Dublin City Council has written to food delivery services Deliveroo and Just Eat over the supposedly "reckless" behaviour of some of their cyclists on the city's streets.
Rose Kenny, the council's southeast area manager , wrote to Deliveroo managing director Dan Warne and Just Eat managing director Amanda Roche-Kelly asking them to look into complaints raised by Cllr Mannix Flynn.
The independent councillor had asked that the companies be informed of the rules of the road and that their cyclists be reminded “not to use the footpaths or continuously to cycle down one way streets recklessly”.
Mr Flynn said "many of these delivery services are whizzing around the town in a reckless fashion, they don't abide by any laws, are constantly on their phones or Sat-Navs to find the locations while cycling and are a danger to themselves and to the road users and footpath users alike".
Ms Kenny disclosed the complaints in her letter to the food delivery companies, released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act, and asked them to come back to her with their comments.
‘Zero tolerance policy’
In response, Deliveroo, which works with about 600 restaurants in Dublin, said it takes concerns raised by elected representatives extremely seriously.
“We have a zero tolerance policy for any riders who have been found to break the law and we work with individuals, the police and local authorities who report road safety concerns to us,” it said.
The company also said it provides online road safety training to cyclists and offers guidance about working in pedestrianised areas and footpaths.
The letter went on to say that if the council was able to “provide information that would help us identify any specific riders who have behaved this way, we will investigate fully”.
‘Safety standards’
A spokesman for the company told The Irish Times that "Deliveroo takes rider and road safety extremely seriously. We require that every rider meets our minimum safety standards and, as with all road users, obey local road safety laws at all times while working with us."
Just Eat Managing Director Amanda Roche-Kelly said in response that the company placed "great emphasis" on the safety of the public.
"Upon recruitment all the drivers and cyclists at our delivery partners are briefed on the obligations they have to uphold the rules of the road and on the behaviour that is expected of them when cycling on behalf of Just Eat," she said.
"Our delivery partners have assured us they will undertake a review of their drivers' activity to ensure they adhere to the rules of the road."
