Can Uber or Lyft Passengers File a Lawsuit After Being Involved in an Accident?
Yes. If you were involved in an accident as a passenger using a rideshare service—such as Uber or Lyft—you can file a lawsuit for any damages, you may have suffered as a result of the accident. At Charles Boyk Law, our team of Rideshare Accident lawyers have a proven track record of success in cases involving accidents with the major rideshare companies. Passengers are able to recover, by either filing a lawsuit or filing an insurance claim, if they were injured because of another person’s negligence. This is true for passengers using the rideshare service and for passengers/drivers in other vehicles that are injured after being hit by a vehicle that’s being used for ridesharing. Rideshare drivers may also be entitled to a recovery if they were injured by another vehicle/driver.
How common is Ridesharing?
Sometime ago, it probably would have sounded strange to pay for an internet stranger to pick you up in their own car to drive you somewhere. But now it’s common and people do this every day, using popular rideshare services such as Uber or Lyft. These services are also sometimes referred to as ride-hailing services and are increasingly common forms of transportation in large cities across the country and even around the world. For instance, Uber completed over 1.8 billion trips in 2021-2022 in the US, which amounts to over 2.5 million trips per day or almost 30 rides every second. While on the Lyft platform, there were approximately 1.41 billion rides from 2020–2022.
Often times, people rely on this form of transportation to avoid paying for a rental car on vacation or to ensure they can go out and have a drink without having to worry about later driving. These services are becoming an increasingly common alternative method of transportation among passengers ages 18-34 for when they’re drinking. For example, nowadays it’s likely that a college student in Bowling Green looks on their phone and orders a Lyft or Uber before just jumping in their car to go out for drinks. In fact, 63% of users among that 18-34 age group have reported that they use Lyft’s rideshare services when they plan on drinking.
Knowing that these platforms and services are extremely common and appear to have growing use, it’s important to understand what your rights are if a rideshare driver caused you to suffer injuries or if you were injured while using a rideshare service. Our skilled Rideshare Accident Attorneys can help you understand these rights—just contact our office today!
What to Do If You’re Injured While Using Rideshare/Uber/Lyft
After you’ve been drinking or when you traveled to a new town, rideshare services are a useful alternative for traditional methods of transportation. Unfortunately, just like when you’re driving yourself in your own car, you’re still exposed to the risk of being involved in an accident even when you’re a passenger using this service. Our car accident attorneys at Charles Boyk Law suggest you follow these simple steps if you’ve been injured while riding in an Uber or Lyft:
- Get to Safety. Check yourself, the scene, and those around you to ensure you’re able to move to a safe area without causing further injury. Be sure to stay away from any damaged vehicles or property, especially if there’s fluids leaking.
- Contact Emergency Services. Whether the accident was relatively minor or life-threatening, you should call 911 who can send out the appropriate emergency services such as police to investigate and medical personnel to attend to those who were injured.
- Exchange Information. If you’re able, exchange or gather information from the involved drivers/parties. This includes any identification/contact information and insurance information from the rideshare driver and any drivers of the other vehicle(s) involved.
- Document the Accident. Again, if your injuries do not prevent you from doing so, do what you can to document the accident including the scene, any damage to the cars or other property, your injuries, or what the other parties say regarding the cause of the accident. The police will also investigate once they arrive on scene, so they will document a lot of this information if you’re unable to.
- Obtain the Police Report. Following the accident, the responding officers will prepare a formal crash report that should contain all the essential information regarding the date, time, location, identities of those involved, any insurance information, the damaged that was caused, and it typically lists what the Officers believe was the cause of the accident. Also, if there were any citations issued, this would be reflected on the report. Your Rideshare Accident Lawyer at Charles Boyk Law will obtain this for you, typically prior to your initial meeting so long as it’s finalized and available.
