Maison Law represents victims who are hurt in car accidents involving a Lyft car in Long Beach. 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.
Should I Call a Lawyer After a Rideshare Accident?
If your injuries end up being serious and someone else is to blame for your collision, it’s a good time to consult with a Long Beach Lyft accident lawyer. You might have been a passenger in a Lyft vehicle when another driver struck the car. You may have been in your own vehicle when a careless Lyft driver rammed you. You may also have been a pedestrian or a cyclist struck by a distracted rideshare driver.
After a significant injury, like a broken bone or head trauma, medical bills will likely go beyond a single night in an emergency room. When medical bills will run high, Lyft lawyers fight hard to help the rideshare avoid blame. They’ll try to shift fault in an accident or work 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.
Long Beach Rideshare Accident Dangers
Traffic around Long Beach can be a nightmare during the day. You might think that people who park their cars and take a rideshare help cut down on the congestion. However, there are still hundreds of Lyft vehicles on the road at any one moment. And those Lyft drivers are expected to do a lot more than stay in their lanes and monitor traffic lights.
Lyft drivers must monitor their phones anytime they have their Lyft app open. If they want to make any money they must listen for notifications, check the location, and quickly swipe to accept a passenger. And then they often use their phones to find unfamiliar pickup spots.
That’s just the start of what rideshare employees are expected to do. It’s no wonder that they cause accidents with other cars and end up hitting defenseless pedestrians and cyclists too. They can even injure their own passengers in some instances.
These are just a few of the duties and drawbacks that can cause accidents involving Lyft:
- Driver Distractions: Lyft drivers use GPS devices to get to their destination. This, along with using a cell phone, eating behind the wheel, or talking to a passenger could lead to a life-altering accident within seconds.
- Working for Uber and Lyft: Some rideshare drivers also work for other rideshares and delivery companies at the same time. This juggle between apps like Uber and DoorDash only multiplies the time rideshare drivers have their eyes off the lanes ahead.
- Drowsy Driving: Many rideshare drivers work for extended hours or have made people pickups only their side hustle. They may work a full-time job too. Because of this, they may be exhausted and drowsy, which could cause them to fall asleep at the wheel.
- Speeding: Because drivers have deadlines to meet and money to make as quickly as possible, many drivers will speed to their destination. Excessive speed and aggressive driving lead to accidents.
- Driving Under the Influence: Just like any other driver, Lyft employees can show bad judgment and use drugs or alcohol before making a pickup. This puts their passengers and other motorists at extreme risk.
- Trying to Locate Customer: When a driver is trying to locate a customer, they may wander into an area that they are unfamiliar with. They could also remove their eyes from the road while searching. This can lead to an accident with catastrophic results.
Your Maison Law rideshare accident lawyer fully investigates your accident. Your lawyer examines the Lyft driver’s record and looks at hiring practices. Accident reconstruction is also a powerful tool at our disposal to make sure a rideshare company can’t try to shift blame for what happened. Your lawyer uses this evidence and testimony to get the most out of an injury claim for you and your family.
Who Can I Hold Responsible After a Long Beach Lyft Collision?
There could be several parties responsible for your rideshare accident while you are recovering, from Lyft drivers or the driver of another vehicle to the actual Lyft company. Here is what could happen during the claims process:
- The Lyft Driver’s Insurance: Rideshare drivers are required by law to carry car insurance just like any other driver on our roads. You will start by filing a claim with their insurer, though it may be denied if the policyholder believes they were working for Lyft at the time of the accident. If your claim is rejected, you will file a claim with Lyft instead.
- Lyft Insurance Coverage: Lyft retains coverage that is up to a million dollars for both drivers and their victims in the event of an accident. However, this will only be available to you if your driver was logged into the company’s app at the time of the accident. The rideshare will do anything to challenge the integrity of your claim and offer you much less than you deserve so that they can save more money for their company. This shady behavior can leave you to pay for part of your medical bills out of your savings.
If Lyft attempts to deny your claim or offer you a low settlement offer, your lawyer can help you take Lyft to court with a lawsuit. Your lawyer will examine several aspects to support your claim, from Lyft’s work policies to hiring practices. Maison Law also has an accident reconstruction team on their side who can assist you in showing what actually happened at the time of your collision. All of these aspects can be incredibly helpful when it comes to the outcome of your claim.
Maison Law can also help Lyft drivers who have been abandoned by their employers after they were hurt in an accident that was another motorist’s fault. Lyft should stand behind the employees they make so much money off of.
Does Lyft Provide Have Car Insurance?
Lyft does make its employees carry their own 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 rideshare App but doesn’t have a customer request yet, 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.
In some cases, another driver strikes a rideshare car while you are inside. In this case, the at-fault driver’s auto insurance policy would be drawn upon. In some cases, Lyft drivers may also be hurt through no fault of their own. They could also file an injury claim against an at-fault driver. A Maison Law attorney could also help them seek benefits from Lyft while they were unable to return to work.
What Should a Lyft Accident Injury Settlement Cover?
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 Long Beach Lyft Accident Attorney Today
If you have been injured in an accident involving a Lyft driver, you should call our Long Beach Lyft Accident Lawyers at Maison Law immediately. It can be difficult to deal with a complex Lyft accident case on your own. We want to handle the frustrating claims process and leave you with as much time to focus on healing as possible.
You can contact us today for a free case review and rest assured that you are under no obligation after meeting with us. It’s a chance to go over your options and learn about the tactics Lyft may try to use to shortchange you. If you do feel we can help you earn more for your injury, you won’t need any money to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our attorney’s fee comes out of the settlement Lyft must pay you.
