Rideshare use in San Francisco has surged, accompanied by a rise in related accidents. With Uber and Lyft a common choice, pedestrians, cyclists, and passengers face growing risks. Studies show increased injuries since rideshare services became popular in the city. The complexity of rideshare accident claims, including driver status and insurance policies, challenges victims seeking compensation.
Despite safety initiatives by companies—like driver training and enhanced app features—accidents remain a serious issue. It’s crucial for accident victims in San Francisco to seek experienced legal guidance familiar with rideshare accident intricacies to protect their rights and obtain fair compensation.
Injured in a San Francisco rideshare accident? Our all-female legal team combines empathy with fierce advocacy to fight for your rights. We understand the complexities unique to rideshare cases and provide personalized attention from start to finish. Dedicated to protecting victims of Uber, Lyft, and other services, our female attorneys communicate clearly, negotiate aggressively, and fight for full compensation. Trust a female rideshare accident lawyer in San Francisco committed to your recovery and justice.
San Francisco residents facing rideshare accident claims need a trusted legal partner. Our experienced law firm specializes in Uber accident cases, prioritizing clear communication and aggressive representation. We navigate complex insurance and liability issues to maximize compensation and safeguard your rights. With a proven track record across San Francisco, our dedicated team stands by you with expert guidance and compassionate support through every step. Choose a reliable rideshare accident law firm committed to justice and your well-being.
If you drive for Uber or Lyft, you’re one of more than 500,000 California rideshare drivers working to get people to their destinations every day. You’re also at constant risk of road accidents that threaten your health, safety, and financial stability.
What would you do if you were in a catastrophic accident that left you out of work and severely injured? Don’t be too quick to assume the rideshare company will come to your rescue. Uber and Lyft fought for California Proposition 22 to make sure you’re an independent contractor, limiting their responsibility for you.
When an accident threatens your life and livelihood, a rideshare accident lawyer can help. At Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers, we work with people who have been in accidents while driving for rideshare companies. It’s your right to seek compensation under California law.
This page is dedicated to helping rideshare drivers learn about what happens after accidents and which types of options are available. We want to assist you, especially if you have serious injuries and need to seek adequate financial resources to pay your bills and hopefully get back on the road.
We help rideshare drivers secure high-value accident compensation using the experience of our talented legal team. We care about you because we live right here in the community where you put in so many long hours driving. Thank you for your work as a California rideshare driver! Please read on to learn more about rideshare driver accidents in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and beyond.
The San Francisco Bay Area is the birthplace of ridesharing. In the past decade, we’ve seen an explosion in the use of ridesharing by people who want an economical, environmentally-friendly, and reliable choice that frees them from owning a car.
As a rideshare driver, you’re part of a movement called the gig economy, or a new class of independent workers who choose when and where to work. While gig work brings an enormous amount of freedom, it also brings a huge hassle when something unexpected happens like an accident.
The impact of a rideshare accident can shake up your whole life, especially if it’s a severe accident. Right here in San Francisco and Los Angeles, we’ve seen situations where dedicated rideshare drivers were seriously injured or killed by drunk drivers, distracted drivers, and even other rideshare drivers who weren’t following the rules of the road.
If this happens to you, you’re not alone. You’re one of the thousands of rideshare drivers who face this situation every year. Now your car is damaged, you have physical injuries, and you may be emotionally traumatized and unable to work for weeks or months. Plus, your medical bills are piling up and your family’s stability is in jeopardy.
There are almost endless ways rideshare drivers can become involved in traffic accidents. Here at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers, we’ve seen everything from pedestrians walking right out in front of law-abiding Uber drivers to chaotic Uber vs. Uber crashes where it’s very difficult to determine liability.
Generally speaking, rideshare injury cases fall into some broad categories. We handle personal injury cases that involve road accidents where our client is severely injured in:
Injured rideshare drivers aren’t always given much care and consideration by the authorities – or even by their own employers. You might feel that nobody is listening or taking your claims seriously, which makes you lose hope for getting your medical bills, car repairs, and other costs covered.
Don’t lose hope! In this challenging situation, you can contact us for a consultation about your situation. Below are some tips for rideshare drivers to follow in the days following an accident.
Get a copy of the police report.
To help clear up liability and prove that you were injured, you’ll need to report the accident to the authorities and get a police report. Never delay in doing this, even if the other party insists that they don’t want to get the police involved. Any delay could prevent you from recovering compensation later.
Report the accident to the rideshare company and consult with your lawyer.
Your rideshare company likely requires you to report an accident immediately, but it’s a good idea to consult with your lawyer and ensure you’re protecting your rights from the start. Anything you say or type will become evidence.
Beware of sharing any photos or videos online
Don’t rant about your accident online or share photos of what happened. Your attorney can help you decide how to handle social media and other types of communications that could impact your case. Avoid texting or calling the other driver and let your lawyer handle the back-and-forth.
Give all information to your lawyer.
Request and hang on to the other driver’s name, phone number, insurance information, and physical address. This includes their license plate, insurance card, and license. Provide as much information as possible to your lawyer.