- Reach out to the Insurance Companies. If you were a passenger in an Uber or Lyft, you may need to contact the rideshare driver’s personal insurance company, Lyft’s insurance company, or perhaps the insurance companies for the other involved driver(s) if it was not a single-car accident. This can be confusing, but our Rideshare Accident Attorneys are trained professionals who have decades of experience in dealing with insurance companies.
- Contact Charles Boyk Law Offices to Meet with One of our Experienced Rideshare Lawyers. Our team is here to help you fight the legal battle, so you can focus on healing from your injuries. We’re here 24/7 to explain your legal options after you’ve been injured in accident. Just contact our office today, so we can schedule your free consultation!
Types of Rideshare Accidents That You Could be Compensated For
Rideshare or Uber/Lyft accidents are assessed by the cause of the accident—including the person and the actions or events that led to the crash. If it was the rideshare driver that caused the accident, insurance claims can be filed with both the driver’s personal auto insurance company and with the rideshare service’s insurance company. And there’s a possibility that you could be entitled to receive compensation from both companies. However, if the accident was caused by another vehicle, a claim can be filed against the at-fault driver’s insurance company. These insurance claims can cover all types of accidents such as:
- Being a passenger with the rideshare driver whose reckless driving caused you injuries—can be a single car accident or multi-car accident
- Being a driver or passenger in a vehicle that was involved in a collision between other vehicles, which caused you harm
- If you’re a pedestrian, bicyclist, or on a motorcycle and you were struck by a vehicle that was being used for ridesharing
- If you suffered damages while you were driving your vehicle and were hit by a vehicle that was being used for ridesharing
- Or even if you are a rideshare driver and were injured as a result of another driver’s negligence, our team can help you make a claim for your injuries as well
If you have questions about whether you’re entitled to compensation for an accident you’ve been involved in, contact our office today.
How is fault determined in Ohio?
Ohio follows a fault-based system—unlike our northern neighbor state, Michigan. To prove someone was at-fault for an auto accident in Ohio, you must prove that the driver had a legal duty to be careful. This is typically straightforward as all drivers are required follow traffic laws and drive safely to avoid accidents. You also need to prove that the driver’s actions violated this legal duty. For example, this can include facts that the driver was driving over the speed limit, was illegally changing lanes, or failed to stop at a red light/stop sign, etc.
The driver’s actions that violated this legal duty must have also directly cause the accident that you were injured as a result of. And your injuries must lead to damages—such as medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc.—to entitle you to compensation. There’s no size-fits-all when it comes to damages. So if you’re unsure whether you have a valid case, our group of car accident lawyers can provide you with a free case evaluation.
Do I need An Attorney if I was in a Rideshare Car Accident?
If you’ve been injured in a rideshare accident, it’s crucial that you seek help from a skilled rideshare accident lawyer. Our Accident Lawyers know how to assist you during all phases of your case, including the initial investigation stage, throughout your medical treatment, during the evidence collection period, while negotiating with insurance companies or the responsible party, during the litigation process, and even during the settlement stage to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve as quickly and easy as possible.
Unfortunately, it’s been shown that those who seek legal assistance usually receive larger settlements from insurance companies than those who don’t. Often, this is because, as trained professionals, our Rideshare Accident Attorneys know how to work around insurance policies with clauses that appear to exclude coverage or know where to find additional avenues of recovery. Additionally, it’s been shown that insurance companies often take your claim more seriously when you’re represented by a lawyer.
At Charles Boyk Law, we have a team of trial attorneys who have been recognized for their excellent legal support and success in representing car accident injury clients. If you feel like the insurance companies keep delaying the process or aren’t taking your claim as seriously as they should, reach out to our office, so one of our Rideshare Accident Attorneys can get started right away to help you get a quick and fair settlement.
Which Auto Insurance Company is Responsible?
