if it were implemented. But it was apparently shot down by Amazon exec Dave Clark, who is currently the company's SVP of Operations. He called the proposal "garbage."
— Drivers rely on an app called "Rabbit" to tell them which packages to deliver and where to deliver them. An early version of this app apparently gave very poor directions, navigating drivers onto dangerous routes, and some drivers felt they were under such time pressure for deliveries that they didn't take breaks for meals and would urinate into bottles. Amazon told BuzzFeed and ProPublica that it has made more than 500 changes to the app this year.
Joy Covey.... (Score:3)
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Same day delivery doesn't have anything to do with drivers being under pressure. It has to do with a placement of warehouse depots that locate the items close to you before you ever order it, and an efficient method of moving the item to a truck once it is ordered.
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It is odd that the parent thinks this way and avoided joining Amazon Prime for that reason. Then again, most people don't understand logistics. Just look
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Stop promoting yourself.
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It's curious: none of the articles discussing her death discuss who was found at fault for the collision. For a bicycle-automobile collision that resulted in a death, that seems pretty telling.
If she was at fault, it really undermines the point of mentioning her death in the context of this article.
Re:Joy Covey.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Joy Covey.... (Score:4, Informative)
That depends on a lot of things. Failure to yield seems like the most likely moving violation -- an offense that is sadly common among bicyclists.
This follow-up [almanacnews.com] explains why the driver was never charged in the accident -- and it makes it very clear that blaming the accident on Amazon's push for efficiency is nothing more than the cheapest variety of yellow journalism.
Re:Joy Covey.... (Score:5, Insightful)
That depends on a lot of things. Failure to yield seems like the most likely moving violation -- an offense that is sadly common among bicyclists.
This follow-up [almanacnews.com] explains why the driver was never charged in the accident
Yes it does. It attributes the crash to the driver failing to see Ms Covey due to dappled shade and turning left across her path (a piss-poor excuse, but juries are known to accept piss-poor excuses for driving offences). It's pretty clear she didn't fail to give way, and yet you continue to insinuate that her death was her own fault. This is what is known in the biz as "victim blaming".
and it makes it very clear that blaming the accident on Amazon's push for efficiency is nothing more than the cheapest variety of yellow journalism.
The article says nothing either way about Amazon's efficiency push, so that is purely your own speculation. Since wild speculation is apparently on the table, here's mine: If the driver hadn't been so pressed for time, maybe he'd have had time to check properly for oncoming cyclists like he should have?
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There was no jury — as the GP said, the driver was never charged...
What? The very titles of both the /.-entry and TFA accuse Amazon of choosing speed over safety!
Facts much?
Oh, ye
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As The Almanac says, "These findings would "prevent" a jury from finding negligence beyond a reasonable doubt", so the unwillingness of a jury to convict is certainly relevant.
I was referring to the alamanacnews.com article that En
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The fallacy of Incredulity [rationalwiki.org], congratulations.
TBH, it was more of a poisoning the well [rationalwiki.org].
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What? The very titles of both the /.-entry and TFA accuse Amazon of choosing speed over safety!
Facts much?
Headlines aren't "facts" they are cleverly-worded clickbait.
Are you new to the internet?
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Since wild speculation is apparently on the table, here's mine: If the driver hadn't been so pressed for time, maybe he'd have had time to check properly for oncoming cyclists like he should have?
Here's mine: the driver was distracted - it happens.
Here's another: she was in the van drivers blind spot when he turned left and cut her off.
If the article says nothing about Amazons push for faster deliveries, why is anyone bringing it up?
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Here's another: she was in the van drivers blind spot when he turned left and cut her off.
We have enough information to test that one. Since the cyclist was travelling north, and the van was travelling south before the crash, she must have approached the van from the front, and was therefore not in any blind spot
If the article says nothing about Amazons push for faster deliveries, why is anyone bringing it up?
Because Entrope prefers to blame an innocent cyclist for her own death.
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A cyclist (or a pedestrian, or a motor vehicle) traveling in a straight path does not yield to a vehicle turning into their path. You are confused about what "failure to yield" means.
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According to California Vehicle Code 21801(b), she probably should have yielded the right of way to the vehicle that was making a left turn.
She was travelling downhill on her bike, came around a bend, and hit the minivan hard enough that she was pronounced dead on the scene in spite of wearing a helmet. (The minivan did not hit her.) How fast do you think she was going? What was the speed limit on that stretch of road? Judging from Google Street View, she was probably speeding on top of failing to yield
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According to California Vehicle Code 21801(b), she probably should have yielded the right of way to the vehicle that was making a left turn.
21801(b) is contingent on 21801(a) [ca.gov], which clearly states that the van should've given way, which it obviously didn't.
