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What To Do If You are Injured in a Rideshare Accident

What To Do If You are Injured in a Rideshare Accident
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With the growth of the rideshare industry, there are more and more car accidents involving Uber and Lyft drivers. A Lyft or Uber accident can involve injured rideshare passengers and/or other drivers. Therefore, if you are injured in a rideshare accident, you may need an attorney familiar with the issues involving the rideshare industry.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU ARE IN A RIDESHARE ACCIDENT?

As with any type of car accident, there are certain steps you should take, if you can safely.

First, make sure everyone involved in the accident is safe. However, if the accident injured anyone, immediately call 911.

If you’re experiencing pain or discomfort, immediately seek medical treatment. Remember, even if you think you only have minor injuries, you still need to see a doctor. Minor injuries can become serious injuries if not treated properly.

If you’ve called 911, they will send a police officer to the accident scene. If you haven’t, you or the driver might still want to report the accident. An officer will speak to everyone involved in the accident and write a police report which summarizes the officer’s investigation.

Get the name and badge number of the responding officer and an incident report number so that you can request a copy of the report when it’s ready.

Of course, exchange names and contact information with everyone involved in the crash.

Likewise, if there are witnesses, get their names and contact information, too.

Additionally, take pictures of the accident scene, vehicle damage, and your injuries.

You should report the accident to the rideshare company. Accident reporting forms are available on Uber and Lyft’s websites.

A rideshare company representative may contact you for a statement about the accident. However, if you have questions or if the accident seriously injured you, talk to a personal injury lawyer before you talk about the accident with anyone.

Certainly, write everything you can remember about the accident. The sooner you can do this, the better. Indeed, your notes may be very useful if you have to explain what happened to an insurance adjuster.

Likewise, they may help if you have to testify in a personal injury case about the accident.

WHO DO YOU SUE IF YOU ARE INJURED IN A RIDESHARE ACCIDENT?

Certainly, determining responsibility for a rideshare accident is like any other motor vehicle accident case. If the rideshare vehicle causes the crash through their negligence, they could face personal injury lawsuits for any damages they cause.

However, these accidents stand out because of an additional third party—the rideshare company.

Typically, if a negligent motorist injured another driver or passenger, the injured person could sue the negligent driver. Additionally, if the negligent driver was working, the injured person could also sue the driver’s employer.

However, rideshare drivers are typically not considered employees of Uber or Lyft. Instead, these companies are treated as a marketplace that connects drivers and riders.

Consequently, this unique situation limits the ability to pursue a lawsuit directly against the rideshare companies in many jurisdictions.

However, this area of law is unsettled. Therefore, it may be worthwhile for anyone injured in an accident with a rideshare driver to discuss their legal options with an accident attorney.

RIDESHARE DRIVERS AND INSURANCE

For insurance purposes, a rideshare driver’s status could be classified in three different ways. Their specific status will determine the maximum coverage available and whether Uber’s or Lyft’s liability insurance policies would cover the accident.

Driver is Transporting a Rider

Uber and Lyft provide the highest maximum insurance benefits where a driver is transporting a paying passenger.

In these cases, the rideshare companies offer $1 million in liability coverage.

Driver is Actively Seeking a Rider

Additionally, Uber/Lyft insurance covers the rideshare driver if he/she is using the app to actively seek passengers. In this situation, Uber and Lyft offer up to $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident in bodily injury coverage.

Likewise, they provide up to $25,000 in property damage coverage. Injured parties can sue the negligent rideshare driver and this coverage would apply to the negligent driver.

Driver Is Not Using Rideshare App

The rideshare companies’ insurance will not cover negligent rideshare drivers when they cause an accident while using their car for personal reasons only. As a result, any victim of an accident with an off-duty, negligent rideshare driver will need to sue the driver through that driver’s personal auto insurance policy.

WHAT TYPES OF CLAIMS CAN YOU MAKE AGAINST A RIDESHARE DRIVER WHO NEGLIGENTLY INJURES YOU?

In a rideshare accident case, there are several types of damage claims injured persons make:

Medical expenses – You may recover all your medical expenses (even those which insurance paid.

Lost wages – You may make a claim for lost wages because you missed work because of your injuries.

Pain and suffering – Injured parties can tell the jury how badly your neck hurt after your rideshare accident. In addition, you can also tell the jury how you got chiropractic treatment for weeks and you still have stiffness in your back most mornings when you wake up. That is pain and suffering.

Disability – If there are lingering symptoms from your injury (and there often are), you can tell the jury about them. Perhaps you work at a desk all day but cannot sit for over 25-30 minutes because of the back injury you sustained in the rideshare accident.

Because of your back injury, you stop working frequently, get up from the

desk and walk around the office. You can tell the jury about that. The jury can take that into account during their deliberations. They can then factor it into their damage award.

Future medical treatment – If you suffered a traumatic brain injury or compound fracture of your leg in the rideshare accident, you may need medical and physical therapy treatment for the foreseeable future. You (and your doctor) can tell the jury about that.

Loss of consortium – If the rideshare accident killed your spouse, or severely injured him/her, the jury can compensate you for losing the affection, advice and companionship spouses show each other. In other words, the loss of consortium.

CONTACT AN EXPERIENCED RIDESHARE ACCIDENT LAWYER IF YOU ARE INJURED IN A RIDESHARE ACCIDENT

If a rideshare accident has injured you, a close friend or a loved one because of a negligent rideshare driver, you need an experienced rideshare accident law firm. We will investigate the accident and determine who was at fault for your injuries.

We will confirm the amount of insurance coverage for the negligent driver. Then we will negotiate a settlement with the insurance company for the negligent driver that fully compensates you.

And, by the way, we negotiate with insurance companies almost every day.

Lastly, we will fight to get you the compensation you deserve for your medical bills and pain and suffering. Contact our law firm to begin our attorney-client relationship at our Hammond office at (219) 200-2000 or online at alexmendozalaw.com for a free consultation about your legal options.

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