Maison Law represents Bakersfield residents who are hurt in car accidents involving a Lyft car. Our personal injury lawyers aggressively seek compensation for our clients from reckless Lyft drivers and their employers. Please contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation for all local injury victims. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out what your injury may be worth and how to hold Lyft fully responsible for recovery costs.
Do I Need a Lawyer After a Lyft Accident?
If your injuries end up being serious and a Lyft driver was to blame for your crash, you should talk over your options with a skilled Bakersfield Lyft Accident Lawyer. A serious injury can involve anything from broken fingers or an arm fracture to a neck or head injury.
When medical costs are high, Lyft will fight hard to avoid having to provide full compensation. They’ll have corporate lawyers on the case, all trying to shift blame in an accident or working to downplay your injuries so they can offer you less.
Your lawyer is your shield against these heartless tactics. Your Maison Law car accident attorney gathers powerful evidence to force insurance companies to provide the maximum in compensation for you and your family.
Lyft Accident Dangers in Bakersfield
Unlike normal motorists on busy roads like Panama Lane, rideshare drivers are working while at the wheel. They must monitor for ride requests, examine and accept the request, and then find locations they may not be familiar with. The point is that their jobs often take their attention away from the lanes.
A Lyft driver on Highway 99 can get a ride notification and look down at a cellphone screen while missing a traffic slowdown ahead. They may not look up until it’s too late to brake to avoid a devastating rear-end collision.
Lyft drivers may be tempted to speed or drive aggressively while trying to please customers and get them to dropoff points as soon as possible. Employees could skip breaks or be behind the wheel while drowsy, leading to unfocused and unsafe driving. These are all hazards that cause accidents each year.
After the victims injured in these accidents get medical attention, they may wonder how to hold the driver responsible for the mistake and if Lyft is also liable.
It’s a common question because at any given moment there are dozens of rideshare workers on Bakersfield streets. They cause accidents and leave people with major injuries and struggling to pay medical debt.
The truth is that Lyft can be held responsible in some situations, but it’s lawyers and insurance adjusters will do everything possible to limit the support you receive, even when the fault of a Lyft driver is clear.
Your Bakersfield Lyft Accident Lawyer will be investigating your case and will file an accident claim backed with proof so that Lyft can’t leave victims without everything they need to recover physically and financially.
What to Do If You’re in an Accident with a Lyft Driver
After getting struck by a Lyft driver or being in the backseat of a Lyft car when your driver makes a mistake, you’ll want to attend to your safety and the safety of others first.
You should call 911 and get the Bakersfield Police or the CHP heading to the scene. If you are injured, you should also ask for an ambulance.
Once the scene is secure and if you feel strong enough, you’ll also want to collect a few pieces of evidence from the scene. This important evidence may not be available later and it’ll be critical to keeping Lyft from changing the facts of what happened.
- Get Checked Out — Tell EMS crews about every pain you have. Go to the emergency room if necessary. If you must leave the scene, ask someone with you or a helpful witness to collect details at the scene for you.
- Give Investigators the Full Story – Tell the police everything you remember about what led up to the accident. Alert them if you saw a Lyft driver using a phone or driving recklessly. The officer’s accident report will be one of the strongest pieces of evidence in your corner.
- Take Pictures – Snap photos with your cell phone and show the damage to the vehicles. Get pictures of street signs, lane markings, and traffic lights that played a role in the accident. Show any visible injuries you come away with. Show any Lyft signs on the car.
- Chat with Witnesses – Find out what they saw and get their contact info.
- Check for Surveillance – See if there are any security cameras or doorbell cams mounted on local homes or businesses. The footage may prove your innocence.
- Exchange Information with Lyft drivers — Get pictures of their worker identification number, their driver’s license, and their insurance card.
- See your Doctor – Make an appointment and get any injury documented and be on the lookout for injuries that pop up after the shock and adrenaline of the crash wear off.
- Alert Your Insurance Company – Let your car insurance company know what happened. You don’t want the Lyft driver calling your insurance company and demanding compensation before your insurer is aware of the accident.
Do Lyft Drivers Carry Insurance to Cover Me If I’m Injured in an Accident?
Lyft requires each driver to carry a personal car insurance policy. You will usually have to begin your accident claim with the driver’s insurance company. This may be a dead-end because insurance companies aren’t always accepting when they find out their policyholders are driving for a rideshare. They could decide not to provide coverage for the crash.
If your claim gets denied or the driver’s coverage doesn’t offer enough support, Lyft does carry supplemental insurance for accidents. Their help only applies under specific circumstances:
- If a driver is logged into the Lyft App but doesn’t have a customer request Lyft provides $100,000 total injury liability per accident and $25,000 property damage liability for accident victims.
- If a driver has accepted a ride request or has picked up the customer, Lyft’s policy offers one million dollars in liability insurance and one million dollars in uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage until the rider is dropped off.
- If a Lyft driver hasn’t logged into the Lyft app yet or has just logged off, any victims in an accident would not be covered by Lyft insurance.
If Lyft attempts to escape blame, your car accident attorney would be questioning the business’s training methods and hiring practices. Lyft is responsible when they employ drivers with bad driving records.
If a claim has been rejected by the driver’s insurance and Lyft’s coverage, victims can face the prospect of depending on their own insurance company. A claim would ask to draw money from your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Having a personal injury attorney to file this claim can protect you from a lowball offer.
What Can a Lyft Accident Injury Settlement Cover?
Whether you were a passenger when your Lyft Car was struck or involved in a collision in your own car, you would be seeking benefits from the at-fault party’s car insurance coverage. It may be the Lyft driver’s insurance, Lyft’s insurance, or even a regular driver’s insurance after the driver struck a Lyft vehicle.
Your car accident lawyer would be demanding full compensation for every hardship you and your family had faced and those medical issues expected to continue into the future.
These and other damages must all be considered in a Lyft accident settlement check or court judgment:
- Medical expenses and physical therapy costs
- Lifelong support for victims suffering a permanent physical disability
- Support for pain endured
- Support for the emotional trauma experienced in an accident and during recovery
- Support for a loss of enjoyment of life due to an injury
- Lost income and benefits
- Repair or replacement costs for your vehicle
- Wrongful death benefits. Families can seek support from a Lyft driver and Lyft if a loved one is taken from them in a rideshare accident. A Bakersfield wrongful death lawyer would seek help for the family including money to pay funeral costs and leftover hospital bills. A skilled lawyer would also seek to replace the income the victim could no longer provide the family in the years ahead.
Contact a Bakersfield Lyft Accident Attorney Today
If you have been injured in an accident involving a Lyft driver, you should contact our Bakersfield Lyft accident lawyers at Maison Law immediately. Filing an injury claim with Lyft and its insurance providers can be complex. It’s also easy to be tricked into accepting far less than you need to fully recover from an accident.
We offer a free and confidential case review to all Lyft victims. Please contact us today to schedule an appointment. It’s a no-risk way to determine what your case is worth and how to hold a rideshare fully liable. We will gather all evidence available in your accident and provide you with the resources that you need to successfully move forward with a case.
And if you do need Maison Law’s help to secure more in support, you don’t need to worry about having the money to hire a lawyer. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement Lyft must provide.
