Landover Uber & Lyft Accident Lawyer

When riding in a rideshare car, you have no control over the vehicle.  In the event of an accident, this means the passenger is not at fault, but it could leave you with serious injuries if your driver or others on the road did not take the care they needed to to keep you safe.  In other cases, you might be in another car or even riding a bike when you get hit by a dangerous Uber or Lyft driver.  In any case, this kind of accident could entitle you to a claim.

Injury claims can be filed on behalf of injured Uber and Lyft accident victims against the insurance company for the driver who caused the accident, with Uber and Lyft’s insurance covering crashes any time there was a rider in the car.  Additionally, lawsuits might be available, but not against the rideshare companies in most cases.

Call the Uber and Lyft accident lawyers at Rice, Murtha & Psoras today at (410) 694-7291 for a free case review.

Determining Who is at Fault for a Rideshare Accident in Landover, MD

In general, the blame for car accidents is placed on the driver who did something wrong to cause the crash.  More specifically, this constitutes the “breach” element of a negligence lawsuit, which requires showing a specific legal duty that the driver breached, leading to the accident.  In most cases, this is a simple traffic violation – speeding, running a red light, texting while driving, or drunk driving.

In many cases, the driver who caused the crash will be the rideshare driver, but this is not always the case.  Uber and Lyft drivers can be victims in a crash just as much as anyone else, and a crash is not necessarily their fault unless there are traffic violations or other mistakes they committed behind the wheel.

Instead, you have to look at what each driver did.  Did the Uber driver run a red light?  Did another car hit the Lyft driver because they failed to check their blind spot before changing lanes?  Once you determine which driver is responsible, our Uber and Lyft accident attorneys can look into what evidence we need to prove their fault and what insurance policies might cover the accident.

Note that pedestrians and cyclists could be found liable for a crash if they were the ones who put themselves in danger.  Maryland has strong “contributory negligence” laws that block victims from suing in cases where they contributed to causing their own accident by even 1 or 2%.

However, passengers usually cannot be held liable for a crash, and those injured as a rider usually do not need to worry about victim blaming.  However, our lawyers can still be helpful in proving whether your driver or the other driver caused the crash.

Evidence for an Uber Accident Claim in Landover

When filing a claim with insurance or in a court of law, you need evidence to show that your claim is true.  Your own testimony will be essential evidence, and what you say on the stand or in a deposition will provide the foundation for your claim.  You can explain what you saw, when it happened, where it happened, and what others did and said.  However, the defendant can also tell their side of the story, so you will need other objective evidence to back up your side of the story.

Many Uber and Lyft drivers keep cameras running to protect themselves from liability in the event of an accident.  Drivers might have dash cameras pointed forward as well as cameras inside the car, intended to help them show they were doing everything they were supposed to.  If another driver caused the crash, then these cameras will show that – but they will also show if your driver messed up.  We can subpoena this evidence from the driver and use it against them or another driver who caused the crash.

Outside security cameras might have also caught the accident on video.  If you do not have videos, you can also use photos of the crash scene to help back up your claims about how the cars hit, where the accident happened, and what damage resulted.  Especially after being hit by the rideshare car, having pictures of the car at the scene with damage can help pin your accident on the correct car and driver.

Police reports can also be helpful evidence, even though you might not be able to introduce it verbatim into the record.  Lawyers and insurance companies can use these reports to build cases and find additional evidence, as well as other potential witnesses who might have come forward and given their names and contact info to the police.

While videos and photos are strong evidence, juries also love to hear from other eyewitnesses and often weigh their testimony as quite important in an injury claim.

What Insurance Covers an Uber or Lyft Crash in Landover?

Every driver has to have insurance, and Maryland makes the at-fault driver cover the crash with their insurance.  If the rideshare driver was off duty or you were hit by another driver, their personal insurance should cover the crash.  Rideshare drivers must also have rideshare insurance or commercial driving insurance that covers accidents while they are on duty.  If this insurance is not sufficient, an on-duty rideshare driver should be covered by supplemental insurance that either Uber or Lyft provides, usually covering up to an additional $50,000.

The strongest insurance in these cases is activated when the rideshare driver has a rider in their car or is on the way to pick up a rider.  This insurance should be the first insurance policy to cover you regardless of who caused the accident, and it should cover up to $1 million per accident.  However, getting the insurance company to actually cover the accident might be a challenge, and our lawyers can be the ones to negotiate with insurance and file lawsuits to get this insurance to pay.

Note that the rideshare companies usually provide this insurance, but you usually cannot sue them because the drivers are independent contractors instead of employers.  This helps protect rideshare companies from lawsuits, whether that is fair or not.

Call Our Uber & Lyft Accident Attorneys Immediately

If you were injured in a crash, call (410) 694-7291 today for a free case review with Rice, Murtha & Psoras’ Uber and Lyft accident lawyers.