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Ridesharing has become an increasingly popular mode of transportation over recent years. This is particularly because this mode of transportation offers convenience to both riders and drivers. However, the growth of companies like Uber and Lyft has also highlighted new issues. If you have been injured in a ride-sharing accident as a passenger, our Houston Uber accident lawyers can help you get an Uber accident settlement. Call us today to discuss your case in detail.
Given their recent growth, there are many areas related to rideshare vehicles that need answers. As someone injured in a crash involving a rideshare vehicle, for instance, you may not immediately know who the liable party is. It is vitally important to understand how liability works in a crash like this before you can file a claim for damages. If an accident involving the vehicle of one of the rideshare services also results in death, the family and heirs may not know whether such death can be compensated through a wrongful death claim. In this blog post, we look at various aspects of accidents involving rideshare vehicles. The blog covers issues like liability, insurance coverages, and fault in an Uber or Lyft accident.
When you are involved in a rideshare accident as an injured passenger, it is important to take the right steps following the crash. The right steps will ensure that you stay safe and remain on the good side of the law.. They also make sure that you have a strong claim for damages when you file one. Here is a look at the recommended steps you should take following a crash like this:
- Call 911: This is the very first thing you should do following an Uber or Lyft accident. At times, a timely call can save lives, especially when victims with serious injuries are involved. When reporting the crash on 911, be sure to provide as many details as possible about the location and timing. This will help paramedics, and first responders lose no time in reaching the accident scene.
- Contact the Police: Your next concern should be to report the crash to local law enforcement. Once a crash is reported, officers from the local police department will typically arrive on the crash scene. They will then speak to all the parties involved and the witness, take a look at the evidence and create a crash report. This report is immensely useful when you seek to reach an Uber accident settlement down the road.
- Exchange Important Details: While you on the scene of the accident, make sure you exchange insurance information with other persons involved. In an Uber or Lyft accident, this may include the rideshare driver and another possibly at-fault driver.
- Gather Relevant Evidence: You will need plenty of evidence to back up your claim of damages when you file it. The more relevant evidence you get, the greater will be your odds of success. On the crash scene, you can use a mobile phone to capture photos and videos of the vehicles involved, visible damage to vehicles, injuries of the victims, and any skid marks on the road.
- Get Medical Attention: As soon as you leave the accident scene, it is time to get medical attention within the briefest possible period of time.. Most of the time, a timely medical checkup is critical for two reasons. One, it ensures that you don’t have any internal injuries which may transpire later. And two, it brings any injuries you have on record so that you can cite these medical records in your Uber accident settlement claim. If you make any delays in seeking medical attention, the liable party may refuse to offer a suitable personal injury settlement, claiming that your injuries are not crash-related.
- Contact a Rideshare Accident Attorney: It is important to consult an Uber or Lyft accident lawyer in the wake of a crash during a pre-arranged ride. The auto accident attorney can help you determine the liable party and then seek the best settlements for accidents for your accident injury claims. Your attorney will also help you find the responsible insurance company to file your motorist insurance claim.
It is important to note that Lyft and Uber drivers are hired as independent contractors, not employees. This is an important distinction because an employer can be held vicariously liable for an employee but not for an independent contractor.
As a result, if a ride-sharing driver, such as an Uber driver, is responsible for causing a crash that resulted in your injuries as a passenger, you can seek compensation from the Uber driver. You can also utilize the insurance coverage offered by the rideshare company for such accidents. However, you will not have the option of filing a lawsuit against the company itself. A lawsuit may be possible in some rare cases, but in general, ride-sharing companies are protected as their drivers are not direct employees.
The issue of liability in Uber accidents is complicated as there are many potentially responsible parties. This is particularly because, as stated above, Lyft or Uber drivers are not company employees. So if they commit some negligence that results in the crash incurring passenger injuries, the company can’t be held liable for their actions. However, rideshare services offer multiple insurance coverage options for passengers traveling in a Lyft or Uber vehicle. So if you are injured during the course of a trip, you can seek damages under one of these options.
You will need to consult an expert Houston Uber accident lawyer to understand who is liable for the specific crash which caused your injuries. In some Uber accidents, more than one party may be found liable. This can further complicate the matter, and you will need expert legal help to sort it out.
Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft have multiple levels of insurance for the drivers, passengers, and other people involved in rideshare accidents. These levels apply to different periods of a driver’s time when operating an Uber or Lyft vehicle. Here is a look at these levels.
No Insurance: At this stage, a rideshare driver has no company insurance. This applies when the Uber driver is not logged into the official app of the rideshare company. Even if the driver is operating a vehicle registered with the company, the insurance coverage will kick in only once the driver logs into the app and becomes online. During this time period, only the personal auto policy of the driver applies. Even such a policy may have a business use exception, excluding coverage for a rideshare passenger or a rideshare car accident in general..
Partial Insurance: Once Uber drivers are online on the rideshare app, the company typically starts offering partial insurance coverage for bodily injury liability and more. For Uber, this partial insurance totals around $175,000 in lieu of third-party liability coverage. The coverage offered by Uber at this level includes $100,000 in injury insurance per accident, $25,000 in property damage liability, and another $50,000 for bodily injury liability per person. If a traffic accident occurs during this period, the injury liability insurance of the company may be used to compensate for the damages. However, you will need an experienced attorney by your side to ensure you get compensated.
Full Third-Party Coverage: When an Uber or Lyft driver accepts a ride and is on the way to pick up the passenger, full third-party coverage becomes available. This includes Uber’s famous $1 million liability insurance coverage, including bodily injury liability coverage. The million-dollar coverage is on top of the partial bodily injury liability coverage previously available to the driver. The third-party coverage is available to all the persons involved in Uber accidents when the driver is at fault.. In case an Uber car accident occurs at this time, an Uber accident attorney can help you recover full compensation for your Uber car accident.
Additional Coverage: Once a passenger is in the vehicle, Uber also offers additional coverage. This includes uninsured motorist liability insurance of up to $250,000 as well as collision protection. This additional coverage adds up to the previous levels of insurance noted above.
So the actual insurance coverage available in rideshare accidents depends on the timing of a given accident. If the crash occurs when a driver is offline, and you are hurt as a pedestrian, your only available bodily injury liability coverage will be the personal car insurance of the at-fault driver. If you are a passenger traveling in the vehicle and the accident occurs, you may have a valid claim with multiple insurers. A good personal injury lawyer can help you with accident claims involving multiple liable parties and ensure that your Uber claim results in a fair settlement.
When you are involved in a rideshare accident, an important consideration is to understand the insurance options available to cover your crash-related damages. The actual insurance coverage that applies to your damages will depend on a number of factors. Depending on the circumstances of your accident, you will likely be able to tap one of the following insurance options after a rideshare crash.
The Ride-Sharing Driver’s Auto Insurance Company
Ride-sharing drivers are required to carry personal car insurance. The nature of this personal insurance will determine whether or not you can seek damages from the driver’s insurer. Most auto insurance companies will not accept personal injury claims in such a scenario. They do not offer bodily injury liability coverage when a driver is engaged in for-profit driving. In other words, a responsible driver’s personal policy may not be applicable when he or she is engaged as a rideshare driver. An exception to this may be when an individual driver has a commercial auto insurance policy or when insurers allow a special provision to the liability policy. You will need to discuss with a lawyer to see whether the driver's personal auto insurance can be utilized.
The Ride-Sharing Company
Your second option is to tap into the insurance coverage that a ride-sharing company offers. As noted above, companies like Uber and Lyft offer multiple levels of coverage depending on the timing of an accident. As a passenger in a ride-sharing vehicle, you can seek bodily injury liability damages from a company’s insurers if you suffer losses in an accident. However, this is only possible when you can show that the rideshare driver caused the crash. In such a case, you will have access to up to $1 million in personal injury and property damage coverage for your Uber accident claim.
Another At-Fault Driver
The ride-sharing driver causes not all ride-sharing accidents. In many cases, the fault of another driver contributes to the crash. In such a scenario, you will be entitled to seek bodily injury liability damages as well as other damages from the negligent driver under their auto insurance coverage. This is because Texas is not a no-fault state. The at-fault party is legally bound to cover the damages of the victims. However, insurers can sometimes act in bad faith and reject valid personal injury claims for bodily injury liability and other losses. You then have the option of filing a personal injury lawsuit against the insurer. However, this particular insurance option is available to you only when the at-fault driver has sufficient insurance to cover your losses. When the driver is underinsured or uninsured, you will need to avail the next option.
