José Manuel Matías Flores
Mexico City, d.27.November.2018
DEATHS AND INJURIES DON’T SLOW UBER EATS’
RAPID EXPANSION IN MEXICO
In the past six months, five Uber Eats couriers in Mexico have died
in crashes, and dozens more have been injured. Uber’s insurance
policy was supposed to help — it hasn’t.
By Martha Pskowski The Verge, July 3, 2019
Rush-hour traffic comes to a halt in downtown Mexico City, as two
dozen gig workers for Uber Eats and its Colombian competitor Rappi
bike across one of the city’s busiest intersections. It’s dark
except for flashing street lights that reflect off the neon green
and orange backpacks of the delivery workers. The protestors wheel
their bicycles down Insurgentes Avenue, crossing Reforma, carrying
signs that read: “No more road deaths!” and “Not one delivery person
killed!”
Traffic cops rush into the intersection to stop the flow of cars,
while drivers honk angrily, their evening commute delayed. Some of
the protestors taunt them, “Get out of your car and onto a bike!”
Two days earlier, November 27th, the workers had lost one of their
own. José Manuel Matías Flores, 22, was riding his bike in
southwest Mexico City, carrying an Uber Eats food delivery. Merging
onto a major avenue, a truck hit him and then sped off. Matías
Flores was declared dead at the scene. The protesters are demanding
that Uber take responsibility and help his surviving family members.
Matías Flores was the first known death of an Uber Eats worker in
Mexico, two years after the service was introduced in October 2016.
In the following six months, four more Uber Eats couriers have died
in crashes. On December 12th in Puebla, Luis Fernando Hernández
Fong, 23, was killed, leaving behind a three-year-old
daughter. On February 10th, a young woman courier was killed in a
hit-and-run in Querétaro. On February 18th, Edwin Eduardo Galván
Salas was hit in Mexico City. He was declared brain dead
several days later. On March 10th, motorcyclist Luis Alberto
Cárdenas Hernández was killed in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.
Most recently, Rappi courier Ximena Callejas, 20, was killed
in a hit-and-run while biking in Mexico City on May 4th. Many
delivery people work for both applications, switching back and forth
depending on demand.
