The Rise of Rideshare
Ridesharing services such as Lyft and Uber have become among the most popular ways to get around in urban areas, yearly increasing ridership. Many American cities, such as Louisville and Lexington, previously enjoyed, at best, only sparse car service coverage. Now these metro areas have access to the benefits of these large-scale rideshare fleets, which taxi passengers in and out of the city limits at all hours for variable fees, often in new model year luxury vehicles. The fact that they are multinational corporations can even lend some assurance in terms of rider safety, as many assume that such organizations must be well-managed and therefore trustworthy.
Rideshare Accidents and Personal Injury Claims
While these services usually provide comfortable and efficient experiences, occasionally rideshare accidents do occur. Many are minor, but some result in personal injury, which leads to increased expenses, loss of income, and emotional distress. A car accident can be the fault of one, two, or several drivers. Car crashes involve other vehicles, pedestrians, and whatever stationary obstacles might end up in the path of an errant car. Occasionally this extends to another third party such as a municipal company, or even private citizens not at the wheel of an involved car. The legalities of these situations may seem impossible to navigate, especially if you are still recovering from sustained injuries.
Inherent Risks of Rideshare Trips
The drivers employed by ridesharing companies are expected to be professional in every sense, experts on the rules of the road, passenger safety top of mind. It is the case that most rideshare drivers are consummate chauffeurs, focused deeply on ensuring their livelihoods, along with the comfort of their riders and the prospect of another good review. However, operating as a rideshare driver carries inherent risks to begin with. It is well known that drivers are required to accept fares via their phones or tablets. These devices require touchscreen operation for many necessary actions.
Why Rideshare Accidents Happen
Anyone who has patronized rideshare services more than a few times is likely aware that, unlike the big-city cab drivers of yesteryear, most rideshare drivers are only glancingly familiar with most of the streets and roads included in their territories. Rideshare drivers are often reliant on the maps that come with their touchscreen devices, and none of these map applications can be fully voice-operated. Combined with the requirement of the driver by the rideshare company to quickly tap to accept the next fare, the result is always going to be some measure of distracted driving. Some drivers are so casual in this potentially lethal line of work that they tend to occupy themselves with texting and communicating with others while driving, whether they are serving passengers or not, only compounding the distraction. When these factors are present, much of the burden of any car accident may shift towards the ridesharing company and the driver. When it doesn’t, there is no doubt that distracted driving leads to an increased incidence of rideshare accidents, which leads to an increased incidence of injury.
Are You Entitled to Compensation?
If you happen to experience a rideshare accident in Kentucky, you may feel as though you have no real options for personal injury compensation. Often it may seem that the rideshare company with which the accident occurred has little to no sympathy for your injury, and may not acknowledge that personal injury was incurred, especially if there is a high likelihood that the rideshare accident occurred due to their gross negligence. However, if your rideshare car accident injuries are legitimate and were sustained while riding in a Lyft or Uber, it is very likely that you are eligible for a significant settlement. When you enter into an agreement to ride with these rideshare services, you are putting yourself under their care, and it is a duty of the driver and, in some circumstances, the rideshare service, to provide reasonable safety.
Common Injuries in Rideshare Accidents
Rideshare accidents always carry the risk, though small, of injuries, which can range from minor to major. Rideshare car accidents tend to happen at lower rates of speed than other auto accidents, but include:
- head, neck injuries
- spine damage
- soft tissue injuries such as bruising, abrasions, and lacerations
- fractures
Rideshare car accidents can initially seem insignificant. Critically, however, some medical injuries do not appear on the body immediately after a rideshare incident. Any external or internal sign of injury following a rideshare accident must not be ignored. Whiplash is arguably the most common car accident injury, the full effects of which are often not known until after the accident. Passengers in the backseat of a rideshare are especially vulnerable to such accidents.
What to Do After a Rideshare Accident
Of course, when such an injury occurs during a rideshare accident, it is paramount that you first seek medical attention as soon as possible, and that you take care to document every step of the process. The emphasis on documentation is not only for your own understanding and peace of mind when coming to terms with the psychological trauma which is likely to occur, but also for building your legal claim, as well as ensuring that you are provided the rights to which you are entitled as a rideshare consumer and as a citizen. Consulting medical professionals who are familiar with ridesharing accidents and car accident injuries is strongly recommended when available. Any well-trained physician will be able to assist with the most pressing injuries, but those physicians who are most familiar with what can occur in these kinds of car accidents, especially with internal injuries which don’t always leave visible wounds, are highly recommended.
Document Rideshare Accidents Thoroughly
Documentation isn’t limited to medical bills and reports, although the legal paper trail produced by such official records is indispensable. Documentation can also include more informal methods, such as photos of the location at which the rideshare accident occurred, evidence of any conditions within the vehicle, or outside of it, which led to the injury, and any visual record of the injury itself. It is equally important to document these in whatever manifestations they appear. Some injuries, as we know, remain invisible after they have begun to wreak havoc on our comfort and wellbeing. Therefore, you must always retain copies of all X-rays, MRI’s, and all official statements provided by medical professionals until proceedings have fully resolved.