Ride-Sharing Company’s Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage
Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft also offer underinsured/uninsured motorist insurance coverage. This specific uninsured motorist insurance coverage becomes available when you are an Uber passenger and suffer injuries or other losses due to another uninsured or underinsured driver. It also applies when your losses as an Uber or Lyft passenger result from a hit-and-run so that the at-fault driver is unknown. The minimum uninsured motorist insurance liability available in such a case is $250,000, with a maximum liability insurance limit of $1 million. You can seek to have your losses compensated under the uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance option with the help of a personal injury lawyer.
Your Own Insurance Carrier
You can also tap into your own Personal Injury Protection insurance coverage to recoup damages for your crash-related losses. If you carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP), optional in Texas, you can recover damages fairly quickly from your own insurer under your personal coverage. Your auto insurance policy may also offer property damage liability coverage in the event of an Uber or Lyft accident.
Seeking damages for losses suffered in a rideshare accident can be complicated. This is because there are many potentially liable parties in such a crash, and the process of filing personal injury claims can become quite complex. Even when rideshare drivers are clearly at fault, insurance companies representing the driver may refuse to pay any damages under the driver’s personal insurance. This is because most personal auto insurance policies do not cover for-profit driving activities.
Similarly, ridesharing service companies like Uber and Lyft are also shielded from direct liability. When an accident occurs, the company’s insurance adjusters may claim that the host driver’s fault caused the crash, so the host driver’s insurer must be held liable. So you may find yourself unable to receive an Uber accident settlement or damages from the driver. This is where a Houston car accident lawyer can be immensely helpful..
Here at Calhoun, Meredith, & Sims, our Uber accident attorneys aim to help Uber rideshare accident victims recover the maximum amount of compensation for medical care costs, property damage, and other losses. Our car accident lawyers navigate the complicated issues of liability and insurance coverage in rideshare accidents to make sure you can hold the at-fault party accountable and get the best personal injury settlement. We also negotiate with insurance companies and insurance adjuster on your behalf to ensure your rights are protected. Get in touch now to discuss your insurance claim in detail with our lawyers.
Meta Description: If you have been injured in a rideshare accident, we can help you get paid for your injuries and receive a fair Uber accident settlement. Get in touch today.
Ridesharing has become an increasingly popular mode of transportation over recent years. This is particularly because this mode of transportation offers convenience to both riders and drivers. However, the growth of companies like Uber and Lyft has also highlighted new issues. If you have been injured in a ride-sharing accident as a passenger, our Houston Uber accident lawyers can help you get an Uber accident settlement. Call us today to discuss your case in detail.
Given their recent growth, there are many areas related to rideshare vehicles that need answers. As someone injured in a crash involving a rideshare vehicle, for instance, you may not immediately know who the liable party is. It is vitally important to understand how liability works in a crash like this before you can file a claim for damages. If an accident involving the vehicle of one of the rideshare services also results in death, the family and heirs may not know whether such death can be compensated through a wrongful death claim. In this blog post, we look at various aspects of accidents involving rideshare vehicles. The blog covers issues like liability, insurance coverages, and fault in an Uber or Lyft accident.
When you are involved in a rideshare accident as an injured passenger, it is important to take the right steps following the crash. The right steps will ensure that you stay safe and remain on the good side of the law. They also make sure that you have a strong claim for damages when you file one. Here is a look at the recommended steps you should take following a crash like this:
- Call 911: This is the very first thing you should do following an Uber or Lyft accident. At times, a timely call can save lives, especially when victims with serious injuries are involved. When reporting the crash on 911, be sure to provide as many details as possible about the location and timing. This will help paramedics, and first responders lose no time in reaching the accident scene.
- Contact the Police: Your next concern should be to report the crash to local law enforcement. Once a crash is reported, officers from the local police department will typically arrive on the crash scene. They will then speak to all the parties involved and the witness, take a look at the evidence and create a crash report. This report is immensely useful when you seek to reach an Uber accident settlement down the road.
- Exchange Important Details: While you on the scene of the accident, make sure you exchange insurance information with other persons involved. In an Uber or Lyft accident, this may include the rideshare driver and another possibly at-fault driver.
- Gather Relevant Evidence: You will need plenty of evidence to back up your claim of damages when you file it. The more relevant evidence you get, the greater will be your odds of success. On the crash scene, you can use a mobile phone to capture photos and videos of the vehicles involved, visible damage to vehicles, injuries of the victims, and any skid marks on the road.
