OHIO UBER, LYFT & OTHER RIDESHARE ACCIDENT LAWYERS

Our Attorneys Understand Rideshare Accident Liability Laws

Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft, and companies like DoorDash, occupy a unique legal space. They’re businesses, so people who take on jobs via their apps count as commercial drivers, right? Yes and no. They’re not commercial transportation drivers in the same way bus drivers or taxi drivers are and aren’t held to the same standards in terms of commercial liability insurance and regulations. 

Technically, Uber and Lyft drivers are only required to carry the minimum insurance all drivers in Ohio are required to carry – $25,000 bodily injury liability per person/$50,000 per accident and $25,000 property damage liability coverage.

The good news is the companies themselves do carry more robust liability policies for drivers who are actively “on the clock.”

This coverage is broken into a few different buckets.

If a driver is on the app and ready to accept rides but they aren’t actively in the process of driving to a pickup or transporting a paying customer, their rideshare-provided coverage is:

• $50,000 bodily injury per person/$100,000 bodily injury per accident
• $25,000 property damage liability

If they are actively transporting a passenger, their rideshare-provided coverage is:

• $1,000,000 third-party liability
• Uninsured/underinsured injury coverage
• Contingent comprehensive and collision with a $2,500 deductible

These coverages are in addition to whatever the driver carries through their own personal coverage.

This is mostly good news for people involved in Uber or Lyft accidents, whether you’re the passenger in the rideshare or you were a driver or passenger in another vehicle that was hit by the rideshare driver. These policy limits mean there’s more money available to pay for medical care, lost wages and pain and suffering damages.

It’s not uncommon for minimum liability policy limits to fall short after suffering serious injuries in a car crash. Life-saving medical care and months of missed work can easily end up costing you more than the $25,000 coverage the liable driver might be carrying, and $1,000,000 of coverage can potentially go much further.

This also means the insurance company has much more to lose, and drivers will be represented by Uber’s legal team rather than their own insurance company. It’s possible that they will put up more of a fight and potentially make your case more difficult to win.