The holiday season is in full swing already — or, at least, the shopping has certainly started. Online shopping has already been surging, and it’s expected to climb 33% this holiday season over previous years.

That means delivery trucks will be everywhere, whether you’re on the highway, on the city’s streets or in your own neighborhood. The danger you face is considerable.

Why are delivery trucks so dangerous during the holidays?

It comes down to one simple factor: Companies are choosing speed over safety. To lure people away from brick-and-mortar stores, online businesses have increased their delivery speeds. The goal, naturally, is to maximize profits by convincing consumers that it’s more convenient — and nearly as fast — to shop online instead of trudging to an actual store for whatever they want.

For example, Amazon’s fleet of delivery vehicles and their promised one-day and two-day delivery speeds have been met with a lot of scrutiny over the last few years. Investigations into the online mega-retailer show that the company consistently pushes its delivery drivers exceptionally hard. In many cases, drivers complained they were given inadequate training and expected to make deliveries with inhuman speed.

But Amazon is hardly alone in this. Delivery drivers of all kinds, including those delivering packages for UPS and FEDEX, are under a lot of pressure. That can cause them to make errors in judgment when they drive that put others at risk.

Plus, many delivery drivers are stressed out and distracted on their routes. Unless they know a neighborhood very well, they may be focused more on their dispatcher’s voice over a headset or the directions from their electronic guidance system than the road. That can lead to tragic accidents with other vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians.

What can you do if you’re injured in a wreck with a delivery driver?

Knowing there’s danger out there doesn’t necessarily make it possible to avoid it. You can do everything right out there and still end up in a crash with a negligent delivery driver. If that happens, find out more about your right to compensation for your injuries and losses.