Gig drivers pay full cost of on-the-job injuries with no workers' comp coverage

When a rideshare or delivery driver is injured while working — a car accident during a delivery, a slip on icy stairs carrying a package, a dog bite at a customer's home — they have zero workers' compensation coverage. They pay 100% of their medical bills out of pocket, lose all income during recovery, and have no job protection guaranteeing their account will still be active when they heal. A broken wrist for a DoorDash driver means $15,000-$40,000 in medical bills, 6-8 weeks of zero income, and potentially a deactivated account due to inactivity. This matters because gig work is not low-risk desk work. Rideshare drivers spend 8-12 hours daily in traffic. Delivery couriers carry heavy loads up stairs, navigate unfamiliar neighborhoods at night, and interact with strangers at their doors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies delivery driving as one of the most dangerous occupations in America. Yet the workers doing this job have fewer injury protections than a teenager working at McDonald's, who at least gets workers' comp if they slip on a wet floor. The downstream pain is devastating. Medical debt is the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States, and gig workers are uniquely vulnerable because they cannot spread risk through an employer-sponsored plan. Many gig workers are already operating with minimal savings — a Federal Reserve survey found that 37% of Americans cannot cover a $400 emergency. An on-the-job injury for a gig worker is not just a medical event; it is a financial extinction event that can cascade into eviction, vehicle repossession (losing their primary work tool), and permanent exit from the workforce. This persists because workers' compensation is a state-level system built around the employer-employee relationship. Independent contractors are explicitly excluded from workers' comp in 47 states. Platforms have successfully lobbied to maintain IC classification (spending $200 million on California's Prop 22 alone), and the cost of providing injury coverage would directly reduce platform margins. The few voluntary injury protection programs platforms offer (like Uber's injury protection) have narrow coverage windows, low caps, and complex claims processes that deny most claims.