Concerns With Opoli Rideshare
If you drive in major cities like Los Angeles, you’re bound to have a difficult ride ahead of you especially if you’re not acquainted with the city’s traffic congestion. Simply put, it’s filled with way too many people with road rage, and the occasional late night drunk drivers.
Non-LA natives, eager to avoid the issues that come with driving in the streets of Los Angeles, opt to get around the city using generic rideshare apps like Uber, Lyft, etc. Unfortunately this option comes with its own sets of issues. For one, one can’t be too sure that rideshare drivers are prioritizing their passenger’s safety.
In the interest of optimizing profits, they’re incentivized to get their riders to the destination as quickly as possible so they can move on to the next customer. Even more concerning, is that none of the drivers are required to have a special license in order to drive.
This is where rideshare app Opoli comes in.
Opoli claims that all their drivers are professionals, meaning that they carry commercial drivers licenses. If this is true, then riders can be sure that Opoli drivers are equipped with the necessary skills to steer them away from trouble.
Even still, the city’s poor urban planning leaves Opoli drivers (no matter how experienced) and passengers at a high risk for various personal injuries.
They could acquire a Soft Tissue Injury. Even worse, they could be afflicted with worse injuries like Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury.
Filing A Personal Injury Claim After An Opoli Accident
A person involved in an accident with Opoli may file a personal injury claim for as late as two years in the state of California. Failure to do so may lead the court to dismiss their case.
There are cases, however, in which the case’s statute of limitations gets extended past its two-year deadline. Unfortunately, it depends on a case-by-case basis.
The claimant may be able to get an extension if their case is proven to fall under the delayed discovery rule. To succeed in this task, they need to provide convincing evidence that demonstrates that they really did not know about their acquired injury after the accident until much later.
They also need to prove that it would have been impossible for them to know about it sooner than they did. But again, context is king. As aforementioned, it’s hard to gauge whether your case applies for such an extension, which is why you need to talk to a personal injury lawyer who is knowledgeable about rideshare accidents.
1. Wait For Your Opoli Driver In Well-Lit Areas
Decreased visibility is one the main factors of all the traffic fatalities that occur at night. And if you just so happen to be a pedestrian waiting for your Opoli driver, you are at a disadvantage. Unlike drivers on the road, you will not be protected by a metallic enclosure.
So if a car happens to crash into you, it puts you at risk for catastrophic injuries. Maybe even wrongful death.
Waiting on your Opoli driver in well-lit areas, however, decreases these chances. You will be more visible to the drivers on the road. And beyond safety reasons, it makes you a lot more visible to the Opoli driver as well. So you don’t have to go through a lot of back-and-forth with them when coordinating rides.
2. Don’t Wait For Your Opoli Driver On The Edge Of The Sidewalk
But in the interest of increasing visibility, you should try to not compromise your safety in the process. Wearing bright colors and adhering to the tip above (waiting on well-lit areas) are good. But waiting for your Opoli driver on the edge of the sidewalk, while arguably effective in increasing pedestrian visibility, is a bad pedestrian habit.
It puts you at risk for a sleuth of accidents. And by that virtue alone, waiting for your Opoli driver on the edge of the sidewalk exposes you to various types of life-altering personal injury.
A lot of people have gotten “sideswiped,” and have gotten a spine or brain injury thereafter. Therefore, it’s highly-encouraged that you wait for them as far away from the edge as possible.
3. Don’t Engage In Distracting Behaviors
We understand that waiting for your Opoli drivers could be grueling. In order to pass time, pedestrians waiting for their rideshare services would often engage in what would be called “distracting behaviors,” like listening to music or going on their phones.
If you do engage in such activities, be mindful that you may put yourself at risk for catastrophic injuries. It tunes you out of the environment around you. So you may not even be cognizant of any warning signs of dangers (like a car honking at you or a traffic sign).
As you wait for your Opoli driver, it’s best that you are aware of your surroundings as much as possible. If need be, briefly glance at your phone just to check on your drivers’ whereabouts. Any reason for using your phone beyond that may put your safety at risk.
4. Tell Your Opoli Driver To Drive Safely
Unlike rideshare drivers from Uber or Lyft, Opoli drivers are directly employed by the rideshare service so they are already incentivized to prioritize the safety of their riders. Nevertheless, it does not hurt to overstate how safe-driving is important to your experience as a rider.
5. Don’t Distract Your Opoli Driver
As someone who is availing the services of Opoli rideshare, you share partial responsibility for your safety when riding with Opoli. True, you are riding with proclaimed professionals, however, you may compromise your own safety if you distract your Opoli driver.
For example, if you voraciously talk to them amid the drive, it may deter them from employing safety precautions necessary to get you out of harm’s way. No one is denying that the conversations you will have with them could be entertaining, and may potentially make their day.
But you could still put yourself at risk as you are cognitively distracting them from the task at hand. If you do insist on talking to your driver amid the drive, just proceed with caution.
Call Omega Law Group
We have represented clients who have been affected by various personal injuries, including Spinal Cord Injury, Traumatic Brain Injury, Soft Tissue Injury, and many more. Our awards and excellent testimonials are a result of our ability to empathize and attend to the needs of our clients. Here at Omega Law Group, you will come first.
If you or a loved one is suffering due to an accident, reach out to our team. Visit our Contact Us page or call us at (310) 504-1852.