Hit by a delivery van in Las Vegas: is the driver, the delivery company or the store responsible?

Last updated October 18, 2026.

It depends on who the driver works for. The driver answers for his or her own negligence, and Nevada makes an employer responsible for an employee who causes injury (NRS 41.130), while a 2025 law shields app delivery companies from vicarious liability if they carried a $1,000,000 policy covering the driver during the delivery. In a Las Vegas truck and delivery vehicle claim, identifying that relationship comes first.

Delivery vehicles are everywhere in the valley: branded vans from parcel networks, plain white vans from contractors, store vehicles, and personal cars with an app on the dashboard. From the outside they can look the same. Legally they are not. The answer to "who pays" turns on four facts: who employed or engaged the driver, who owned the vehicle, how big the vehicle is, and whether the driver was working at the moment of the crash.

How do you work out who is responsible, step by step?

Gather these facts in this order, ideally in the first days after the crash.

Photograph the vehicle and its markings. Company names, logos, DOT numbers, and a weight rating sticker on the door frame if you can see it safely. Many contractors drive vans with another company's logo.
Get the driver's information and employer. Nevada requires a driver in a crash to give his or her name, address and vehicle registration number and, on request, show a license (NRS 484E.030(1)(a)). Ask who the driver works for and whether he or she was on a delivery.
Get the police report. It usually lists the registered owner and the insurer. In the city of Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County, that is typically LVMPD; on a freeway, often the Nevada Highway Patrol. Our Las Vegas accident page covers the city's police and courts. See who investigates a crash on I-15 or another freeway.
Identify the vehicle's owner. A Nevada owner's policy must cover anyone using the vehicle with the owner's express or implied permission, at least to the state minimums (NRS 485.3091(1)(b)). The owner's insurer is often the first place to file.
Find out the driver's status. Employee, contractor of a parcel company, app-based driver, or store employee. Each status points to a different set of rules, shown in the table below.
Check the vehicle's size. If the vehicle's weight rating or actual weight is 10,001 pounds or more and it was used in interstate commerce, it is a "commercial motor vehicle" under federal rules (49 CFR 390.5T), which brings federal safety and, for for-hire carriers, insurance rules. Our page on whether federal trucking law applies to a van or box truck explains the test.
Send notice to every possible insurer in writing. The driver's, the owner's, the employer's or contractor's, and any app company's. Keep proof of each notice.

Four common delivery situations and who may be responsible

Situation	Who may be responsible	Key rule	Insurance to look for
Employee driving the company's van	The driver and the employer responsible for the driver's conduct	NRS 41.130	The company's commercial auto policy; federal minimums if a for-hire carrier's vehicle is 10,001 pounds or more (49 CFR 387.3, 387.9)
Contractor delivering for a parcel company	The driver, the contractor's business, and possibly the parcel company, depending on the working relationship	NRS 41.130; for a commercial motor vehicle, federal rules treat an independent contractor driver as an "employee" (49 CFR 390.5T)	The contractor's commercial policy and any policy the parcel company requires or provides
App delivery driver in a personal car	The driver; the delivery network company is not vicariously liable if it kept a qualifying $1,000,000 policy	2025 Statutes of Nevada, ch. 5 (AB 523), sec. 2.9	The company's $1,000,000 policy during the delivery service period; otherwise the driver's own policy
Store employee in the store's car	The driver and the store as employer	NRS 41.130; owner's policy covers permissive users (NRS 485.3091)	The store's commercial auto policy

How does Nevada's 2025 delivery app law work?

Assembly Bill 523, signed in May 2025, added new provisions to NRS chapter 597 about "delivery network companies." It applies to causes of action arising on or after October 1, 2025 (AB 523, sec. 4). The definitions are specific:

A delivery network company operates in Nevada and uses a digital network to connect a customer to a driver to provide delivery services (sec. 2.3).
A driver is a person who provides delivery services through the company's network under an independent contractor agreement (sec. 2.7).
A personal vehicle is one the driver owns, leases or is authorized to use, used for deliveries through the network, and not over 6,000 pounds (sec. 2.8). Bicycles and scooters count too.
Delivery services means picking items up and delivering them to a customer-selected location within 50 miles of the pick-up (sec. 2.4).
The delivery service period starts when the driver begins driving to pick up goods, as documented on the company's network, continues during the delivery, and ends when the goods are delivered or returned (sec. 2.5).

Section 2.9 says the company is not vicariously liable for a driver's act or omission and is deemed not to control, direct or manage the driver or the driver's vehicle. For a driver using a motor vehicle, that protection applies only if the company had a policy in force on the crash date of at least $1,000,000 insuring the driver for liability to third parties during the delivery service period (sec. 2.9(3)). The law also says it does not alter or preclude any other theory of liability against the company that is available and proven under law (sec. 2.9(4)).

In practice, that means the timing matters. A crash while the driver is heading to a restaurant to pick up an order, or carrying it to your door, falls inside the delivery service period. A crash while the driver is simply logged in and waiting for an order does not, so the $1,000,000 policy described in the law may not apply, and the driver's own policy becomes central. Rideshare passengers have a separate set of rules; see who pays after an Uber or Lyft crash.