See a doctor and save your bills.
Seek health care for your injuries and follow your doctors’ orders. Continue seeing your doctors without skipping appointments. Consistency in treatment, including showing proof of treatment, is key in the period after a rideshare accident. Insurance companies want to see this kind of proof before they pay.
Were you liable for the accident? Whether or not Uber will help pay for your injuries likely depends on whether or not you are responsible for it. If you are liable, Uber will likely resist paying.
Insurance will also probably refuse to pay if you’re liable. Although the state of California and the rideshare companies require drivers to have auto insurance, coverage isn’t guaranteed. It depends on the details of the partner policy from Allstate, Progressive, Liberty Mutual, or whichever you selected.
Regardless of potential liability, if you want to keep your job as an Uber driver you’ll need to start by reporting the injury to Uber using their reporting system. As a driver, if you fail to do this you’re breaching the terms and conditions for drivers. An accident could harm your driver rating, but if you don’t report the injury to the rideshare company, the insurance will almost certainly deny your claim.
When a rideshare driver is at fault for an accident that occurs during the actively-driving period, Uber won’t automatically cover anything other than third-party liability. They may cover injuries to other people, but not the driver.
Their injury protection statement says, “The rideshare insurance maintained by Uber insures Uber partners for bodily injury and property damage liability to third parties resulting from a covered accident, such as your riders, people in other vehicles, pedestrians, or property.”
Therefore Uber is not offering first-party protection for the driver if a driver is at fault for the accident. However, Uber also offers optional injury protection that costs $.0375 per mile while on a covered trip. Using this protection, the driver is only charged for the miles while on a trip. The coverage also extends to the online-but-waiting periods drivers frequently experience in the course of daily driving.
Using optional injury protection, the premium is automatically deducted from a driver’s earnings. There is some ambiguity here. Uber never defines this “covered trip” to include a situation where the Uber driver is at fault, but based on the information on their website and their other coverages, one would assume this is coverage for all accidents regardless of fault.
Uber’s optional injury protection includes:
As you may be thinking, this brings up numerous other questions about related issues that arise after an accident. What else happens to Uber drivers who are injured while driving for the company but are at fault for the accident? Will Uber penalize them? Are there warnings? Does it impact their driver ratings?
Please discuss this with your lawyer because these are not simple questions to answer. Casual discussions among Uber drivers on Reddit, an online discussion forum, seem to indicate that Uber will deactivate the driver’s account and ask the driver to provide something to prove that the vehicle is still drivable enough to carry a passenger. This seems consistent with the accident reporting page on Uber’s website.
There are also anecdotal stories about accidents that cause Uber drivers to lose their stellar name within the Uber community. For example, Reddit users who are Uber drivers have shared stories about being in several accidents and seeing their star ratings drop. Some are even deactivated by Uber with little to no explanation.
Here in California, the state requires uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage (UIM). This is a type of coverage for an accident with a driver who does not have any liability insurance or is underinsured. Your insurance company must offer you this coverage in California, although you can sign a waiver to opt-out.
Eligibility for UIM bodily injury coverage depends on the status of the app. So if you’re en route to pick up a passenger or have a passenger on board, your Uber UIM coverage should be available for the passenger. But if you’re driving around waiting for a request to drive someone, UIM coverage wouldn’t apply.
We’d like to point out a few things about UIM insurance from the perspective of a lawyer. First, claiming UIM can take a significant amount of time and you may not be able to drive for Uber while things are pending. Uber may do its own investigation, which takes time.
Also, as an Uber driver, you may not have a resolution until the full claim, including related claims from passengers, resolves. So please understand that you are unlikely to see immediate money from Uber, Uber’s insurance, or any other insurance carrier that may be involved.
Here’s another important point. In California, rideshare companies are required by state law to carry a $1 million UIM policy but there is no mention of whether or not this is a combined single limit policy. Combined single limit (CSL) means that all coverage for damages to all people and all property come out of the same single pot of money, which in the case of California rideshare companies is one million dollars. We would assume that Uber, Lyft and other California rideshare companies’ UIM coverage is a combined single limit and any UIM policy proceeds will be shared among everyone who is injured and all property damage sustained in the accident. But, you should talk to your lawyer for details.
If an Uber driver carries personal UIM coverage on their auto policy, there is some debate on whether or not it would cover anything as a secondary UIM. Most personal auto insurance policies deny any coverage for the driver while they are using the Uber app unless the driver has a rideshare policy or endorsement. Unfortunately, it appears that this is another large gap in insurance, as an Uber driver may be critically injured while driving yet receive a fraction of the settlement proceeds without any ability to tap into UIM coverage on their personal policy.
Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers can handle the complicated legal issues involved in your rideshare accident claim so that you can put all of your focus and energy on recovering from your injuries. With a trustworthy, experienced rideshare accident attorney by your side, there is no reason to worry and stress about your situation.
Here’s how the process works. During your initial consultation, we’ll discuss everything that is going to occur over the following weeks and months. This includes the potential outcome that you can expect from your rideshare accident case, as well as things that you might be able to do to strengthen your claim. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions all along the way.