[...] came around a bend [...]
... which is about 100 yards from the junction, so the van driver had plenty of time to see her.
[...] she was probably speeding [...]
Speed limit appears to be 45mph. It is highly unlikely she was even capable of that speed on a bicycle. You're making things up again. Please stop doing that.
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"[I]t obviously didn't"? On what basis do you claim that?
There is a very clear sign [goo.gl] indicating that the measured safe speed around that curve is 35 mph -- exceeding such a limit is typically considered negligence, making the speeder liable for any accident that results from their speed.
You are the one making things up, not me. You also did not even try to answer the question about how fast she would have been going to suffer a fatal injury while wearing a helmet. The plausible lower limit for that is abo
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Do you? If so, please share the link. If not, have a little humility. She probably didn't expect the driver of the van to turn into her path - just like most pedestrians don't expect to be run over in a cr
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"[I]t obviously didn't"? On what basis do you claim that?
"a white Mazda minivan traveling south turned left onto Elk Tree Road "directly in front of the bicycle," according to a CHP report." — The Almanac [almanacnews.com]
"As she zipped down a forested stretch of Skyline Boulevard on Sept. 18, 2013, a delivery van turned left directly into her path." — BuzzFeed [buzzfeednews.com]
So, yeah, I claim it on the basis of 2 news articles that state it explicitly.
There is a very clear sign [goo.gl] indicating that the measured safe speed around that curve is 35 mph
Even 35 is pretty damn difficult on a bicycle, so she was probably still not over the advisory limit. And I didn't make up the 45,
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Those articles do not address the question of who should have yielded, or who did, because they do not discuss distances or visibility or right of way. They only make the obvious comment that the vehicle turned in front of her, which is necessary for such a collision, but not sufficient to establish failure to yield.
Your link to the WHO discusses the speed of an automobile hitting a pedestrian, not the speed of a bicyclist hitting an automobile. It's also based on a considerably outdated [sciencedirect.com] source.
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Those articles do not address the question of who should have yielded, or who did, because they do not discuss distances or visibility or right of way. They only make the obvious comment that the vehicle turned in front of her, which is necessary for such a collision, but not sufficient to establish failure to yield.
I don't know what you think you're achieving by simply repeating an argument that has already been debunked several times.
Your link to the WHO discusses the speed of an automobile hitting a pedestrian, not the speed of a bicyclist hitting an automobile.
I'm sure then than you have a vastly superior source that you'd like to share with the class?
It's also based on a considerably outdated [sciencedirect.com] source.
Nope, that wasn't it. Still pedestrians. And, at 10%+, still well within the realms of plausibility.
Look, I wouldn't mind you critiquing my sources, except that you've not provided anything better yourself. You just keep making unsubstantiated assertions and demanding that others prove you wro
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The burden is *always* on the vehicle that can cause the most damage.
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The burden is *always* on the vehicle that can cause the most damage.
When you are dead, it doesn't much matter that it was the other guy's fault.
When I am on my bike, I always assume that drivers don't see me until I make direct eye contact.
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No, it is not. The law varies widely when it comes to these things. Cyclists can be at fault when violating traffic laws. Physics is still a thing. For the same reason that smaller vessels have to give way at sea to larger vessels, bicycles have to obey laws regarding the right of way. This is not to say that auto drivers don't, but that all road users share responsibility.
Here in California I have to give cyclists three feet of clearance, or I have to wait until I can do so in order to pass them. But if I'
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Yay slashdot, where facts are trolling.
Re: Joy Covey.... (Score:1)
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Riding her silent, comparatively silent bike in the van drivers blind spot?
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Riding behind a vehicle in the driver's blind spot might be what you're supposing happened, but that was not the case here.
The van driver should have been able to see her up ahead before he made the turn. And if there were "dappled shade", then the van driver should have slowed down and been extra, extra careful about his drivin
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Cyclist moving in straight path, truck makes left turn into cyclist. That's what it sounds like. What exactly would her fault be? Cycling?
Um, details kinda do matter. If it was just a normal accident, if the driver wasn't even at fault, it kind of torpedoes [almanacnews.com] the delicious anti-Amazon narrative.
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Your link simply states that the prosecutor didn't feel that he would be able to get a jury to convict, so he didn't bring charges:
That's not the same thing as "the driver was not at fault". The civil case clearly determined otherwise:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ke [buzzfeednews.com]
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Not only that (Score:2)
Your packages disappear [go.com] just as quickly by Amazon drivers as they do by regular porch pirates. And Amazon doesn't care.
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Your packages disappear just as quickly by Amazon drivers as they do by regular porch pirates.