If being injured in an accident wasn’t bad enough, you then often have to deal with dozens of calls from several different insurance companies who all try to contact you after you’ve been involved in a rideshare car accident. The rideshare company, such as Uber or Lyft, has their own insurance company and the rideshare driver also has their own. And if another vehicle was involved, their insurance company will most likely be contacted as well. There’s even a possibility that you could file a claim with your own auto insurance company, even though you were a passenger, for an additional potential source of recovery. You probably wouldn’t know this though, as the insurance companies who are calling you are just worried about closing their claim as quickly as possible rather than actually helping you.
This can become very complicated very quickly, and we know no one likes talking to insurance companies. So let our Ohio Rideshare Accident Lawyers take on these insurance companies for you, so we can work on maximizing your recovery. Our team is trained in understanding and analyzing complex insurance policies, so we know which insurance company should be held responsible. There have been times where clients came to us, thinking they could only recover from one source, but later our accident attorneys found multiple sources of recovery after looking into their specific insurance policies.
With rideshare accidents, you’re dealing with billion-dollar companies. Don’t make the mistake of leaving any money on the table. Schedule a consultation with our office to discuss your accident case today.
How much is my Uber/Lyft Accident Case Worth?
Most people who are injured are extremely concerned about the value of their case. This may be because an insurance adjuster tried getting them to settle their case for a low-ball amount within just days of the accident occurring (and before you truly even understanding the extent of your injuries/damages) or because they just suffered a significant loss, and they’re worried about their financial well-being. Figuring out how much a potential rideshare accident settlement is worth depends on many factors, and each case is different. Compensation may include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Psychological injuries
- Scars and disfigurements
- Lost of physical or mental functioning
- Disability from work
- Lost income and wages
- Loss of earning potential
- Claims for psychological effects of bystanders
- Wrongful death: This means filing a lawsuit for someone who had lost their life as a result of the accident. In these cases, you can seek compensation for their conscious pain prior to their death, the family’s loss of companionship, as well as financial losses.
- Punitive damages: These are added damages designed to punish the at-fault driver for their reckless actions that led to your injuries. Often these are awarded in accident caused by drunk drivers.
At Charles Boyk Law, our team understands that an accident causes a lot of people’s lives to turn up-side-down—some people can’t work, have to undergo surgery, are left with a stack of medical bills, and some even lose their life. After learning more about your specific case, our Rideshare Accident Lawyers can evaluate your case to help you understand the true value of what your own case is worth. Our attorneys will then be sure to fight for well-beyond what we believe is a fair settlement offer.
In addition to securing the highest possible settlement offer, our team performs a number of other services to ensure you receive the most amount of money in your pocket. Often this includes our team negotiating with healthcare providers or other companies to lower the cost of your outstanding medical bills or any liens such as health insurance liens or short-term disability liens. At the end of the day, you’re the one who was injured, so you should be receiving the majority of settlement money. Our team works hard to try to make that happen.
How Much does a Rideshare Accident Lawyer Cost?
At Charles Boyk Law Offices, our Rideshare Car Accident Lawyers don’t charge you anything unless we’re able to secure a recovery, so there’s no out-of-pocket cost to you until you receive your settlement check. You won’t be asked to pay a retainer and there are no up-front or out-of-pocket fees for you. Our team works on a contingency fee basis, which means if we’re unsuccessful, you don’t owe us anything. You’ll be provided with our fee agreement, confirming this, during your initial consultation. And if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to one of Rideshare Accident Attorneys today!
Call Charles Boyk Law to Discuss your Ohio Rideshare Accident Today
If you’ve been injured by a vehicle being used for Uber/Lyft/Rideshare or while as a passenger in a rideshare service, or even while you were driving for rideshare, let our Ohio Accident Attorneys work on fighting for the compensation you deserve. Between our decades of legal experience at Charles Boyk Law, our team has been successful in taking down the big insurance companies and rideshare services and securing justice for our clients who were injured. If you’re unsure whether you have a case worth pursuing, contact our office and we can schedule a free consultation with our rideshare lawyers, either over the phone or in person, to discuss what your legal options are.
