Can you sue for rideshare accidents caused by distracted driving? Short answer: yes. However, a lawyer generally aims to recover compensation through the insurance companies of at-fault drivers and rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. When rideshare accident attorneys and insurance companies cannot agree on reasonable settlement terms, they may pursue filing a lawsuit for your damages.
Rideshare accidents are often complex due to the potential for multiple liability. Injured parties should schedule a free consultation with a rideshare accident lawyer to discuss the circumstances of their case. Schedule a free consultation before speaking to insurance companies to protect your legal rights.
How Long Do You Have to Sue for Rideshare Accidents Caused by Distracted Driving?
The statute of limitations for suing for rideshare accidents caused by distracted driving or filing an insurance claim varies by state jurisdiction. Most states allow two or three years to file a legal action. However, statutes range between one and six years. Your attorney will clarify local regulations and ensure claims and lawsuits meet legal deadlines.
What Constitutes Distracted Driving?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nine Americans are killed daily in accidents caused by distracted driving. It’s a dangerous and growing problem with evolving distractions such as cell phones, GPS navigation systems, and screen auto control advancements. Distracted driving involves anything that causes a motorist to take their attention away from driving. There are three primary types of distracted driving:
- Visual: Visual distractions cause drivers to take their eyes off the road.
- Manual: Manual distractions cause motorists to take their hands off the wheel.
- Cognitive: Cognitive distractions cause drivers to take their minds off driving.
Sending a text message, answering a phone call, eating or drinking, messing with music in a streaming app, or entering information into GPS systems while driving are all forms of distracted driving that cause accidents daily. If your rideshare driver was distracted at the time of the accident, or you were in another vehicle hit by a distracted rideshare driver, you may have a right to sue or file an insurance claim. Consult a local rideshare accident attorney to clarify your specifics and determine the proper legal action.
Who Is Liable for Rideshare Accidents Caused by Distracted Driving?
Generally, distracted driving is driver negligence, making drivers liable for rideshare accidents caused by distracted driving. However, there are circumstances where other parties are liable. The level of liability largely depends on the accident’s circumstances. Possible liable parties for rideshare accidents caused by distracted driving are as follows:
- Rideshare Companies: Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft are generally liable for damages if the driver is on the app at the time of the collision. They have third-party liability insurance to cover their drivers.
- Other Motorists: When other motorists are responsible for or contribute to causing a rideshare accident, their insurance companies may be liable for damages. For example, flashing high beams or excessively bright lights can be visually distracting, especially at night.
- Pedestrians and Cyclists: When pedestrians or cyclists appear out of nowhere, a driver may react swiftly to avoid crashing, which can cause them to become distracted from their primary focus of driving. If a bicyclist or pedestrian is the cause of a rideshare driver being distracted and getting into the accident to avoid hitting them, the pedestrian or cyclist may be liable.
It’s common for rideshare accidents caused by distracted driving to involve multiple liable parties. These cases tend to be more complex and require extensive knowledge of insurance claims and legal processes. An experienced rideshare accident attorney will investigate all possible liable parties before valuing your claim and sending their demand letter(s) to insurers.
Rideshare Third-Party Liability Insurance
Rideshare companies provide third-party liability coverage for drivers with varying levels and conditions. The driver’s status in the app at the time of the collision is critical in determining whether you can pursue a claim or sue for rideshare accidents caused by distracted driving. Both Uber’s policy and Lyft’s insurance terms outline these basic coverages:
- App Online Available for Trip: When drivers are online and available for a trip, coverage is $50,000/person for bodily injury, $100,000/accident for bodily injury, and $25,000/accident for property damage.
- App Online En Route or on Trip: Drivers en route or on a trip with passengers are covered by at least $1,000,000 for property damages and injuries to riders and third parties involved in a collision where their driver is at fault.
Depending on your state law, these rideshare companies may maintain additional coverage for their drivers and riders. Your rideshare accident attorney is familiar with local Uber and Lyft stipulations to their policies. Rideshare companies cannot be liable for damages in accidents where drivers are not online and are not using the app to pick up and drop off passengers.
Steps to Take Following a Rideshare Accident
Injured parties must take steps to ensure optimal health and recovery following a rideshare accident. They’ll also want to protect their legal rights. If you suffered an injury in a rideshare accident, seek medical attention, keep records and document your pain and suffering, and speak to a rideshare accident lawyer about the circumstances of your case. They may provide valuable legal insight into what you should do next, including how to secure a financial settlement for your losses.
Undergo a Medical Evaluation
It’s vital for rideshare accident victims to undergo a medical evaluation, regardless of if they believe themselves to be injured. Hidden injuries, including organ damage and internal bleeding, can become dangerous and fatal if left undetected. Also, if you fail to get an evaluation and symptoms show up several days or weeks later, arguing why you waited so long to see a doctor can be challenging. Don’t delay seeing a doctor to get a record of the rideshare accident in your medical file.
Keep Records and Document Pain and Suffering
Keep records of everything, including paperwork demonstrating monetary losses. Evidence is vital for valuing the economic and non-economic damages in your claim or rideshare accident lawsuit. Injured parties should also keep a post-accident journal to document non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering. A detailed journal is vital for establishing the extent of your physical pain and mental suffering following a rideshare accident.
Contact a Rideshare Accident Lawyer
There is no reason to navigate a rideshare accident’s complexities without an experienced attorney’s help. Thanks to contingency arrangements, there are no upfront or out-of-pocket expenses for accident victims to retain legal counsel. Schedule a free case evaluation with a rideshare accident lawyer to review your case’s specifics and determine a strategy to secure financial compensation.
