Maison Law represents Hanford 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 or if you are being blamed for a Lyft accident you didn’t cause, you should talk over your options with a skilled Hanford Lyft Accident Lawyer.
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 attorney gathers powerful evidence to force insurance companies to provide the maximum in compensation for you and your family.
Rideshare Accident Dangers in Hanford
Hanford has its bad traffic periods just like any city in California. Cars can build up on 198. Intersections become hard to get through on Lacey Avenue in the morning and the evening. The increased need to get to or from school or work contributes to the congestion, but careless and reckless drivers are really the reason for the hazards that appear. Unfortunately, the addition of rideshare workers only multiplies the risks.
Distracted driving is part of the danger, and the temptation is even worse for Lyft workers who must contend with driving, checking a cell phone app, navigation, and passenger interaction. Like all of us, Lyft workers can also have bad days or a bad night and can be drowsy or emotionally upset, leading to even more unfocused driving.
Passengers are at double risk, because a Lyft driver may make a careless move that causes an accident, but another random driver may strike the rideshare car. The customer and the rideshare employee could be hurt.
After an accident, victims, including Lyft workers, can seek compensation for their financial hardships and emotional trauma. However, Lyft doesn’t always make getting this support easy. They’ll attempt to cast doubt on the seriousness of your injuries and even try to distance themselves from their employees. It’s important to have a skilled lawyer who can help force Lyft to do what’s right.
Common Injuries in Lyft Accidents
People driving along in their cars can suffer major injuries after getting struck by a rideshare driver in a rush. Lyft users stuck in the backseat in a collision will suffer many particular injuries. The impact might send passengers into the back seat or into the metal of the car door or the glass. There are generally no airbags in the backseat to protect Lyft riders.
Passengers can suffer many different types of seatbelt injuries including broken bones received when the belt holds tight in the powerful force of a crash. Ribs and other chest bones might be fractured. Victims might suffer burns from the seatbelt or neck injuries.
Minor injuries might only require a quick trip to the emergency room at Adventist Health Hanford. Yet, other accidents may leave patients in need of a long hospital stay and weeks of physical therapy. This care will be expensive.
These are just some of the most common injuries victims must recover from:
- Broken bones, especially in your arms and legs
- Strained muscles or tears
- Burns
- Whiplash
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
- Back and spine injuries
- Facial or eye injuries
- Lost or loosened teeth
Do Lyft Drivers Carry Insurance to Cover Me If I’m Injured in an Accident?
After a night or two in the hospital, victims are right to wonder whose insurance will cover the bills when they arrive.
Lyft requires its employees to maintain personal car insurance policies. You will usually have to begin your accident claim with the driver’s insurance company. This may leave you frustrated because insurance companies aren’t always accepting when they find out their policyholders are driving for a rideshare. They could decide to reject your claim outright.
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.
What Is a Lyft Accident Injury Settlement Worth?
It will be difficult for your lawyer to give you an accurate assessment on your case and what it’s worth until the lawyer has heard the details of the crash and been able to investigate.
The time it takes you to recover and how long you must miss shifts at work will play a role in how much you should demand from Lyft and its drivers. Lyft has an insurance policy with high limits, and every bit of that money should be available to victims until they are fully recovered.
A claim against Lyft should ask for reimbursement for every hardship you’ve faced as a victim. It must also cover the potential for further hardships in the years ahead if your injury flares up or if you can’t return to work and support your family.
These and other damages must all be considered in a rideshare 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 for the family left behind after a fatal accident involving Lyft
Contact a Hanford Lyft Accident Lawyer Today
If you have been injured in an accident involving a Lyft driver, you should call a Hanford Lyft Accident Lawyer at Maison Law immediately. It can be difficult to deal with a complex Lyft accident and gain a better understanding of the many laws that apply to these claims.
On top of this, there could be many parties liable for an accident. 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. Please contact us today for a free and no-obligation consultation.
Residents in Kings County don’t need any upfront money to hire a Maison Law attorney. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement Lyft must provide.
