Defending Your Rights, Protecting Your Freedom
Rideshare/Lyft/Uber Accidents
When filing a claim after you are involved in an accident with Uber/Lyft, you need to determine the driver’s status at the time of the accident. This will determine whose insurance you will contact for a claim.
Understanding Your Legal Options
Rideshare accidents are often complicated due to the amount of parties involved and the complex insurance structures in place. Although Uber and Lyft are considered ride share, they have some differences in coverage. Understanding this distinction is important. This is where Beck Law comes in. They are one of the Best Rideshare/Uber/Lyft attorneys in Colorado and will guide you through the process.
Driver Status
There are 3 different status’ for a driver, which are:
- the driver was not logged into the app and was driving on his or her own time;
- the driver was logged in and was waiting for a passenger to request a ride; or
- the driver had a passenger in the vehicle or was on his or her way to pick up an accepted ride.
- Liability may also involve other drivers, making it critical to assess each party’s role in the accident.
Liability may also involve other drivers, making it critical to assess each party’s role in the accident.
Filing a Rideshare Personal Injury Lawsuit
Ride share drivers are required to have their OWN motor vehicle insurance on their vehicles, whether they are currently working or not.
When a person is injured after an accident with a ride-share driver, they are entitled to recover for economic and non-economic damages.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who is responsible for a ride-sharing accident in Colorado?
Determining responsibility for most Colorado Uber accidents is based on the state’s negligence laws.
To recover under a negligence standard, the injured victim must prove:
- that the person being sued owed a duty of care to the plaintiff;
- that the defendant breached the duty of care;
- that the defendant’s breach was the cause of the injury; and
- that the plaintiff sustained monetary damages from the injuries.
What is reasonable care?
Reasonable care is:
- keeping an eye out for pedestrians.
- watching for road obstacles.
- paying attention to what is around you.
- maintaining an appropriate distance behind other vehicles.
- traveling at an appropriate speed.
- not texting or using a phone while you are driving.
- not driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
If a driver does not use reasonable care and someone is injured, the driver of the Rideshare can be held responsible for those injuries.
What Should I Do After an Uber or Lyft Accident?
Call 911 immediately if you or someone else is injured. You’ll also want to call the police and collect some information at the scene to support your insurance claim or lawsuit, including:
- the Uber or Lyft driver’s name, license number, and insurance information
- insurance information for any other person and vehicle involved in the accident
- names and phone numbers of witnesses
- the location of any security cameras or doorbell cameras in the area
- pictures of the accident scene and damage to all vehicles involved
- pictures of your injuries
- the location and time of the accident, and
- a copy of the police report when it’s available.
What if I was injured while riding in an Uber or Lyft?
Uber and Lyft are expected to carry certain levels of commercial liability coverage.
The rideshare companies (sometimes called “Transportation Network Companies” or TNCs), connect riders with drivers through mobile apps. This also means that certain regulations apply that require insurance coverage in case of accidents.
Passengers who were injured while in a ride-sharing service car will be covered by Uber or Lyft’s commercial liability coverage. If this happens, your damages will be covered:
- up to “at least” $1 million per accident in coverage for Uber; or
- $1 million “per accident limit” for Lyft.
What if I was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident?
Failure to wear a seat belt can be an affirmative defense the ride-sharing company can raise as part of the accident lawsuit. If the injured person is found partially at fault for their own injuries, comparative negligence law applies. This law determines each parties degree of fault and the amount of damages you may receive.
Depending on the degree of fault the jury decides not wearing a seat belt contributed to the injuries, the injured person’s damage award could be adjusted down, or be lost altogether.
What if the Uber driver was at fault for the accident?
When a ride-sharing vehicle operator is at fault for the accident and a person’s injuries, the type of liability coverage available depends on the driver’s status at the time of the accident.
What happens when the driver was not logged in to the app when my injuries occurred?
When an Uber/Lyft driver is not logged in to the app, they are not working for the company. This means that he or she is driving for personal reasons and not for Uber/Lyft. If this occurs, the injured person would make a claim through the driver’s PERSONAL insurance company.
If the driver does not have personal insurance, the injured person may have to file a claim with their own insurance company.
What happens when the operator of the vehicle is logged in but waiting for a passenger to request a ride?
When an Uber driver is ready to start the day, he or she logs into the app and sets off driving or waits in a location.
A crash could occur while a person is driving around a city, but does not yet have an accepted ride. When this is the case, injured people are covered in the following amounts:
- $50,000 for bodily injury per person;
- $100,000 for bodily injury per accident (for all persons injured);
- $25,000 for property damage per accident.
Lyft has a unique “contingent” liability coverage for the same amounts, which means:
- that when the Lyft driver has no liability insurance; or
- when the insurance does not fully cover the injuries and damages;
- the Lyft coverage steps in to cover the difference.
What happens when the rideshare driver has a passenger or is on the way to pick up a passenger?
When an Ube/Lyft driver is carrying a passenger, or is on the way to pick up an accepted ride, the full liability coverage limits apply.
This can mean coverage for:
- a current passenger who was injured;
- a driver that was hit by an Uber driver while he or she had a passenger (or was on the way to pick the passenger up); or
- a pedestrian struck during this time.
Are Uber drivers considered independent contractors?
There remains significant debate in the legal world about whether Uber drivers are:
- employees; or
- independent contractors.
Long story short, independent contracts are held to different standards when it comes to responsibility for their negligence.