How a Rideshare Accident Attorney Will Help You Secure Compensation
There are many benefits to having a rideshare attorney represent your accident claim. Insurance companies take claims with attorneys attached to them more seriously than those without legal representation. This usually results in significantly higher settlements. Furthermore, lawyers are experienced in investigating rideshare accidents, analyzing liability, calculating damages, negotiating reasonable settlements, and filing and litigating lawsuits.
Investigating Your Rideshare Accident
A thorough case investigation involves securing and preserving evidence before analyzing it with experts to establish liability. The evidence is critical for demonstrating negligence and damages. To build a solid claim or lawsuit, your rideshare accident lawyer will gather evidence, including:
- The police report detailing your rideshare accident
- Eyewitness statements and testimonies
- Pictures of the accident scene documenting damages to vehicles, vehicle positions, road conditions, and visible injuries
- Video footage from traffic cameras, dashcams, and security cameras from commercial and residential structures
- Detailed medical records documenting injuries, diagnosis, treatments, plans, and ongoing medical needs
Your attorney will also secure the rideshare app data proving the driver’s status was online in the app, waiting for passengers or online and picking up and dropping off passengers at the time of the accident. Injured parties who remember to take screenshots of their ride, validating their pickup and drop-off, should provide that evidence to their attorney.
Analyzing Liability
Determining who is at fault for a rideshare accident caused by distracted driving involves reviewing the driver’s history and the rideshare company’s insurance policies. Your attorney will also investigate circumstances involving pedestrians, cyclists, and other motorists who may be at fault. Rideshare accident claims and lawsuits commonly include cases of multiple liability.
Calculating Your Damages
When rideshare accidents result in severe injuries, other expenses, as well as intangible losses, follow. Your attorney will calculate your economic damages before determining your non-economic damages. Examples of damages you may seek compensation for after a rideshare accident caused by distracted driving include the following:
- Medical Costs: Medical bills and other healthcare costs are a significant portion of economic losses. You may seek compensation for medical expenses, including emergency care, surgeries, primary care, medical assistive devices, and prescription medication. Copays, deductibles, and ongoing and future medical expenses are also recoverable.
- Rehabilitation Expenses: Your attorney will calculate the costs when severe injuries warrant rehabilitation expenses. Rehab service costs may include physical therapy, orthopedics, chiropractic care, and occupational and vocational therapy. Alternative treatments, such as massage and acupuncture, may also be recoverable.
- Property Damages: Any property damaged or destroyed in a rideshare accident will be calculated in your economic damages. Typical property damages include vehicle repairs or replacements, cell phones and portable electronic devices, clothing, fences, mailboxes, landscaping, and damage to structures, including homes and businesses. Vehicle rentals and rideshare services needed while your vehicle is repaired are also recoverable.
- Lost Earnings: When injuries and recovery cause you to miss work or return in a diminished capacity, your lawyer will calculate lost earnings. Examples of income losses include income or salary, sick leave and vacation time, commissions and bonuses, medical and retirement benefits, and future earnings.
- Domestic Services: Injured parties who require assistance with daily tasks can seek compensation for domestic services. Hired household assistance may include cleaning, cooking, and childcare services. Meal and prescription delivery services are other viable domestic damages.
- Pain and Suffering: A significant non-economic damage attorneys will consider is your pain and suffering. It includes physical pain, emotional and mental suffering, sleep disturbances, and psychological trauma. Mental and emotional damages are more challenging to quantify and are not recoverable unless accompanied by physical injuries.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): PTSD is another psychological trauma that some rideshare accident victims experience following a collision. It can be documented in your post-accident journal. It’s also only compensable when physical injuries are present.
- Loss of Consortium: A loss of consortium is a non-economic damage referring to the loss of companionship, support, love, guidance, physical intimacy, and other intangible benefits of a spousal or familial relationship. It applies when an injured party cannot provide the same level of relation and emotional support as before their injuries.
- Disability and Disfigurement: You may be awarded financial compensation for physical impairments and noticeable disfigurement after a rideshare accident. For example, facial scarring, severe burns, loss of a limb, and other forms of disfigurement. Accident victims who sustain disabilities may seek compensation for traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other life-altering injuries.
Families who suffer the tragic loss of a loved one in a rideshare accident may also have a right to sue or file a claim for wrongful death. Wrongful death damages your attorney may seek in your settlement include final arrangement costs, final medical bills, loss of parental guidance, loss of consortium, and a loss of inheritance. They will also calculate future earnings to compensate for a loss of financial support.
Negotiating Reasonable Settlements
After valuing the damages in your rideshare accident claim, your lawyer will draft and send a demand letter to liable insurance companies. They generally do not pay the demanded sum. Instead, insurers will counter with a significantly lower offer to start negotiations. Fortunately, lawyers are skilled and confident negotiators who will demand a reasonable settlement on your behalf. Accident victims with attorneys typically receive more considerable compensation than those without.
Filing and Litigating a Rideshare Lawsuit
Insurance companies and attorneys will typically settle rideshare accident claims through the claims process. However, when negotiations fail—or liable insurers refuse to pay valid claims, your attorney will file and litigate your lawsuit. If your case requires trial, your lawyer will present the evidence to a judge and jury who will decide to award or deny you damages.
Speak to a Reputable and Experienced Rideshare Accident Attorney
Contact an experienced personal injury attorney if you need to sue for a rideshare accident caused by distracted driving or want to discuss your right to file a claim against a rideshare company. You’ll want to bring any evidence you have for your case to your consultation to get a clearer picture of strategies and potential outcomes. Schedule a free case evaluation today.