TOP PERSONAL INJURY FIRM IN LOS ANGELES
Being injured while riding as a passenger in an Uber can be not only physically painful and emotionally traumatic, but also extraordinarily confusing. If you’ve been seriously injured in a car accident due to the fault of another party, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your losses, such as your medical care and your pain and suffering. However, if you’re a ridesharing accident victim, the path to recovering damages for your losses can seem impossible to navigate.
Legally speaking, ridesharing accidents are among the most complex types of vehicle accidents. Ridesharing services are governed by new laws and regulations that are often in flux and may vary widely depending on your location. Additionally, ridesharing accidents involve more parties than other accidents and each party will have its own insurance policy with its own unique coverage. All in all, this can make understanding liability (fault) and recovering damages in a ridesharing accident extremely challenging.
Though pursuing compensation in an Uber accident can be confusing, a ridesharing accident victim can pursue damages when another party is liable for their injuries. Depending on the unique circumstances of a victim’s accident, the liable party could be the ridesharing driver, the ridesharing company, another driver, or some combination of these parties and entities.
To win a ridesharing accident case, you need to prove two things: liability and damages. Below, we’ll go over common liability situations in ridesharing accidents and the damages that may be available in an Uber passenger accident case. Then, we’ll also go over what to do immediately after being injured while riding as a passenger in an Uber vehicle.
Liability in an Uber accident often has a dramatic impact on how much compensation a victim can recover from an insurance company. You may have heard that Uber has $1 million dollar liability insurance coverage. While this is true, this liability coverage only applies in certain circumstances. Uber has a three-part insurance plan, with different coverage rules for different situations.
If an Uber driver gets into an accident while they’re driving their vehicle for personal reasons, but not working for Uber, the driver’s own insurance coverage applies.
If an Uber driver gets into an accident while driving a passenger, the Uber passenger is covered by Uber’s third-party liability insurance. In California, Uber is required to carry $1 million dollars in insurance coverage to pay out their ridesharing passengers. This applies when an Uber driver caused the accident and can also sometimes apply if another motorist was at fault. If an at-fault outside party is uninsured or underinsured, Uber’s insurance coverage can apply to the injured Uber passenger.
If an Uber driver gets into an accident while they’re logged into their Uber app and they are available to pick up a passenger but are not carrying a passenger, the accident will be primarily covered by the driver’s personal auto insurance policy. However, Uber does provide additional contingent liability coverage on top of the driver’s insurance. Uber’s additional contingent liability coverage includes up to $50,000 in bodily injury per person, $100,000 in bodily injury per accident, and $25,000 in property damage per accident. Rideshare company accident victims should be aware that this additional coverage must be requested in order to apply to an Uber accident claim.
The damages available in an Uber car accident case are the same as the damages available in other auto accident cases. A victim in a car accident case can recover compensation for a wide range of losses related to their injuries, including:
The first thing you should do after being in an Uber accident is assess whether you or another involved party needs emergency medical care. If you or another person is seriously injured, call 911. If you don’t think you need to call an ambulance, note that you should still seek medical attention after being in an accident since many serious accident injuries aren’t apparent right away. Even if you feel alright after being in a car accident, a medical professional may notice something you didn’t. Treating injuries early is crucial for your overall health and well-being. Medical records can also be important documentation in a personal injury claim, so they can be extremely helpful if you need to pursue damages for your losses.
After taking care of your health, you (or a trusted loved one) should gather important information from the accident scene. Get the names and contact information of everyone at the accident scene, including your rideshare driver, other involved drivers, and witnesses. Make sure to also write down the license plates and insurance information of the involved vehicles and drivers.
Next, write down all the details of the accident, including everything that happened leading up to the time of the accident and during the accident. Take photos of the accident scene and damages caused by the accident, including your injuries.
In some cases, the police will arrive at an accident scene without you needing to call them. If that’s not the case for your accident, make sure you call the police and have them come to the scene of the accident to fill out a Traffic Collision Report. A police report that documents an accident scene can be invaluable evidence in a personal injury case.
Call your insurer as soon as you can to notify them of the car accident. If any insurance adjusters or rideshare service representatives call you, do not talk to them about the details of your accident or injuries if you will be hiring an attorney, since any comment you make could potentially be used against you. For similar reasons, do not post about your accident or injuries on social media. If you’ve hired or will be hiring a personal injury attorney, you can simply tell insurance claim adjusters who contact you that your attorney will reach out to them.
If you’ve been seriously injured in an Uber accident, consider reaching out to a car accident attorney. A personal injury attorney who understands the complexity of your local ridesharing regulations and car injury cases can negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf in order to make sure you’re fairly compensated for your losses.
If you’ve been injured in an Uber Accident or a Lyft accident, contact LA Lawyers Group today to receive a free case evaluation. Our team of personal injury lawyers has an expert understanding of California’s personal injury laws and rideshare accident regulations. The personal injury lawyers at LA Lawyers Group have helped injury victims recover compensation for past and future medical expenses, property damage, pain and suffering, lost wages, loss of quality of life, and more. Our attorneys are dedicated to protecting the rights of accident victims across California and will fight to maximize damages for our clients.
Call LA Lawyers Group at (213) LAWYERS now to receive your free consultation with our personal injury law firm.