- Get Medical Attention: As soon as you leave the accident scene, it is time to get medical attention within the briefest possible period of time. Most of the time, a timely medical checkup is critical for two reasons. One, it ensures that you don’t have any internal injuries which may transpire later. And two, it brings any injuries you have on record so that you can cite these medical records in your Uber accident settlement claim. If you make any delays in seeking medical attention, the liable party may refuse to offer a suitable personal injury settlement, claiming that your injuries are not crash-related.
- Contact a Rideshare Accident Attorney: It is important to consult an Uber or Lyft accident lawyer in the wake of a crash during a pre-arranged ride. The auto accident attorney can help you determine the liable party and then seek the best settlements for accidents for your accident injury claims. Your attorney will also help you find the responsible insurance company to file your motorist insurance claim.
It is important to note that Lyft and Uber drivers are hired as independent contractors, not employees. This is an important distinction because an employer can be held vicariously liable for an employee but not for an independent contractor.
As a result, if a ride-sharing driver, such as an Uber driver, is responsible for causing a crash that resulted in your injuries as a passenger, you can seek compensation from the Uber driver. You can also utilize the insurance coverage offered by the rideshare company for such accidents. However, you will not have the option of filing a lawsuit against the company itself. A lawsuit may be possible in some rare cases, but in general, ride-sharing companies are protected as their drivers are not direct employees.
The issue of liability in Uber accidents is complicated as there are many potentially responsible parties. This is particularly because, as stated above, Lyft or Uber drivers are not company employees. So if they commit some negligence that results in the crash incurring passenger injuries, the company can’t be held liable for their actions. However, rideshare services offer multiple insurance coverage options for passengers traveling in a Lyft or Uber vehicle. So if you are injured during the course of a trip, you can seek damages under one of these options.
You will need to consult an expert Houston Uber accident lawyer to understand who is liable for the specific crash which caused your injuries. In some Uber accidents, more than one party may be found liable. This can further complicate the matter, and you will need expert legal help to sort it out.
Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft have multiple levels of insurance for the drivers, passengers, and other people involved in rideshare accidents. These levels apply to different periods of a driver’s time when operating an Uber or Lyft vehicle. Here is a look at these levels.
No Insurance: At this stage, a rideshare driver has no company insurance. This applies when the Uber driver is not logged into the official app of the rideshare company. Even if the driver is operating a vehicle registered with the company, the insurance coverage will kick in only once the driver logs into the app and becomes online. During this time period, only the personal auto policy of the driver applies. Even such a policy may have a business use exception, excluding coverage for a rideshare passenger or a rideshare car accident in general.
Partial Insurance: Once Uber drivers are online on the rideshare app, the company typically starts offering partial insurance coverage for bodily injury liability and more. For Uber, this partial insurance totals around $175,000 in lieu of third-party liability coverage. The coverage offered by Uber at this level includes $100,000 in injury insurance per accident, $25,000 in property damage liability, and another $50,000 for bodily injury liability per person. If a traffic accident occurs during this period, the injury liability insurance of the company may be used to compensate for the damages. However, you will need an experienced attorney by your side to ensure you get compensated.
Full Third-Party Coverage: When an Uber or Lyft driver accepts a ride and is on the way to pick up the passenger, full third-party coverage becomes available. This includes Uber’s famous $1 million liability insurance coverage, including bodily injury liability coverage. The million-dollar coverage is on top of the partial bodily injury liability coverage previously available to the driver. The third-party coverage is available to all the persons involved in Uber accidents when the driver is at fault. In case an Uber car accident occurs at this time, an Uber accident attorney can help you recover full compensation for your Uber car accident.
Additional Coverage: Once a passenger is in the vehicle, Uber also offers additional coverage. This includes uninsured motorist liability insurance of up to $250,000 as well as collision protection. This additional coverage adds up to the previous levels of insurance noted above.
So the actual insurance coverage available in rideshare accidents depends on the timing of a given accident. If the crash occurs when a driver is offline, and you are hurt as a pedestrian, your only available bodily injury liability coverage will be the personal car insurance of the at-fault driver. If you are a passenger traveling in the vehicle and the accident occurs, you may have a valid claim with multiple insurers. A good personal injury lawyer can help you with accident claims involving multiple liable parties and ensure that your Uber claim results in a fair settlement.
