Abogados especializados en accidentes de Uber y Lyft en Cleveland

Injuries Passengers Suffer

Whether someone rear-ends your Uber on I-90 or sideswipes your Lyft on Euclid Avenue, a rideshare passenger faces the same risks as anyone in a car crash, and often sits in the back seat without seeing the impact coming. Our Cleveland car accident lawyers see the same injuries in rideshare cases that they see in every other crash.

Common injuries include:

• Spine and neck injury: herniated discs and nerve damage that can take months to treat.
• Whiplash: soft tissue damage that often shows up a day or two after the crash.
• Broken or fractured bones: arms, wrists, ribs, and legs injured on impact.
• Internal injuries and internal bleeding: damage that may not be obvious at the scene.
• Death: when a crash takes a life, the family may have a wrongful death claim.
• Emotional trauma or psychological scarring, including anxiety about riding in a car again.
• Concussions: head injuries from striking a window, seat, or partition.

As a result, you may be in pain, unable to work, and struggling with significant financial strain. An Uber or Lyft accident lawyer can help you get medical treatment and recover compensation for your losses.

Distracted Driving and Rideshare Companies

Rideshares in Ohio have other characteristics that make them more prone to accidents.

Uber and Lyft both require drivers to operate software while driving. They also navigate with GPS and communicate with passengers. Although Ohio has distracted driving laws, these actions can result in drivers taking their eyes off the road.

This, combined with driving in unfamiliar areas and meeting unknown passengers, increases the likelihood of an Uber and Lyft accident.

How Rideshare Insurance Works in Ohio

Ohio law sets insurance rules for Uber and Lyft drivers, and the coverage that applies depends on what the driver was doing in the app when the crash happened.

• App off: The driver is just another motorist, and only the driver’s personal auto policy applies. Uber and Lyft’s coverage does not.
• App on, waiting for a request: The driver is available but has not accepted a ride. A lower level of liability coverage applies, either through the driver’s own policy or the rideshare company’s coverage.
• On a trip: From the moment the driver accepts a request until the passenger gets out, much higher liability coverage applies, and it has to pay from the first dollar of a covered claim.

Many personal auto policies exclude driving for hire, so the driver’s own insurer may deny the claim while the app is on, and the rideshare company’s insurer may argue the app status was different from what the driver says. Trip records, app data, and timestamps settle those disputes, which is why they need to be preserved early. If the at-fault driver has little or no insurance, your own uninsured and underinsured motorists coverage may also come into play.

Who Can Be Liable After a Cleveland Uber or Lyft Crash

More than one party can share responsibility for a rideshare crash, and each may have its own insurer.

The Rideshare Driver

If the Uber or Lyft driver was speeding, distracted by the app, or ran a light, the driver is at fault, and the insurance tied to their app status pays the claim.

Another Driver

Many rideshare crashes are caused by someone else entirely. In that case, the other driver’s insurer is responsible, and, depending on the rideshare company’s policy, its coverage may help if that driver is uninsured or does not carry enough. Your own uninsured motorists coverage is another source.

Uber or Lyft’s Insurer

Uber and Lyft treat their drivers as independent contractors, so most claims against the companies run through the insurance policies they carry rather than a lawsuit against the company itself. Getting those insurers to pay what a claim is worth often takes a lawyer who knows how they work.

A Vehicle or Parts Maker

When brakes fail, a tire blows out, or an airbag does not deploy, the manufacturer of the vehicle or part may share the blame through a product liability claim.

Where Rideshare Crashes Happen in Cleveland

Rideshare traffic is heaviest where people go out, travel, and work, and those are the places crashes happen most.

• Downtown and the Flats: Pickups and drop-offs on busy streets, drivers stopping in travel lanes, and late-night traffic around bars and restaurants.
• Progressive Field and Huntington Bank Field: Game days and concerts bring crowds of pedestrians and hundreds of rideshare cars into the same few blocks.
• Cleveland Hopkins International Airport: Crowded pickup lanes, drivers watching their phones for passengers, and people stepping out from between cars.
• University Circle: Hospital, university, and museum traffic mixes with students and visitors who rely on rideshares to get around.

People walking near these pickup areas are often the ones hurt. Our Cleveland pedestrian accident lawyers handle cases where a rideshare driver strikes someone on foot.

Our Rideshare Accident Lawyers Will:

• Investigar, recabar pruebas y identificar a los responsables.
• Entrevista a testigos, profesionales sanitarios y expertos para demostrar cómo se ha visto afectada tu vida.
• Ponte en contacto con la aseguradora, aclara quién es el responsable y intenta conseguir la máxima indemnización.
• Determine your Uber accident’s full and fair value, what you lost and deserve.
• Te mantendremos informado y te haremos partícipe. Puedes contactar con KNR por teléfono, mensaje de texto, correo electrónico o Zoom.
• Defiende tus derechos y, si es necesario, lleva tu caso ante los tribunales.
• Nunca te cobraremos por adelantado. Si no se consigue la indemnización, no hay ningún coste.

What to Do After a Rideshare Accident

The steps you take in the first hours and days protect both your health and your claim.

• Screenshot the trip in the app. Capture the driver’s name, the car, the route, and the time before the trip disappears from your recent rides.
• Report the crash through the app. Uber and Lyft both have accident reporting tools, and the report creates a record that the company was told.
• Get the driver’s insurance information. Ask for the driver’s personal insurance card and the other driver’s information, and call the police so a crash report is made.
• See a doctor. Go to the emergency room or your own doctor the same day, even if you feel fine. Some injuries take a day or two to show.
• Call a lawyer before giving a statement. Insurers for the driver, the rideshare company, and the other car may all call. You do not have to give any of them a recorded statement.

Call (216) 658-1330 or 1-800-HURT-NOW for a free consultation about your rideshare accident.

Cleveland Uber & Lyft Accident FAQs