Maison Law represents people who are hurt in Livermore car accidents caused by an Uber driver’s mistake. Our personal injury lawyers aggressively seek compensation for our clients from the Uber driver 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 insurance companies fully responsible for recovery costs.
Lyft Accident Dangers in Livermore
Lyft and Uber offer a great service for people around Livermore without cars or for drivers who want to park for the day. But the truth is, rideshare drivers must be fully engaged with their work at times, and that means they may not be fully engaged in their driving.
Rideshare workers rely on their apps to communicate with customers and locate them. They must look at their phones when they get notifications and make decisions while they may be traveling full speed down busy roads like Stanley Boulevard. A Lyft driver might get a ride notification and race down I-580 to reach a customer on time.
It’s a profession that can add hazards to some already busy routes. These are just a few of the potential dangers that rideshare drivers might create:
- Driver Distractions: One of the most common causes of Lyft accidents, and all traffic accidents, is distracted driving. Lyft drivers come into contact with a wide array of distractions such as glancing at a rideshare app for ride requests, texting and driving, and even speaking with passengers inside the vehicle. A distraction can quickly draw a driver’s attention away from the roads, causing a catastrophic collision.
- Unfamiliar Roads: Lyft drivers sometimes navigate unfamiliar roads. When a driver is in an area that they are not familiar with, they could engage in slow driving or make unexpected stops that lead to collisions.
- Fatigue: Lyft drivers sometimes work extensive hours trying to make as much money as they can. They may even work for other rideshares at the same time. When a driver spends long hours on the road without rest, they could become unfocused or fall asleep behind the wheel, which can lead to devastating results.
- Speeding: Lyft drivers may race from one destination to the next so that they can accept more passengers in a day. They can also hit the gas to keep a passenger happy and hopefully receive a good rating. Speeding increases the likelihood of an accident, as well as increases the chance for the accidents to inflict even more serious dangers.
- Unsafe Parking: Drivers sometimes do not find an actual parking spot when they are picking up a driver, as they expect it to be quick business. However, an unsafe pick-up area can easily lead to a serious accident.
Do I Need to Talk to a Lawyer After a Lyft Crash?
If you or a loved one are hurt in a Lyft accident and the Lyft driver or another driver is to blame, you should speak to a Livermore Lyft Accident Lawyer. After a crash, rideshare companies will pay corporate lawyers and try to transfer blame away from its drivers. Those lawyers will also attempt to get you to accept as little as possible for your injury, or nothing at all.
Your Maison Law car accident lawyer is a safeguard for your case and investigates your accident and Lyft for you. Then the evidence is gathered and submitted in a claim demanding the maximum in compensation possible from the rideshare company.
You can also take advantage of a free consultation if you are a Lyft driver injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault. Maison Law can help force Lyft to support its employees when they get hurt.
What to Do If You’re in an Accident with a Lyft Driver
In the moments after a Lyft accident, you may be in shock and you may be feeling intense pain. But if you are left strong enough, you should try to secure as much fresh evidence as possible. However, only do this if it’s safe and the scene is secure.
This important evidence may not be available later and it’ll be critical to keeping Lyft from changing the facts of what happened. Try to collect these details:
- Call 911. Get checked out by the ambulance crew and go to the emergency room if necessary. Give a full report to Livermore Police or the Highway Patrol about what you observed leading up to and during the crash.
- 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 signage 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. Turn the addresses for these cameras over to your lawyer. 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 implying that you were to blame.
Who Can I Hold Responsible After an Alameda County Lyft Accident?
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 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.
Contact a Livermore Lyft Accident Attorney Today
If you have been injured in an accident involving a Lyft driver, you should contact our Livermore 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.
