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Timeline of Liability in a Ridesharing Car Accident

On Behalf of | Jan 14, 2019 | Personal Injury

Lyft offers $1,000,000 of liability insurance coverage in the event of a motor vehicle crash in which its passenger is injured. Even with the company’s Trust and Safety Team available 24 hours each day, proving liability for a Lyft accident can be anything but simple. Lyft and Uber allow drivers with no commercial qualifications to shuttle passengers in their privately-owned vehicles, but they emphasize, “Safety is our highest priority.”

Lyft and Uber vehicles must meet high safety standards, but they do not own or service their own vehicles. They often claim that their drivers are independent contractors and that they. Lyft do not directly employ their drivers. They do so for a variety of reasons, including the hope that such arguments will minimize their potential liability.

Transportation Network Companies

Lyft and Uber drivers are required to use smartphone applications to schedule rides for passengers. Their drivers are also required to adhere to very specific, and often rigid, standards. Our firm’s position is that these requirements elevate Lyft and Uber drivers to employee status, and that this status gives injured riders added legal protection.

In Case of a Lyft Accident

If you call the Lyft 24-hour emergency number, the customer support agent will speak with you regarding your car accident. The employee who answers the Lyft emergency number represents Lyft and records your conversation. You should be aware that the customer support agent first loyalty lies with Lyft. As such, the Lyft agent is not fully competed to your best interests.

Uber Rapid SOS

Uber gives riders and drivers safety tools to help you stay safe on the road. In case of emergency, Uber tells riders and drivers to call 911 through their online RapidSos application. Uber 911 only works in some locations. When the application works, the location of the accident, the trip details, the description of the Uber car, its tag number, your passenger name, phone number, pick up and drop off locations, and your driver’s name are sent through the emergency RapidSos application.

Liability in an Accident

If your driver is active in the Lyft/Uber application but has not yet accepted a ride request, the available insurance coverage is often reduced. This reduction in insurance coverage can hurt your claim if you injured not as a passenger of Lyft/Uber, but as a driver or passenger in another vehicle hit by an Uber/Lyft driver.

Ridesharing Accident Attorney

Our ridesharing accident attorneys look for mistakes made by your driver and liability through the ridesharing company. We will work to find all facts that will support your claim for personal injuries, and all available sources of insurance coverage. Our ridesharing Lyft/Uber personal injury attorneys will strive to recover compensation for your:

  • Medical bills
  • Rehabilitative care
  • Lost wages
  • Emotional distress

Your medical expenses may include:

  • Surgical expenses
  • Hospital costs
  • Doctor bills
  • Diagnostic tests
  • Physical therapy

The Law Office of Shevlin Smith

Call or contact online our Lyft or Uber accident attorneys for a free initial consultation and case evaluation if you were injured in a ridesharing accident in Washington, D.C. or Northern Virginia. We can help you pursue just compensation whether the accident was caused by a drunk driver, defective vehicle product, or another factor.

Our Fairfax, Virginia, car accident attorneys are rated among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the United States and our firm has more than 130 years of collective legal experience and retrieved multimillion-dollar verdicts for our personal injury clients.

Contact our firm for aggressive advocacy to seek the compensation you justly deserve.

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