Who's Liable If I Was Injured in a Ridesharing Accident?

 Posted on April 12, 2017 in Personal Injury

Real-time ridesharing is a type of service that began being offered only a few short years ago.It’s a service that arranges one-time shared rides on short notice.Typically, this carpooling uses devices such as smartphones and GPS devices to find and take rides. Two of the most popular services include Uberand Lyft, which have both been growing in popularity.

While the process seems simple enough-picking a destination, ordering a ride, paying through the app, waiting for the driver-using a businesslike Uber and Lyft to find a ride presents its own complications. For example, if you were driving your own car, you would know that you are either insured or uninsured and know how much your policy limit is in case an accident occurs.

However, when getting into the car of a complete stranger, you trust that they meet all of the following criteria:

• They can drive well
• They can drive safely
• They have insurance to cover damages

Large companies such as Uber and Lyft come with their own personal injury coverage in case passengers do sustain injuries during the ride. Theoretically, both of these businesses have a $1 million limit on their liability, which covers passenger injuries even if the crash was caused by the other driver.However, Uber will fight you in court if you try and sue them for any deficits in treatment not covered by the policy. For example, let us say a passenger was so severely injured he sustained spinal cord injury and could no longer move any limbs. This quadriplegic condition will last him for life and will prevent him from holding a typical job to sustain himself. His overall costs will include lost wages as well as extensive medical treatments to help him live with this condition. Over the course of his lifetime, the cost of his injury could easily reach more than $1million, if not more.

Additionally, the outcome of any personal injury claim will depend on the classification of drivers using the ridesharing service. All Uber and Lyft drivers are considered independent contractors, meaning they needto provide their own insurance unless they’re driving a passenger.The behavior of the driver, therefore, would be dependent on the driver alone. If a driver is drunk when he gets into an accident, a passenger injured in the collision is unlikely to get much from damages in the incident.Likewise, passengers are not covered by the policy. If an Uber or Lyftcrashes into a pedestrian, the policy would only cover their injury if the driver was on duty. If not, the passenger would need to sue the driver.

For more information about ridesharing liability, or to begin a case of your own, don’t hesitate to call us. If you were injured as the result of someone else’s negligence, you deserve to be compensated.At Ivey, Barnum & O'Mara, LLC, our Greenwich personal injury attorneys help people and their families obtain justice in personal injury claims and wrongful death cases. Those who suffer at the hands of someone else’s negligence shouldn’t have to pay the price for a mistake they didn’t make. Medical bills and lost wages could cost you into the thousands,while some catastrophic injury victims require millions in rehabilitation costs and loss of a lifetime of income. Let us see what we can do for you. Contact us at 203-661-6000 or fill out our online form to schedule a free case consultation today. We look forward to helping you with your situation.