Orange County roads carry both kinds all day, and sorting which one hit you is where an injury attorney starts. At the Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo, that question comes first, because it decides whether a company answers for the driver at all.

Who Is Responsible for a Delivery Driver’s Crash in California?

An employer answers for an employee’s negligence committed within the scope of employment. Civil Code § 2338 makes a principal responsible to third persons for an agent’s negligence “in the transaction of the business of the agency,” and the Judicial Council civil jury instructions state the test. Conduct falls within the scope when it is reasonably related to the tasks the employee was hired to perform or reasonably foreseeable in light of the employer’s business.

Rule-breaking does not break the chain. An employee who violates a company policy or speeds to make a delivery window can still be acting within the scope, because the risk remains one the business created.

Amazon, FedEx and Branded Delivery Van Crashes

Vans in company colors are usually driven by an employee of a contractor rather than by the brand. Amazon states that delivery service partners “hire and manage their own employees.” FedEx contracts with independent businesses that employ their own personnel, each carrying its own automobile bodily injury and property damage coverage.

That structure does not leave an injured person without a claim. The driver is somebody’s W-2 employee, so the employing business answers under ordinary agency rules, and the question left is whether the brand’s control over routes and delivery windows makes it a principal too. California has long held that a licensed highway carrier cannot escape liability for negligence in its own business by hiring contractors to move freight.

DoorDash, Uber Eats and Other App Courier Crashes

Gig couriers drive their own vehicles, and each platform publishes a different arrangement.

• Amazon Flex states that a driver maintaining personal auto insurance is covered under the Amazon commercial auto policy while actively driving and delivering, with auto liability coverage of $1,000,000.
• Uber Eats states coverage of up to $500,000 for property damage and injuries to third parties during a delivery, and no coverage at all while the driver is offline.
• DoorDash publishes its third-party liability state by state, with different trigger periods and different limits, and requires Dashers to carry primary auto insurance of their own.

Two arrangements publish no auto liability figure at all. Delivery service partner coverage and Instacart’s third-party limits are not stated on their own pages, so those numbers come out in the claim rather than off a website.

Does the Platform’s $1 Million Policy Cover You?

Occupational accident coverage and liability coverage are different things, and confusing them costs people time. DoorDash describes medical expenses “up to $1,000,000 with no deductible or co-pay” under its occupational accident policy, which pays the driver’s own bills. It is not available to the person the driver hits.

California sets that first-party floor by statute for app-based drivers. The number that matters to an injured third party is the platform’s auto liability coverage for the delivery period, and at Uber Eats that figure is $500,000 rather than the $1 million its rideshare page advertises.

Does It Matter That the Driver Was an Independent Contractor?

Independent contractor status matters to a delivery crash claim, though not in the way most articles suggest. California uses the common law right of control test for tort liability, drawn from the state Supreme Court’s decision in S.G. Borello & Sons v. Department of Industrial Relations, which asks whether the hiring business controlled the means of the work or only the result.

The ABC test from Assembly Bill 5 answers a different question. Labor Code § 2775 applies it “for purposes of this code and the Unemployment Insurance Code, and for the purposes of wage orders,” which are wage and hour matters. Proposition 22, at Business and Professions Code § 7451, separately classifies app-based drivers as independent contractors of the network company where its conditions are met.

One claim circulating online deserves a direct answer. Assembly Bill 375, effective in March 2025, requires a food delivery platform to disclose the driver’s first name and photograph to the customer. It creates no biometric verification mandate and no direct liability for a platform.

Should You Also Claim the Company Hired the Wrong Driver?

Adding a negligent hiring claim against a delivery company can backfire. Under the California Supreme Court’s decision in Diaz v. Carcamo, once an employer admits vicarious liability for an employee’s negligent driving in the course of employment, claims for negligent hiring, retention and entrustment drop out, because the employer already answers for the full harm.

Those theories earn their place when the employer disputes scope of employment, denies the driver was working, or when the driver is not an employee.

Vehicle ownership alone is a thinner path than it appears. An owner is liable for permissive use under the Vehicle Code, but that liability is capped at $15,000 for one injured person and $30,000 for more than one unless an agency relationship exists. Entrustment claims carry their own elements, including proof the defendant knew the driver was unfit.

What About Federal Truck Insurance Rules and the Filing Deadline?

Federal minimum coverage rules apply less often than delivery cases suggest. Under 49 C.F.R. part 387, the $750,000 floor covers for-hire carriers in interstate commerce, and the rules do not reach a vehicle rated under 10,001 pounds. A courier in a compact car on an intrastate Orange County route sits outside them entirely.

State deadlines still govern. Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 gives two years from the date of injury, and a much shorter deadline applies where a public entity is a defendant. Smaller vehicles raise the same coverage questions, and the same gaps between personal and commercial policies show up in electric bike and scooter injury claims in Orange County.

Hit by a Delivery Driver in Orange County? Put an Injury Lawyer on the Claim

Delivery crash claims stall when nobody identifies the right company early, and the coverage that matters is rarely the number on the van. The Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo handles Orange County car and motorcycle crash claims, including collisions caused by commercial and gig delivery drivers. Call 760-307-4233 or contact us online for a free consultation. El Abogado Habla Español.