The prevalence of delivery bikes on South Africa’s roads is raising concerns about safety, with unlicensed operators and drivers who take risks to save time, potentially leading to accidents.
This is according to Hein Jonker, the founder of Motorcycle Safety Institute of South Africa, who recently spoke on 702 about the issues that delivery drivers face, and the problems that they may present to other motorists.
Safety concerns
A red flag highlighted by Jonker is that many delivery bike riders are unlicensed, owing to different laws in neighboring countries.
Jonker explained that a lot of delivery bike drivers operating in South Africa are actually foreigners from other African countries.
“Some of these riders are not local, they’re foreign riders, and in other African countries, they may not have gone through a motorcycle licence test or any motorcycle training; they’ve learnt from their friends,” said Jonker.
Importantly, even when some of these drivers do possess a licence, they may not be technically qualified to operate on South Africa’s roads.
This is because in other African countries, obtaining a driver’s licence for a vehicle such as a light passenger car qualifies you to drive anything of a smaller vehicle class such as a motorcycle, according to Jonker.
This is not the case in South Africa, where a Code B licence for a light motor vehicle does not allow a person to drive a motorcycle. Instead, they must apply for a separate Code A licence.
In other words, there are delivery bike drivers in South Africa that may be operating under an invalid licence issued in another country.
However, Jonker commented that the onus should be on the employers to vet their riders before they are allowed out on the roads.
The process of training riders is not a lengthy one, as it is possible for a person to get to grips with a motorcycle within a day if they are already familiar with bicycles and the rules of the road.
Including training that better prepares these riders for the real-world environments and conditions they will be facing, the process should take about five days, he said.
It was suggested that law enforcement could set up regular roadblocks checking delivery drivers to see if they have a valid licence.
The other issue with the delivery services is that they are high-pressure jobs that centre around maintaining a fast schedule, which can lead to risky maneuvers from drivers.
This is particularly relevant with food deliveries from fast food outlets and supermarkets, which often promise a turn-around time of under 60 minutes.
As a result, riders are incentivized to cut corners wherever they can, from hastily putting on their helmets without securing them properly to taking a chance on a yellow light.
Companies respond
The food delivery apps Mr D and Uber Eats responded to an inquiry by MyBroadband regarding their driver vetting processes.
Mr D claimed that all its drivers are independent contractors who all hold valid driver’s licences, and that it keeps track of each licence’s expiration date.
Once a licence expires, that individual is not allowed to operate until it has been renewed.
Mr D’s parent company Takelot did not elaborate on its vetting process but did state that it runs a Delivery Team Last Meter Driver Development Programme to train citizens interested in becoming an operator.
Uber did not provide any specifics, but said that both its e-hailing and delivery drivers have to complete several processes before being allowed on the platform.
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