What changes the answer

Whether the driver was on the job. NRS 41.130 makes an employer liable when the person causing injury is employed by someone "responsible for the conduct" of that person. A driver running a personal errand in a company van raises a harder question than one on a delivery route.
Intentional acts. An employer is not liable for an employee's intentional conduct that was a truly independent venture, outside the assigned task, and not reasonably foreseeable (NRS 41.745). Road rage cases can turn on this.
The vehicle's weight rating. Under 10,001 pounds, a van is generally outside the federal commercial motor vehicle definition (49 CFR 390.5T), and the federal insurance minimums for property carriers do not apply to it (49 CFR 387.3(c)(1)).
For-hire or private carrier. The federal minimums in 49 CFR 387.9 apply to for-hire carriers hauling property in interstate commerce (49 CFR 387.3(a)); a store moving its own goods is a private carrier. For larger trucks, see how much insurance a truck must carry.
A family member driving the owner's car. Nevada imputes an immediate family member's negligence to the owner who gave permission, making them jointly and severally liable (NRS 41.440).
Shared fault. If you were partly at fault, your recovery is reduced, and each defendant usually pays only its own percentage (NRS 41.141(1), (4)). Our page on who can be held responsible for a truck accident explains how fault is split among several companies.
You were working too. If you were on the job when the van hit you, workers' compensation and the claim against the driver run side by side; see workers' comp and a crash claim.

For example: a van on Flamingo and an app driver on Durango

Imagine a driver named Carla. She is stopped at a light on Flamingo Road when a white cargo van rear-ends her. The van has a parcel network's logo, but the driver tells police he works for a local contractor that delivers for that network. All details here are hypothetical.

Carla's police report lists the contractor as the registered owner. The van's door sticker shows a weight rating under 10,001 pounds, so federal commercial vehicle rules likely do not apply. Carla files with the contractor's commercial auto insurer, which must cover the permissive driver (NRS 485.3091), and she claims against the contractor as the employer responsible for the driver (NRS 41.130). Whether the parcel network itself shares responsibility depends on the details of its relationship with the contractor, which the contracts and route records will show.

Now change the facts. Carla is hit on Durango Drive by a driver in a personal SUV who is carrying a food order through a delivery app. The crash happened after October 1, 2025, during the delivery service period. If the app company kept the $1,000,000 policy that section 2.9 describes, it is not vicariously liable, but that policy insures the driver's liability to Carla. If the driver had been waiting between orders, Carla would look first to the driver's own insurance and then to her own underinsured motorist coverage.

Common mistakes after a delivery vehicle crash

Assuming the logo is the employer. A branded van may belong to a contractor. File with the registered owner and the driver's actual employer.
Not asking whether the driver was mid-delivery. For app drivers, the delivery service period can decide which policy pays.
Letting the van be repaired before photos. Damage, markings and the weight sticker are easiest to document right away.
Forgetting the app's records. The law defines the delivery service period "as documented via a digital network" (AB 523, sec. 2.5). Ask for those records to be preserved.
Giving a recorded statement to the first insurer that calls. Several insurers may be involved. Read whether you have to give the other insurer a recorded statement.
Waiting on the deadline. The injury lawsuit deadline is generally 2 years (NRS 11.190(4)(e)).

What to do this week

Write down everything on the van or car: logos, phone numbers, DOT number, plate.
Request the police report and note the registered owner and insurer it lists.
Send written notice to the driver's insurer, the owner's insurer and the employer or contractor.
If an app was involved, write to the company asking it to preserve trip and order records for the time of the crash.
Get medical care and keep every record and bill.
Check your own policy for UM, UIM and medical payments coverage.

Frequently asked questions

Does the store that sold the item pay if an app driver hit me?

Usually the claim runs against the driver and, depending on the facts, the delivery network company's policy. Whether a store has any separate responsibility depends on its role; AB 523 says it does not alter other theories of liability that are available and proven (sec. 2.9(4)).

Do federal hours-of-service rules apply to a delivery van driver?

The federal rules apply if the van meets the federal commercial motor vehicle test, which for most delivery vans means 10,001 pounds or more on an interstate trip (49 CFR 390.5T). For trips inside Nevada, the state applies those rules only to vehicles of 26,001 pounds or more, or ones carrying hazardous materials or certain numbers of passengers (NAC 706.2472). If they apply, see how hours-of-service limits help prove fatigue.

Can I check a delivery company's safety record?

For carriers registered with the federal government, yes. Our page on checking a trucking company's safety record explains how.

What if the delivery driver had no insurance?

Your own uninsured motorist coverage may apply (NRS 690B.020). The owner's policy and any employer policy should still be checked first.

Does the 2025 law cover bike and scooter couriers?

The definition of "personal vehicle" includes bicycles and scooters (AB 523, sec. 2.8). The $1,000,000 insurance condition in section 2.9(3) applies to drivers using a motor vehicle.

The van driver said he was "just a contractor." Does that end it?

No. A contractor's business can be responsible for its own driver, and for commercial motor vehicles the federal rules treat contractor drivers as employees (49 CFR 390.5T). Our article on claims against delivery drivers covers the general questions.

If a delivery van or app driver hit you in Las Vegas, attorney Maysoun Fletcher can help you sort out who was responsible and which policies apply. Call 702-333-6339 for a free consultation; we answer 24/7.