Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Involving Uber or Lyft Ridesharing Injuries
Car crashes involving ridesharing victims can be frustratingly complicated for ridesharing victims seeking justice after they have been seriously hurt or killed in an Uber or Lyft crash (or other ridesharing service company). As discussed in our previous posts, ridesharing is a growing trend in Indiana and Illinois, as well as the rest of the country. Federal and state laws have not kept up with safety laws and regulations that provide the same protections to accident victims that exist for traditional carriers (e.g., taxi cab companies). Read:
- Ridesharing Accidents in Indiana and Illinois: Uber and Lyft Injury Claims
- Uber or Lyft Crashes: Liability in Ridesharing Accidents
1. Uber Drivers: Ridesharing Crash
For instance, consider the circumstances where the ridesharing driver is hurt or killed in a motor vehicle accident. It is clear that the Uber driver is on the job if there is a ridesharing passenger in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
No Passenger in the Car
However, what happens when the Uber Driver (or Lyft Driver) is hurt or killed in an auto accident but there is no passenger in the vehicle? This ridesharing crash victim may have tremendous legal hurdles to jump in order to prove he or she was en route to pick up a rider at the time of the accident.
If the driver cannot prove he or she was on the job, then Uber (or Lyft) may deny all legal liability and insist that the driver move forward as if the crash happened on personal time. Evidence including confirmation that the Uber Driver (or Lyft Driver) was logged into the ridesharing app may be needed to show the crash victim was working as a ridesharing driver at the time of injury.
Passenger in the Car or En Route
If the Uber Driver can demonstrate he or she was en route to pick up a rider who had requested ridesharing services or if there was a ridesharing passenger in the car at the time of the crash, then it is more easily established that the driver was on the job. This does not make things easier for the Uber driver crash victim.
Things can still be complicated legally in these situations. For instance, many may assume that the Uber Driver is covered by worker’s compensations laws established by Indiana and Illinois legislation. After all, the Uber driver was working at the time of the crash.
Workers Compensation and Ridesharing Claims
Legally, ridesharing drivers may not be able to obtain benefits under state workers’ compensation laws. Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing companies are notorious for arguing that they merely provide a software “bridge” between the driver and the rider. This position asserts the ridesharing driver is an “independent contractor” working as a freelancer and not as a legal employee of the ridesharing company.
Under the argument that the Uber driver is not an employee, the state workers’ compensation system will not legally protect the driver for bodily injury or death claims resulting from a ridesharing crash.
State legislatures are responding to this situation by considering new laws targeting the “gig” ridesharing industry. Recently, for instance, the State of California passed new legislation that would define Uber and Lyft drivers as “employees” under California law. For more, read “Uber, Lyft pull out the stops to defeat bill that’d make drivers employees,” written by Dana Kerr and published by CNET on August 30, 2019, and “It Isn’t Just Uber: California Prepares for New Gig Worker Rules…and Confusion,” written by Christine Mai-Duc and Lauren Weber, and published by the Wall Street Journal on December 18, 2019.
Today, Uber Drivers (and other ridesharing drivers) in Indiana and Illinois who suffer serious injury in a ridesharing crash face complicated legal claims against the ridesharing company for its legal liability as “employer” and establishing the liability of Uber or Lyft for the driver’s injury damages.
2. Uber Passengers: Injuries in Crash with Ridesharing Driver
Riders hurt in a ridesharing car crash also face more complex legal circumstances than victims in cab crashes or if they were hurt while operating their own motor vehicle. The Uber passenger must consider not only whether or not the Uber driver was the cause of the crash, but how Uber (or Lyft or any other ridesharing company) may also have legal liability to cover the accident victim’s injury damages.
These ridesharing accidents must be aggressively and thoroughly investigated. Witnesses must be interviewed; documentary evidence collected including the police report, photographs of the scene of the accident; and analysis of the condition of the vehicles must be undertaken.
If investigation of the crash reveals that the Uber driver was not responsible for the crash, then the at-fault driver’s coverage will face claims for damages. Evidence of this driver’s errors (speeding, etc.) must be shown to prove up the Uber passenger’s damage claims.
If the Uber driver caused the accident (was “at fault), then his auto insurance coverage comes into play. This can be shown through an accident investigation that reveals things like the Uber driver was:
- Speeding
- Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Driving distracted
- Driving drowsy
- Failing to operate within the traffic laws (ran a red light or stop sign, tailgating, etc.).
However, the Uber passenger may face difficulties here. There is no legal standard for ridesharing drivers insofar as the insurance coverage they must purchase. The driver may or may not have personal auto liability coverage that will cover the ridesharing accident. The driver may or may not have commercial driving coverage.
As for seeking damages from the ridesharing company, the passenger will have to attempt to get payment through the insurance policies paid for by Uber, Lyft, etc. The passenger will need to show that the ridesharing company is responsible for its driver’s actions with evidence that will include the Uber app information (ride request, etc.) as well as the details of the crash itself.
There is no legal standard for what ridesharing companies must provide as coverage for injured ridesharing passengers. At the Uber website, Uber volunteers that it will provide coverage for passenger claims as third-party liability coverage of around $1,000,000.00 per incident.
Seeking Justice after a Ridesharing Car Crash or Auto Accident
Victims of ridesharing accidents in Indiana and Illinois must not only confront the life-altering physical and emotional circumstances of a serious motor vehicle accident, as well as the financial stress of medical expenses and long-term care, but they will also have to deal with the added confusion of the current legalities surrounding ridesharing accident liability claims.
Ridesharing drivers cannot assume they have the same sorts of legal protections under the laws of Indiana and Illinois that taxi cab drivers enjoy today. Workers’ compensation may be denied to the ridesharing Uber driver.
Ridesharing passengers must delve deeply into the crash circumstances in order to confirm not only the causes of the accident and who was at-fault, but the software evidence establishing that the Rideshare service was in progress and thereafter, that Uber (or Lyft) bears a legal responsibility for the accident.
For more on workers’ compensation in Illinois and Indiana, read:
- When Workers Die Because of Employer’s Willful Violation of Safety Laws: New Indiana Statute
- Why More Workers Are Dying On the Job Today
- Worker Fatalities: What are the Most Dangerous Jobs in 2019?
Ridesharing is very popular here in Indiana and Illinois, with Uber being the most popular ridesharing app in this part of the country. Both Drivers and Riders must be aware of the dangers they face in choosing ridesharing as well as the legal fight they may have to recover accident damages from the ridesharing company. Please be careful out there!