Psychological Effects of Rideshare Accidents
The trauma endured by the victim of any car accident isn’t confined to physical injuries, either. PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, can also arise because of the nature of the accident or injury. The driver of a rideshare vehicle is almost always a stranger to the rider(s), which can also exacerbate the feelings of alienation or misplaced guilt which injured riders might develop following the crash. Car accidents are chaotic by nature, and there is no way of knowing how anyone involved will react in the moment, or how they might process their emotions following the accident. As such, psychological counseling is often recommended if either the injuries or the specifics of the ridesharing accident might cause emotional distress. This mental health care process following the accident, including expenses incurred, also must be documented in full.
Rideshare Insurance Coverage
Insurance Coverage After an Uber or Lyft Accident
Once an injury is known to have occurred, and immediate medical care has been administered, the matter of insurance must be quickly attended to. Uber and Lyft themselves maintain layered insurance policies. They are known to require their drivers to carry insurance coverage, depending on the driver’s status, which is designated to protect themselves and any third party in the event of a car accident. These ridesharing companies also have their own liability insurance policies which act as further buffers against whatever accidents may occur during a rideshare trip. These insurance policies are not insignificant, and of course Uber and Lyft are essentially legally required to have them.
Kentucky’s No-Fault Insurance Rules
You may be aware that Kentucky is a no-fault state for car accident claims. This means that regardless of whether the rideshare driver or someone else is found to have caused the accident, you the rider are still eligible for compensation, but your personal insurance will initially cover most or all of your expenses. If you have a personal uninsured or underinsured insurance policy, your insurance company must be notified at the earliest possible moment as well. This not only strengthens your claim by adding further corroborating documentation, but will also ensure that necessary procedures are followed, with capable and thorough officials being made aware of the circumstances of the case. It is also important to note that Kentucky has several important exceptions to the no-fault system, including exceptions based on the nature and severity of the injury.
Know What Is Covered for Rideshare Accidents in Kentucky
Many individuals are unfamiliar with what exactly their own car accident insurance policy covers until the need to be familiar with it arises. Although it can be time-consuming and difficult to pore over your insurance policy, it is best that you start to understand what it does and doesn’t cover as soon as possible. If you are already familiar with your car or accident insurance policy, all the better. We always advise that clients and prospective clients get to know exactly what their respective insurance policies cover, possibly to reconsider opting in for the highest tier of coverage available to them under their current provider. Insurance is often the first line of legal and financial defense for any kind of personal injury compensation. Avoiding rideshare accident insurance disputes is also crucial, and with due diligence performed this can be fully ensured.
Kentucky Time Limits for Rideshare Accident Claims
The specifics of the accident and the injuries endured will determine the ultimate settlement amounts, including who is liable to cover which expenses. The statute of limitations in Kentucky is two years for car accident claims (pursuant to KRS § 304.39-230) however, which means that you must act quickly to get the process going. There are many potential exemptions to the no-fault rule, which a legal professional can investigate, maximizing your results. These exemptions frequently require a lawsuit, and therefore observing any applicable statutes of limitations is integral.
When to Contact a Rideshare Accident Attorney
Following a rideshare car accident, especially those which result in injury, the most urgent concerns must be taken care of first, but somewhere along the way it is highly advisable to retain the services of an attorney. Some clients are compelled to contact their legal counsel directly after a car accident, occasionally at the scene of the crash, while others opt to, or must, wait until after medical care for an accident injury has been administered. Some even deal with insurance providers and continue to try to interface with every involved party on their own until they feel they have done all they can. Indeed, the legal landscape which comprises everything that transpires before, during, and after a ridesharing car accident is fraught with complications, and those who are not intimately familiar and up to date with it often find themselves stuck in the mire. There are also various statutes of limitation in place, especially for rideshare companies, which make time of the essence in having these matters handled promptly by those who know how.
Contact Stochaj Law Today
Although you may be compelled to attempt ridesharing accident litigation on your own, there is really no substitute for an attorney who is well-versed in cases like this. If we decide to take your case on, it means that we are determined to secure compensation that meets or exceeds what you are legally entitled to because of the incident. Rideshare companies are newcomers to the legal landscape, and it can prove challenging for a layperson to maneuver through the bureaucratic intricacies which have been developed in response. Matters are not helped by legislation which occasionally seems to try to stack the odds in the favor of these companies. However, as a ridesharing patron and human being, you cannot and will not be minimized, especially as my client.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rideshare Accidents
The amount of compensation depends on numerous factors, particularly the severity of any injuries as well as the determined causes of the accident. This figure can be very high but can only be determined via proper litigation, based on medical records, insurance coverage, and liability findings.
In many cases, Uber and Lyft are parties to rideshare accident claims, and it is known that their insurance policies can cover up to $1 million. There is no guarantee that this amount will be awarded, and if other parties are involved then the total amount in damages can be far higher.
Liability is also determined by many factors. Exemptions to the no-fault rule in Kentucky can shift liability considerably, as can the circumstances surrounding the car accident. Ridesharing liability is more complex than that of other vehicle collisions, and no two rideshare trips are alike.