Next, we’ll investigate the crash itself, gathering the valuable evidence you will need for your case so that you will have the best possible chance of succeeding and getting the settlement you deserve. We’re very experienced at creating a strong, solid case for compensation in rideshare accident cases.
Part of the process is creating a demand letter that tells the other side what you’re requesting and why you should receive it. There will be a period where we go back and forth with the other side, negotiating carefully to get you the best possible outcome. In rideshare cases, these negotiations usually go pretty smoothly when you have a lawyer involved.
Eventually, we will either come to a settlement or the other side will insist on going to court. Most of the time, rideshare accident cases can be resolved without going to court. However, sometimes the other person is extremely stubborn or the insurance company thinks a judge or jury will be sympathetic to them for some reason.
Either way, your rideshare accident lawyer from Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers will be there to help you maximize the value of your claim. Hiring a personal injury lawyer is a great value! Plus, you don’t pay us until your case is resolved.
As an injured rideshare driver, it falls on your shoulders to collect and present evidence that persuades the insurance company to pay an amount that’s appropriate and adequate to compensate you for your losses. Accomplishing this – especially while recovering in a hospital – is extremely challenging.
If you were injured in an Uber accident or Lyft accident, it’s worth requesting a no-obligation free consultation with an experienced rideshare accident lawyer even if you’re not sure who’s liable. Here are some things you can do next.
At Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers, you’ll find a sympathetic group of talented lawyers who have been working on rideshare accidents since the rideshare industry was born. We understand how much your accident has shaken up your life and we’re here to help you get the resources you need to move forward. Contact us now for a FREE online case evaluation.
After a personal injury in a rideshare driving accident, contact the attorneys at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers. We handle many areas of the law, including rideshare accidents. We believe you should be able to focus on recovering while we handle the legal details.
We truly care about rideshare drivers. Contact us today for a free online case evaluation or call 877-380-8852.
INJURIES REQUIRING SURGERY
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Then speaking with a San Francisco Uber/Rideshare lawyer at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers – or completing our FREE online case evaluation – is the first step on the road to recovery.
Have you suffered major injuries in a San Francisco Bay Area Uber accident? “Major” meaning, broken bones, traumatic brain injury or injuries requiring hospitalization or surgery?
Are you concerned about how your Uber accident will negatively affect your daily life, your work and your family?
Are you more focused on getting a favorable financial settlement, than punishing your Uber driver?
Are you looking for a San Francisco Uber accident lawyer who knows the in’s and out’s of the overly complicated claims process Uber will try to drag you though?<!
If you answered “yes” to these questions, Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers who has been handling Uber accident cases in San Francisco since Uber began could be just the right Uber or Lyft accident attorney team for you.
If at any time within the first 30 days of signing with Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers you are not 100% satisfied with the quality and care of service you receive from our attorneys, we will cancel your contract at no cost so that you can seek different representation. No questions asked.
Why risk sabotaging your Uber rideshare injury claim by trying to handle it alone? Get your no cost, risk-free case evaluation. And get peace of mind.
The San Francisco Uber accident attorneys at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers are different than those 1-800 personal injury attorneys you see on billboards, MUNI buses and local TV. We aren’t into getting 1,000 calls a day. We are into representing amazing clients!
Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers has been helping injured individuals get the financial compensation they deserve for over 20 years. Our San Francisco Uber accident lawyers have settled significant Uber accident claims without going to court and we have successfully litigated numerous traffic accident cases (including Uber cases since 2009) in California for over two decades.
You can see from our clients’ reviews that:
Without a lawyer, get ready to get pushed around. It’s common for individuals without legal representation to become overwhelmed by the post-accident process and unwittingly accept a deal that’s not in their best interest. You need a lawyer to help you protect your rights under California law. We’ll secure a settlement that’s far more valuable than our attorneys’ fees, which we won’t take until the end of your case. It is our goal and our total focus to put money in your pocket with a lot less stress than if you tried to do it alone.
You may have found our website due to the overwhelmingly enthusiastic client-base we have served. We are so fortunate to be able to hand-select our clients, form great attorney-client relationships and give amazing customer service. This all translates into our clients shouting out about their experiences with our team — and, how we have over 150 5-star online reviews from clients we’ve represented in California traffic accidents.
Some of what you will get in this guide:
We live and work right here in San Francisco, just like you, and we truly care about people who have Uber and Lyft accident claims. Take a look at our history with high-dollar settlements and verdicts, like this $250,000 San Francisco car accident settlement the team at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers secured for one of our clients. In fact, we have plenty of stories to share. We invite you to check out more car accident settlement results like these and see what kinds of results we’re getting for our clients. We also invite you to take a look at our long list of happy reviews and testimonials from other people like you.
Still not sure about hiring a San Francisco car accident lawyer? Find out more here about whether Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers is the right firm to handle your case.
You can also learn more about how the accident claims process works if you choose Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers to guide you through your Uber/Rideshare accident case.
