Uber accidents
It is the day of millennials and Uber riding, Uber accidents have become more and more prominent. If you were injured as a result of an Uber accident, whether your driver was at fault or not, the Miller Injury Law Firm has experience in representing Uber riders – even negotiating six-figure settlements on behalf of our client. Contact the Miller Injury Law Firm today to discuss the merits of your case; we are equipped, ready, and willing to start working for you today.
Uber is one of those once-per-decade, ground-breaking solutions that combine the latest technologies with practical and economic implementation. By just downloading the Uber app on your smartphone, you have at your disposal the nearest car to take you to your destination, for much cheaper than you would get with a highly regulated taxi service.
You can even have favorite Uber drivers, and both the passenger and the Uber driver can rate each other, which promotes good behavior on both sides of the equation. Furthermore, it’s very easy and cheap to become an Uber driver, unlike with taxi drivers. Finally, Uber paved the way for a new service, a new way of looking at things, which doesn’t sit well with many governments and entrenched taxi lobbies around the world.
However, as there are more and more Uber drivers and passengers, so is there a rise in accidents.
In order for Uber to remain such an affordable and efficient service, Uber doesn’t consider their drivers as employees in a traditional sense of the word. Instead, Uber drivers are recognized as independent contractors. This is necessary for the obvious reason – to avoid legal liability in case of accidents and sustained injuries. Therefore, each Uber driver must have his/her own insurance, and in addition, Uber covers you with a $1 million per ride policy.
As Uber provides a technological solution more than it serves as a traditional transportation company, it legally muddies the water. The Uber driver will therefore always be more responsible for the safety of his ride and passengers than Uber itself. However, Uber must take responsibility in cases where it can be proven that it did not follow its own procedures: background check of the driver, state of his vehicle, and insurance coverage of the driver.
Only recently did Uber change its policy where it did not provide insurance coverage for drivers if there was no customer present in the car. After a public outcry coming from a tragic accident, Uber now offers between 25,000 to 100,000 dollars of contingent coverage for Uber drivers between their passenger trips.
Consequently, if you are an Uber driver, a passenger in Uber car, a pedestrian or a driver in another car who got into an accident with an Uber car, you are entitled to a compensation from both the Uber driver’s insurance and from the Uber’s fixed rate coverage policy.
However, accidents involving Uber drivers are much less likely to occur than with any other participants in the traffic. Not only because of the additional security and background checks that each Uber driver must undergo but also due to the decentralized rating system of both drivers and passengers, and the system by which a driver who had a series of accidents will be banned from the service.
Nonetheless, companies like Uber and Lyft will go to any measure in order to avoid responsibility, as they should do if they want to stay in business but it’s your responsibility to not be left out in the cold. In some instances, insurance companies will even claim that their policies do not cover ride-hailing accidents. Insurance companies also must cover their bottom line. With the right legal advocate at your side, make sure to cover your own as well.
