Mega rideshare companies, Uber and Lyft, have revolutionized the way Americans reach their destinations during far-away travel and within their home communities. Why ride a crowded city bus or wait for a rarely available taxi when a private ride is literally at your fingertips? As convenient and comfortable as most rideshare rides are, when your journey ends in a hospital, challenges quickly arise. Often, these challenges are more than just the physical difficulties of overcoming serious injuries, but also the legal complexities of recovering compensation.
Contact the Burbank Uber/Lyft accident attorneys at Martinian Lawyers to ensure the best possible outcome of a complicated rideshare accident claim.
Why Choose Us as Your Burbank Uber/Lyft Accident Attorneys?
Martinian Lawyers is the law firm to turn to for help with the unique challenges associated with rideshare accident claims. Whether you were a passenger during an Uber or Lyft accident or had a collision with a rideshare vehicle, our Burbank Uber/Lyft accident lawyers offer the following advantages:
- Our law firm a 98% success rate
- Our team has over 15 years of experience in Burbank car accident claims, including complex rideshare accident claims
- We offer services to those with diverse backgrounds through interpreters with fluencies in most common languages
Our case results speak for themselves with notable multi-million dollar settlements and jury awards to our clients.
Why Do Rideshare Accidents Seem to Occur More Commonly Than Typical Car Accidents?
A University of Chicago study notes that overall car accident numbers have risen by approximately three percent since Uber and Lyft rides came into overwhelming popularity. This may be due to a pervasive increase in traffic congestion on the roadways. At any given moment, a dozen or so passengers who would otherwise ride a single public transit vehicle like a bus might now navigate the community in 12 separate cars. In addition to the rise in traffic, rideshare drivers might have an increased chance of an accident due to factors such as:
- Fatigued driving: many rideshare drivers work ridesharing as a “gig” position after their normal working hours to provide a secondary source of income
- Distracted driving: Uber and Lyft drivers use their apps as they drive to book new passengers, check fares, and navigate unfamiliar addresses
- Inexperienced driving: many rideshare drivers are college students working around their class schedules
- Speeding: a rideshare driver may exceed the speed limit to maximize the number of trips they accomplish during their shift
Rideshare drivers often cruise the streets between passengers, increasing the total number of hours they spend on the road which also increases their likelihood of experiencing a car accident in Burbank.
What Makes Uber/Lyft Accident Claims Complicated?
All car accident compensation claims have challenges, especially in fault-based insurance states that require injury victims to prove liability. Rideshare accident claims are more complicated than typical car accident claims because Uber and Lyft companies protect themselves from liability by using independent contractors rather than employees as drivers. They require the drivers to carry a structured insurance policy that works together with their private car insurance, providing the following coverage depending on the rideshare driver’s status:
- When an Uber or Lyft driver uses their car for personal purposes, their private auto insurance coverage is in place
- Once the driver turns on the rideshare app and awaits a customer booking the low-tiered rideshare insurance coverage comes into effect with up to $25,000 in property damage, $50,000 per person in injury liability coverage, or up to $100,000 total coverage per accident
- Once the driver books a passenger, during the drive to the pick-up location, and throughout the rideshare trip with the passenger in the car, the top coverage is in place with up to $1 million per accident available
Uber and Lyft accident claims require an in-depth investigation by a Burbank Uber/Lyft accident lawyer to determine which coverage was in effect at the time of the accident.
Call the Burbank Uber/Lyft Accident Attorneys at Martinian Lawyers
The confusing structure of rideshare insurance makes navigating compensation claims challenging. Often, insurance companies dispute liability and point their fingers at other policies, making it necessary to thoroughly investigate all aspects of the accident to determine the appropriate insurance policy and make a compelling case for compensation. Call our Burbank rideshare attorneys at (323) 784-7564 to receive a free case consultation regarding your rideshare accident.
