Amazon is making New York City traffic more dangerous, according to new data compiled by an advocacy group.
Vehicles that deliver Amazon packages across the city received over 14,000 citations for violations between July 2020 and June 2025, including blocking emergency vehicles, obstructing fire hydrants, and speeding in school zones, said a report from The Alliance for a Greater New York. The report is based on data collected by the city.
The report drew support from one New York City official as the city continues its crackdown on delivery services under Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Most recently, the city inked a $131.5 million settlement with DoorDash last week over the company’s pay practices.
Many of the workers driving the offending vehicles are independent contractors through an Amazon Delivery Service Partner, a third-party separate from the e-commerce giant. The workers often wear Amazon-branded clothes and must pass an Amazon-conducted background check to do the job.
“But when workers complain about dangerous conditions, Amazon points them to their DSP,” the report reads. “And if an Amazon van is responsible for a traffic crash, the victim may sue Amazon for damages, but Amazon could argue that only the DSP is to blame.”
An Amazon spokesperson said that the company works with DSPs “to promote safe delivery practices, from hands-on driver training to in-vehicle safety technology.” The company has trained roughly 110,000 drivers through its Last Mile Training Academy, for instance, where drivers learn to safely operate a delivery vehicle.
DSPs are responsible for making sure that their drivers follow traffic laws — and have to assume the costs when drivers incur violations, the spokesperson said.
Amazon is also investing in alternatives to traditional delivery vehicles, such as cargo ebikes and on-foot delivery, the spokesperson said.
The violations were widespread across the city’s five boroughs, the report said. They also involved 637 vehicle license plates.
Vehicles affiliated with Amazon were also the subject of roughly 13,000 idling incidents over the same five years, the report said. New York City allows residents to report commercial vehicles that idle for too long, and the city evaluates the complaints.
The findings point to a threat that Amazon’s delivery model brings to New York City’s streets, Samuel A.A. Levine, Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, said.
“The data is clear: an economy that rewards exploitation and shields powerful corporations from responsibility causes real harm to our communities,” Levine said, in a statement.
Levine urged the passage of the Delivery Protection Act, a proposal before the New York City Council that would require companies like Amazon to directly employ the workers who deliver their packages.
Amazon opposes the measure, according to testimony that the company submitted in April.
Do you have a story idea about Amazon’s delivery operations? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.
Read the full article here
