For many people, celebrating the holidays means going out for drinks with friends, family, and loved ones. But drinking and driving is never the right idea. Thankfully, most people know this, so they hire rideshare drivers from Uber, Lyft, Wingz, HopSkipDrive, and other rideshare companies to take them home when the celebrations end.
Using a rideshare service to get home after a holiday – like the upcoming Valentine’s Day – helps reduce the risk of getting into a drunk driving accident. But it doesn’t necessarily guarantee that a rideshare accident won’t happen. Rideshare drivers have to navigate the busy holiday night streets, which can be packed with drunk drivers who decided against using Uber or Lyft. What happens if a crash happens while you’re in the back of an Uber?
RIDESHARE ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY OTHER DRIVERS
Were you using a rideshare service to get home after a holiday celebration and your driver was hit by a drunk driver? You will have your options to seek compensation. To begin, you can file against the other driver’s insurance policy. They should have a policy that provides coverage “per accident,” which means it applies to everyone who was hurt, not just the driver.
If that driver’s policy is not enough to cover your damages, then the situation can get a bit more complicated. At that point, you will have to look toward the insurance policy provided by the rideshare company to take care of your damages. Both Uber and Lyft have comprehensive coverage available to rideshare passengers. These policies famously can provide up to $1 million in bodily injury damages per accident, which is usually enough except for catastrophic injuries.
To keep your holiday celebrations safe, whether you are going out for Valentine’s Day soon or planning a Memorial Day getaway, choose rideshare services to get home from dinner or a party. You will have better peace of mind in knowing that if an accident does happen, you will have a stronger chance of receiving the compensation you need to recover thanks to the rideshare company’s larger insurance policy for passengers.
RIDESHARE ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY THE RIDESHARE DRIVER
What happens if you’re inside an Uber or Lyft because you want to avoid an accident after a holiday of drinking but your rideshare driver is the one who causes a crash? This situation will be as complicated as it is frustrating.
However, Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare companies do try to keep things a little simple for you as a passenger in one of their rideshare vehicles. As long as you were an official passenger inside a rideshare service vehicle, you are covered by the company’s best insurance policy; for Uber and Lyft, this is once again the policy with the $1 million bodily injury per accident coverage.
You shouldn’t have to worry about filing against the driver’s privately held auto insurance policy because the rideshare company’s top policy should apply. Although, if your damages do exceed the coverage allotted from the rideshare company’s policy, then you might still be able to seek more damages by filing against the driver, too. Also, the rideshare company could make things more complicated by trying to undervalue your claim. If you meet any such resistance or complications after a rideshare accident, then you should seek legal counsel immediately.
HOW TO BRING A RIDESHARE ACCIDENT CLAIM
To avoid any obstacles that could slow down or jeopardize your recovery, you should team up with an experienced rideshare accident attorney or law firm. For the people of California, Omega Law Group is that firm. We are trusted up and down the state – from the Bay Area to the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area – with difficult accident cases. Contact us online now if your holiday was recently spoiled by a rideshare accident!