I Was a Passenger in a Lyft Accident: What Can I Do?

If you were a passenger in a rideshare accident, such as with Uber or Lyft, you have multiple legal options to explore.

If you have been injured in an accident while in a Lyft, Uber, or other rideshare vehicle, please call Stone Rose Law at (480) 631-3025 to schedule a free consultation to determine if you have a case.

Do Rideshare Companies Insure Passengers in Accidents?

Rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber do have commercial insurance policies that may cover passenger injuries.

• Each of these companies has a way for injured passengers to contact the company in the event of an injury-causing accident.
• Each company’s insurance offers up to $1 million in coverage for passenger injury accidents. This can be based on rideshare liability coverage, third-party liability coverage, or uninsured motorist coverage.

For both of these rideshare companies, the passenger’s claim is directed to the insurance carrier, and not to the rideshare company.

What About the Rideshare Driver’s Personal Liability Insurance?

If the rideshare driver is at least partly at fault for causing an accident, then it may be possible to make a claim against the driver’s own automobile liability insurance as well as the rideshare company’s policy.

Many personal auto insurance policies, however, do not insure individuals who are using their vehicles for commercial purposes. In this situation, the injured passenger may still have a personal injury claim against the rideshare driver directly, assuming the driver has sufficient assets to pay liability claims.

What About Third-Party Liability Insurance Claims?

Often, multi-car motor vehicle accidents involve liability claims against all of the drivers involved. Arizona is a comparative fault state, meaning that multiple parties can be found to be negligent for personal injuries arising from a single accident.

So, for example, if the rideshare driver is 50% at fault, and another driver is 50% at fault, the injured passenger may have claims against the rideshare driver personally and the insurance policy of the other driver involved.

Can Passengers Sue Lyft or Uber for Injuries?

If your damages do not amount to more than $1 million, then a company like Lyft’s commercial insurance should cover your medical expenses and property damage.

If your damages are for more than $1 million, then it may be useful to consider the following options.

Was the Rideshare Company Negligent in Hiring the Driver as a Contractor?

Because of the independent contractor relationship they maintain with their drivers, rideshare companies can be difficult to sue in a personal injury lawsuit in Arizona. 

In some cases, if it can be shown that the rideshare company negligently engaged the contractor, it may be possible to name the rideshare company as a defendant.

For example, if you can show that the rideshare driver was unlicensed to drive in Arizona, and the rideshare company knew, or should have known of this fact and hired the driver as a contractor anyway, this fact might support a negligence claim against the rideshare company.

The Rideshare Driver’s Insurance Policy

Although many times the rideshare driver’s personal insurance will not cover commercial activities, it is always a good idea to investigate whether the driver’s own liability insurance will pay for part of your personal injury damages.

Personal Liability on the Part of the Rideshare Driver

If the rideshare driver was negligent in causing the accident, and the driver’s insurance does not cover rideshare activities, it may be possible to sue the driver personally to compensate you for your injuries. 

How effective this approach is will depend in part on whether the rideshare driver has any significant assets from which to pay a settlement or damages award.

Third-Party Liability

Are any other parties potentially liable for the harm you suffered? It can be easier to seek compensation from a responsible third party than to sue the rideshare company, because these third parties have a direct relationship to your injuries.

• For example, did another at-fault driver contribute to causing the accident?
• Did a mechanical problem, like a brake failure, contribute to the crash due to an improper repair? The auto mechanic may be partly responsible.
• Did a defect in the design or manufacture of the rideshare vehicle contribute to the accident? If the defect made the vehicle inherently unsafe to drive, the car manufacturer or the company that sold the car might be liable under the legal theory of product liability.
• Were poor road conditions, or missing or defective traffic signs or signals a contributing factor? In some cases, it may be possible to name a public entity like a state, county, or municipal government agency as a personal injury defendant.

What Defenses Can You Expect in a Rideshare Personal Injury Claim?

Often, a passenger in a motor vehicle accident is what personal injury attorneys call a “faultless plaintiff.” This means that under ordinary circumstances, there is little a passenger can do to cause a vehicle accident to happen.

As we have shown above, though, if you name the rideshare company as a defendant in a personal injury claim, then you can expect the company to raise the independent contractor defense as a way of avoiding direct liability to you.

In addition, you can anticipate that the defendants in your case will be looking for any way to show that you were also at least partly to blame for your injuries.

• If, for example, you were not wearing a seatbelt when the accident happened, you can anticipate that the defendants will claim that you were contributorily negligent and that any settlement payout or damages award should be reduced in proportion to your share of fault.
• The same contributory fault defense can apply if the driver can show that you were engaged in behaviors that caused the driver to become distracted.

What to Do if You Are a Passenger in a Rideshare Accident?

The steps you should take as a rideshare passenger in the aftermath of an accident are similar in many ways to those you would take after an accident in which you were a driver.

Report The Accident

If the rideshare driver does not report the accident to the police, do not hesitate to call the police yourself.

In addition, to begin the process of making an insurance coverage claim, contact the rideshare company:

• You can report an Uber passenger accident here.
• You can report a Lyft accident in which you were a passenger here.

Document The Accident Scene

Take photographs of the accident scene, including the vehicles involved. Write down notes of what happened so you can use them later to refresh your memory of what happened.

Gather Witness Information

Write down the names and contact information of the other people involved in the accident and anyone who witnessed the collision. In a multi-car crash, be sure to get the other driver’s insurance details.

Seek Medical Attention

Even if you do not experience any immediate symptoms, see a doctor after being involved in a car accident, whether you are a driver or a passenger. Many kinds of injuries have delayed symptoms. This can cause you two kinds of problems:

• You may make the injury worse without being aware of it; and
• The longer you wait to seek treatment, the more likely it is that the rideshare insurance company will claim that your injuries have a cause other than the accident.

Be Careful in Communications With Insurers

Insurance companies seek to keep claim payouts as low as possible. Claim adjusters are experts in looking for ways to get you to either admit fault for an accident or to minimize your injuries. If you do not already have a personal injury attorney to represent you, then consider the rideshare insurance company to be a polite adversary:

• Be wary of invitations to make a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster.
• Do not accept a quick claim settlement offer; these are frequently for less than the full value of your claim.
• Be truthful in answering claim adjuster questions about the incident, but resist the temptation to volunteer more information than the question calls for.

Contact an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer

Preserving and pursuing your legal rights after being involved in an Uber or a Lyft car accident as a passenger requires expert knowledge of personal injury law and strong negotiating skills. 

Most cases involving personal injury claims settle out of court, so having an attorney who can represent you well in negotiating a liability insurance coverage claim with a rideshare insurance carrier can make all the difference for you in receiving the maximum settlement compensation.

An experienced car accident lawyer can also help you find all the parties who are potentially liable for your injuries, other than the Uber or Lyft driver and the other driver involved in the accident.

Have You Been in an Accident as a Rideshare Passenger?

At the Stone Rose Law Firm, our Phoenix auto accident attorneys will provide you with the legal assistance you need to receive the bodily injury and property loss compensation from a rideshare accident. 

Call us at (480) 631-3025 or use our contact form to schedule your free consultation to discuss your car accident case with a qualified car accident lawyer.