FTFS:
Drivers rely on an app called "Rabbit" to tell them which packages to deliver and where to deliver them.
I immediately thought that it meant that the packages are delivered "Down the Rabbit Hole".
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considering the quality of software routinely produced, that isn't a bad description.
and what is it going to cost when an school (Score:2)
and what is it going to cost when an school bus get's hit by an speeding Amazon driver? Or can they just say the driver is an 1099 Independent Contractor so we will pay out zero.
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The insurance will presumably pay out, but it will affect future premiums.
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the 1099 driver's insurance will say we don't cover commercial use.
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Who pays out when anybody else drives into a school bus full of children?
The article talks about 60 serious accidents, which included ten deaths. For the number of drivers, and the number of hours they are on the road, over the course of a year, give or take, that's a pretty low serious accident rate.
domino pizza ended 30 min or free after a few bad (Score:5, Informative)
domino pizza ended 30 min or free after a few bad crashes with big pay outs back in the 90's. So why in 2013 did amazon think they can push drivers to unsafe time tables?
Re:domino pizza ended 30 min or free after a few b (Score:5, Insightful)
domino pizza ended 30 min or free after a few bad crashes with big pay outs back in the 90's. So why in 2013 did amazon think they can push drivers to unsafe time tables?
Size. Amazon is a lot bigger than Dominos, and can afford much "better" lawyers.
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Actuarial tables [investopedia.com], of course.
The Fight Club corollary [youtube.com].
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Re: domino pizza ended 30 min or free after a few (Score:1)
employee, company, economics (Score:3, Informative)
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Delivery drivers work delivery due to not having better options.
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Startup mantra (Score:1)
It seems "move fast and break things" applies to pedestrians also.
Speed?? (Score:2)
I don't think any of the things we ordered from Amazon for Christmas got where they were supposed to go before Christmas. One of them still hasn't gotten there, and isn't expected to till the second week in January.
Paying for two-day delivery, and getting "sometime in January" (and no, we didn't wait till this week to order) isn't really an acceptable example of "speedy delivery"....
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I did my Christmas shopping on Black Friday. Everything arrived the following week, which was still three weeks before Christmas.
So maybe it was just you.
Deniability (Score:5, Insightful)
This is the same sort of deniability that Amazon uses in their warehouses: Contract with a third party company to provide and manage (and abuse) warehouse employees...and then disclaim any responsibility when anything bad happens.
Run the numbers (Score:1)
In 2013, early on into Amazon's work building its own delivery network, a proposal to improve driver safety by giving longer rest breaks -- and capping packages per route. That would have added an estimated cost of four cents per package, if it were implemented. But it was apparently shot down by Amazon exec Dave Clark, who is currently the company's SVP of Operations. He called the proposal "garbage."
Four cents per package? That doesn't sound so bad, until you realize:
Amid the rush of what would become Amazon’s busiest holiday season ever, the class was vetoed. With more than a billion packages shipping in a span of six weeks
That means over the course of those six weeks, Amazon would have "lost" 4 billion pennies, (4 per package times a billion packages) or about $40,000,000, with no guarantee that one accident would have been avoided.
Sixty serious accident, resulting in 10 deaths, sounds bad, but that encompasses how many tens of thousands of drivers over the course of about a year? Statistically, that is a very low serious accident rate.
Delivery drivers in my neighborhood (Score:2)
Delivery drivers in general must be the most dangerous thing that people are exposed to in my neighborhood and most others I'd wager. I've seen pets killed and no doubt plenty of people have had close calls. It might do some good to start calling the police and begging them to camp out a couple of times a week.
Amazon is not unique (Score:2)
Every transportation company in the world is looking for a way to get faster. From you pizza delivery places using a guy on a bicycle to get through local traffic, to the train company keeping a crossing gate closed for long periods, they all want a way to cut down on interruptions.
I joined a trucking company in the late 80's as an owner-operator. The company has a mandatory "safety-class". The single subject that took the longest time was on how to game the system so that a dual-driver truck could run f
All too common practice (Score:1)
No surprise: Amazon preaches safety training, but fails to deliver. That's a very common business practice found in too many businesses. They preach safety first to shareholders, legislators and the public, but, provide absolutely nothing to support the message.
Anyone who has worked in industry knows how difficult it is to create a safe work environment. Requires an incredible amount of commitment and effort, along with time, on the part of both management and staff to achieve. Yet
Sounds like an excuse for a break up. (Score:2)
I think they actually have less obligation to follow through on next day delivery when it's the default than they do when someone pays extra for faster delivery. So, default one day delivery provides the psychological benefit when someone is making a purchasing decision with less accountability if
Amazon is evil... (Score:1)