Who is responsible for my rideshare accident injury?
Los Angeles rideshare accident attorney David Woolf helps victims recover the compensation they deserve after they have been hurt in a car crash caused by a Lyft, Uber, or other ridesharing vehicle. These accidents can be severe. They are also very complicated. Deciding who is at fault after a rideshare accident requires an experienced rideshare accident attorney, who can overcome these complexities and recover compensation for all of the victim’s losses.
What should I do after an Uber/Lyft accident?
If you were a passenger in a ridesharing vehicle, like a Lyft or an Uber, and there is a car crash, there are some steps that you should take, if you can. These are:
- call the police and ask for an officer to be sent to the scene,
- take photos of the scene of the crash, including the ridesharing vehicle and any other vehicles involved in the accident,
- take pictures of any injuries you got in the accident,
- ask witnesses for their contact information,
- go to the hospital, even if you do not think that you have been hurt, and
- report the accident to the ridesharing company.
If you have been hurt in the crash, your health and safety come first. If you were seriously hurt, police will likely be sent to the scene of the accident, anyway.
Getting police to the scene of the accident is important because it will create a police report of the crash. While they are not always perfect, these reports can challenge the results of the crash investigation conducted by the ridesharing service. The victim’s Uber or Lyft accident attorney can then use the inconsistencies to challenge the company’s defenses and secure full compensation for the victim.
Contacting the rideshare service company is also important. Do not rely on the driver to self-report the crash. They may have a reason to not report it, especially if they know that they were at fault.
Finally, reaching out to a skilled Uber or Lyft accident lawyer is essential for victims who want to make sure they receive what they deserve.
What are some common causes of a ridesharing accident in California?
Some of the most common causes of ridesharing accidents in California are the same as a regular car accident. These include:
- distracted driving,
- drunk or drugged driving,
- traffic violations, like not using a signal before turning or making an unsafe lane change, and
- reckless or negligent driving.
There are also some causes that are unique or far more common in ridesharing accidents. These include:
- driving while distracted by a smartphone, as the Lyft or Uber driver plans for their next pick up,
- speeding, as the driver rushes to drop the passenger off and get another one, and
- parking accidents, as the ridesharing driver parks the car in a dangerous spot for the pick up or the drop off.
Any of these issues can cause a car accident. If they do, and the passenger gets hurt, the victim is entitled to compensation for all of his or her losses.
Unlike for normal motor vehicle accidents, occupants in ridesharing vehicles who have been hurt rarely need to rely on California’s comparative negligence rules. These rules diminish the compensation that a victim can recover, based on how at-fault he or she was for the crash. For example, if a victim in a car accident was 25% at-fault for the crash and his or her resulting injuries, the rules of comparative negligence would reduce their compensation by 25%.
Vehicle occupants in ridesharing accidents, however, are almost never at fault for the crash. In most cases, they were sitting in the backseat, doing nothing. Because their conduct did not cause the accident, they deserve to be compensated for all of their losses.
What compensation is available?
Contrary to popular belief and what insurance adjusters will say, victims in ridesharing accidents are not limited to compensation for their medical bills. Instead, they are entitled to compensation for all of the losses that are foreseeable from the crash. These include:
- medical expenses,
- property damage,
- lost wages,
- reduced earning capacity,
- pain and suffering damages for physical pain, mental suffering, and emotional anguish,
- loss of consortium for a loved one or spouse, and
- punitive damages, for extreme cases where the person who caused the accident acted egregiously.
In severe accidents that cause serious injuries, these losses can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. A Lyft or Uber accident lawyer can help victims get the full amount of what they deserve.
How can a personal injury or rideshare accident lawyer help file an accident claim?
A California ridesharing accident lawyer can help victims by:
- maximizing the insurance company’s settlement offer, or
- if the insurance settlement is not enough, filing a personal injury claim.
Whether looking to file a lawsuit or merely aiming for a reasonable insurance settlement offer, though, victims find that ridesharing accidents are far more complicated than normal ones. This is largely because ridesharing drivers are independent contractors, not employees. A lot will depend on whether:
- the driver’s ridesharing app was on at the time of the incident, and
- the occupant was physically in the vehicle when they were hurt.
If both of these factors are satisfied, then the ridesharing company’s liability insurance should cover the costs of the victim’s losses. Many major rideshare companies tout insurance policies that provide over $1 million in liability coverage for injuries and property damage. Getting these companies to cover the costs of an insurance claim by an Uber or Lyft passenger, though, is easier said than done.
If the rideshare driver did not have his ridesharing app on at the time of the accident, then the driver’s personal insurance coverage should cover the crash. Uber and Lyft drivers are required to have at least a certain amount of auto insurance on their personal policies, but not all of them comply.
If the ridesharing app was on, but the passenger was getting into or out of the rideshare vehicle when he or she got hurt, ridesharing insurance should cover the incident. However, the policy limits are likely to be far less generous. If the victim suffers a serious injury, like a brain injury or a life-threatening condition, this policy will likely be underinsured and leave the victim undercompensated.
In any case, the victim will have to deal with an insurance company. These companies maximize their profits by minimizing the amounts they pay out in insurance claims. They often do this by offering initial settlement offers that are far less than what the victim deserves.
Ridesharing accident victims who have legal representation are far less likely to receive a lowball settlement offer. Insurance companies see a personal injury lawyer as a sign that the victim means business. Not only do represented victims tend to see better settlement offers; they also have a source of legal advice that can tell whether the offer is a good one or not.
If the settlement offer is inadequate and the insurance company is refusing to offer more, a personal injury attorney can put together a personal injury case for the victim. This often involves:
- conducting an independent investigation of the crash,
- talking to witnesses or other motorists involved in the crash,
- scrutinizing the ridesharing company’s version of the accident, and
- looking at the police report and comparing it to the other sides of the story.
If a reasonable settlement offer is still not being made, the personal injury lawsuit can be filed and taken all the way to trial, if need be.
In accident cases where the auto accident was fatal, a skilled car accident lawyer from a local law firm can legally represent the family of the victim in a wrongful death case.