When you are involved in a rideshare accident, an important consideration is to understand the insurance options available to cover your crash-related damages. The actual insurance coverage that applies to your damages will depend on a number of factors. Depending on the circumstances of your accident, you will likely be able to tap one of the following insurance options after a rideshare crash.
The Ride-Sharing Driver’s Auto Insurance Company
Ride-sharing drivers are required to carry personal car insurance. The nature of this personal insurance will determine whether or not you can seek damages from the driver’s insurer. Most auto insurance companies will not accept personal injury claims in such a scenario. They do not offer bodily injury liability coverage when a driver is engaged in for-profit driving. In other words, a responsible driver’s personal policy may not be applicable when he or she is engaged as a rideshare driver. An exception to this may be when an individual driver has a commercial auto insurance policy or when insurers allow a special provision to the liability policy. You will need to discuss with a lawyer to see whether the driver's personal auto insurance can be utilized.
The Ride-Sharing Company
Your second option is to tap into the insurance coverage that a ride-sharing company offers. As noted above, companies like Uber and Lyft offer multiple levels of coverage depending on the timing of an accident. As a passenger in a ride-sharing vehicle, you can seek bodily injury liability damages from a company’s insurers if you suffer losses in an accident. However, this is only possible when you can show that the rideshare driver caused the crash. In such a case, you will have access to up to $1 million in personal injury and property damage coverage for your Uber accident claim.
Another At-Fault Driver
The ride-sharing driver causes not all ride-sharing accidents. In many cases, the fault of another driver contributes to the crash. In such a scenario, you will be entitled to seek bodily injury liability damages as well as other damages from the negligent driver under their auto insurance coverage. This is because Texas is not a no-fault state. The at-fault party is legally bound to cover the damages of the victims. However, insurers can sometimes act in bad faith and reject valid personal injury claims for bodily injury liability and other losses. You then have the option of filing a personal injury lawsuit against the insurer. However, this particular insurance option is available to you only when the at-fault driver has sufficient insurance to cover your losses. When the driver is underinsured or uninsured, you will need to avail the next option.
Ride-Sharing Company’s Uninsured/Underinsured Coverage
Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft also offer underinsured/uninsured motorist insurance coverage. This specific uninsured motorist insurance coverage becomes available when you are an Uber passenger and suffer injuries or other losses due to another uninsured or underinsured driver. It also applies when your losses as an Uber or Lyft passenger result from a hit-and-run so that the at-fault driver is unknown. The minimum uninsured motorist insurance liability available in such a case is $250,000, with a maximum liability insurance limit of $1 million. You can seek to have your losses compensated under the uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance option with the help of a personal injury lawyer.
Your Own Insurance Carrier
You can also tap into your own Personal Injury Protection insurance coverage to recoup damages for your crash-related losses. If you carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP), optional in Texas, you can recover damages fairly quickly from your own insurer under your personal coverage. Your auto insurance policy may also offer property damage liability coverage in the event of an Uber or Lyft accident.
Seeking damages for losses suffered in a rideshare accident can be complicated. This is because there are many potentially liable parties in such a crash, and the process of filing personal injury claims can become quite complex. Even when rideshare drivers are clearly at fault, insurance companies representing the driver may refuse to pay any damages under the driver’s personal insurance. This is because most personal auto insurance policies do not cover for-profit driving activities.
Similarly, ridesharing service companies like Uber and Lyft are also shielded from direct liability. When an accident occurs, the company’s insurance adjusters may claim that the host driver’s fault caused the crash, so the host driver’s insurer must be held liable. So you may find yourself unable to receive an Uber accident settlement or damages from the driver. This is where a Houston car accident lawyer can be immensely helpful.
Here at Calhoun, Meredith, & Sims, our Uber accident attorneys aim to help Uber rideshare accident victims recover the maximum amount of compensation for medical care costs, property damage, and other losses. Our car accident lawyers navigate the complicated issues of liability and insurance coverage in rideshare accidents to make sure you can hold the at-fault party accountable and get the best personal injury settlement. We also negotiate with insurance companies and insurance adjuster on your behalf to ensure your rights are protected. Get in touch now to discuss your insurance claim in detail with our lawyers.