Injured in a Rideshare Accident? Know Your Rights.

You don’t have to be a passenger in a rideshare vehicle like Uber or Lyft to get hurt in an accident involving one of these vehicles. Uber and Lyft drivers have killed innocent pedestrians, driven their cars over toddlers, crashed into other cars while driving drunk, and even been involved in oddball single-car accidents.

But those aren’t the only potential hazards you may encounter when you courageously step into a rideshare vehicle. In other notable incidents, Uber and Lyft drivers have abandoned unsuspecting passengers in remote locations in the middle of the night, and have even been arrested for kidnapping! Indeed, in another chilling situation that took place just this month in Texas, a passenger shot and killed the rideshare driver she believed was taking her to Mexico against her will.

Are Rideshare Services More Dangerous Than Other Transportation Methods?

Despite the events we’ve just mentioned, Uber claims to have an excellent safety record. And the numbers appear to back up the company’s assertions, indicating that 99.9 percent of Uber rides conclude without any safety issues being reported. Similarly, Lyft states that its safety record, while not entirely flawless, is equally admirable. Lyft even staffs a safety hotline that it claims answers almost all calls (and responds to nearly every chat request) within 60 seconds.

That’s all well and good. But if you are one of the unfortunate few who do end up in harm’s way thanks to an incident involving a rideshare company, you should know what to do immediately after the incident.

Steps to Take After a Rideshare Accident

First and foremost, you should contact local law enforcement to ensure your personal safety and to file a police report (which can be highly important down the road if you find it necessary to file a personal injury lawsuit against the company, the driver, or both).

Then, get in touch with your insurance company right away. That’s because your own no-fault coverage provides you with Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits up to the level you selected when you purchase your policy. (As always, we recommend choosing unlimited PIP benefits to have the maximum protection in place for you and your loved ones.) But if you don’t carry no-fault insurance (for example, if you don’t own a car), or if your medical costs related to the accident exceed your policy’s benefit limitations, or if you’ve lost significant wages due to the incident, you may have no other recourse beyond seeking compensation through legal means. We can help you with that! Of course, you may have other issues or questions you’ll want to know more about before getting in touch with us in person. To help get you started on the right track right away, here are links to some other informative articles you can review right here on our website:

• Are Lyft and Uber drivers required to have insurance coverage? This article provides details on the liability coverage that might be available to people injured in a crash involving a rideshare driver. It also offers advice on overcoming the kind of pitfalls you might encounter if, for example, your Lyft or Uber driver has let his or her insurance policies lapse.
• How does someone become a driver for Uber or Lyft? As this article explains, if you can legally drive a car and are at least 19 years old, it’s likely you can start offering rides to passengers as an independent contractor for one of the major rideshare companies in Michigan. But these firms have tens of thousands of drivers on their platforms, so you can only imagine how challenging it is to keep track of all those driving records – not to mention the condition of individual vehicles.
• Are Uber and Lyft the same as taxi companies? Quite simply, as this article demonstrates, the answer is a resounding “no.” Drivers for rideshare companies are independent contractors and as a result aren’t necessarily bound by the same rules and regulations that can help safeguard passengers in taxi cabs, where drivers are usually full-time employees. For example, in many states (but no longer in Michigan, as we’ll discuss in a moment) taxi drivers are required to hold chauffeur’s licenses to help ensure passenger safety in cabs. On the other hand, it’s likely your taxi trip won’t be tracked in the same detailed ways that Uber and Lyft monitor their drivers’ route choices. That means taxi passengers may not have the same kind of readily available paper trail that rideshare passengers can obtain should the need ever arise to prove where and when they were injured.

Does Michigan Have Laws Specifically Targeting Rideshares?

The state has long recognized that rideshare companies provide a valuable service to Michiganders who need to get safely from one place to another… not to mention for the drivers who can earn good money by providing transportation as independent contractors. At the same time, traditional taxi services have expressed concern that rideshare companies weren’t always subject to the same safety rules and regulations under which they had been operating.

So a few years back Michigan enacted the “Limousine, Taxicab, and Transportation Network Company Act” to level the playing field and help ensure passenger safety at the same time. Among other things, the law requires anyone who provides transportation services to register with the state’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), to have a minimum level of liability insurance coverage, and to undergo criminal background checks. Specifically, the law requires that Uber and Lyft drivers “must be at least 19 years old; have a valid driver’s license issued from Michigan or another state; not have more than four moving violations or one major violation within the last three years; not be listed on the National Sex Offender Public Website; and not have any felony convictions within the last five years.” In addition, the law mandates that Uber or Lyft drivers “must maintain residual third-party liability insurance with a minimum combined single limit of $1 million for all bodily injury or property damage.” Of course, we all know that not everyone obeys the law. Which makes it vitally important for you to read the next paragraph of this article!

If You’ve Been Hurt in a Rideshare Incident, Come to Us Immediately for Assistance

Getting injured in any kind of accident can be traumatic, and we hope you won’t ever find it necessary to have insult added to your injuries if an irresponsible rideshare driver or transportation company breaks the law or attempts to evade responsibility for your pain and suffering. But if something bad like that happens, it can really help to know one good number to call: it’s 855-MIKE-WINS (855-645-3946). Our team of specialized personal injury attorneys is intimately familiar with the ins and outs of how Uber and Lyft operate … and we know how to appropriately address these kinds of incidents through the legal system for our deserving clients. We’re always available via call or online chat, so don’t ever hesitate to get in touch.

Content checked by Mike Morse, personal injury attorney with Mike Morse Injury Law Firm. Mike Morse is the founder of Mike Morse Law Firm, the largest personal injury law firm in Michigan. Since being founded in 1995, Mike Morse Law Firm has grown to over 200 employees, served 40,000 clients, and collected more than $1.5 billion for victims of auto, truck and motorcycle accidents. The main office is in Southfield, MI but you can also find us in Detroit, Sterling Heights and many other locations.