It’s tough being a delivery rider.
Not only is it largely a thankless job (that make the occasional moments of kindness all the more precious), but being on the road all day also poses real and grave safety risks.
Grabfood Rider Requires Costly Surgeries after Accident
Facebook user Elfy Andriann took to the internet on 26 April to explain that his brother, Mohammed Ali, had been involved in a major accident.
Ali was working as a Grabfood rider using a motorbike to help with his family’s difficult financial situation, with his single father unable to work due to medical complications.
However, on 10 April, his work put him in a road accident along Toh Guan Road, placing him in a coma for seven days and necessitating intensive care.
Ali was diagnosed with copious injuries, including fractures all over his body and critical brain bleeding that had to be relieved with an emergency craniectomy, where a part of his skull was removed to alleviate pressure.
“Imagine the mental state and pressure my father and I w[ere] in at the moment,” Andriann wrote in poignant concern.
Ali has since been recovering and has been transferred out of the intensive care unit. He is also awaiting the possibility of a cranioplasty, where an implant is used to replace parts of his deformed skull.
Andriann pled for financial support in his Facebook post, noting that the family had already accumulated more than S$100,000 in medical costs despite their challenging circumstances. The expensive surgery can only compound that.
The original Facebook post, including ways to donate to the family, can be found here.
Delivery Rider Safety a Concern
Ali’s experience is part of a larger trend for greater propensity to accidents among food delivery riders, according to The Straits Times.
While the police do not classify road traffic accidents by the occupation of victims involved, accidents involving food delivery riders have become significantly more common as reported by the media.
According to delivery riders interviewed, this phenomenon has a structural basis: in addition to careless motorists and pedestrians, the pressure to meet delivery deadlines and incentives offered to take more orders can both cause a rider to be less cautious on the road than they need to be.
In response, the major local food delivery firms have ramped up safety measures. Aside from mandating high-visibility attire that could alert others to their presence on the road, firms are also devising safety training programmes to familiarise riders with LTA regulations.
However, experts believe that such an approach inappropriately places the onus for safety entirely on food delivery riders, and suggest that risks should instead be “evaluated holistically”.
Featured Image: Facebook (Elfy Andriann)
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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