Flickinger Legal Group
Rideshare Accident
Our personal injury law firm helps people who have been injured due to the negligence of others.
We will do everything we can to help injury victims get better in all aspects of your lives.
Have you been injured in a rideshare accident in Central Ohio? If so, you’re probably wondering about how you’re going to pay for the consequences and whether you’ll have to go through Uber or Lyft to get the money you need. These cases are complicated in a number of ways, from the complex way that various insurance policies may overlap to the challenges of taking on a multinational company with a powerful defense team. Fortunately, you don’t have to face them alone, because an experienced rideshare accident lawyer is just a click or phone call away.
Flickinger Legal Group is proud to provide skilled representation for injury victims throughout Central Ohio. We know what you’re up against after a rideshare accident, and we want to provide you with the financial security you need during this difficult time. Contact us today for a free consultation with our rideshare accident attorneys in Columbus, and let us start work on your case at no upfront cost to you.
Why Choose Flickinger Legal Group?
If you want a stuffy personal injury firm with feet of leather-bound law books on the walls, keep looking. If you want a pair of down-to-earth attorneys who will put your needs first and do everything they can to secure the money you deserve, then you’ve come to the right place.
At Flickinger Legal Group, we will treat you like family and do everything we can to make you feel comfortable after what’s happened. We know what you’re going through after a serious rideshare accident, and we believe that you deserve help now more than ever. That means treating you like an individual, not just another client, and working with you directly rather than passing you off to associates or paralegals. We’ll get to know you and your concerns so that we can better represent you at the negotiating table or at trial. And we won’t charge you a fee unless we win your case first.
So don’t face the aftermath of an Uber or Lyft accident alone. Instead, contact Flickinger Legal Group today to speak with a compassionate yet tenacious rideshare lawyer in Columbus.
Why Rideshare Accidents Happen
Many of us have gotten so used to dialing up an Uber or Lyft that we forget that these drivers are not actually professionals. They don’t receive special training or have to maintain commercial licenses. Rather, they are often ordinary people with other jobs making extra cash in their free time—ordinary people who are as apt as anyone else to make a dangerous mistake behind the wheel. This often leads to collisions caused by:
- Fatigued driving, as rideshare drivers work late to make extra cash
- Distracted driving, as rideshare drivers often manage calls and texts as well as operate the app in-route
- Speeding and aggressive driving, as drivers seek to maximize their income by taking more fares
Who's Liable for Rideshare Accidents
Depending on the circumstances, any of the following parties could be to blame for a rideshare accident:
- The Uber or Lyft driver
- Other drivers or road users
- Manufacturers of defective components
- Construction crews responsible for maintaining roadways
- Government entities responsible for road design
Uber and Lyft classify their drivers as contractors rather than employees, which means the companies are not directly responsible for negligence on the part of their drivers. However, they could be responsible in limited circumstances, such as for hiring drivers who should not have passed a background check or retaining drivers with a history of accidents.
An experienced rideshare accident lawyer can investigate the accident, identify all liable parties, and file suit against each as appropriate in order to maximize the compensation available to you.
Understanding Uber and Lyft Insurance Rules
Both Uber and Lyft provide insurance for their drivers, but whether the policy is active and how much it covers depends on what the driver was doing at the time. Here’s how it works:
- While the app is off, the driver’s own auto insurance policy is in effect.
- When the app is on and the driver is actively looking for a fare, Uber and Lyft will each provide up to $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident in bodily injury liability, and $25,000 in property damage liability. However, this coverage only supplements the driver’s own insurance policy.
- When the driver has a fare or is on their way to pick one up, Uber and Lyft provide up to $1 million in auto liability coverage.
Compensation Available for Rideshare Accident Victims
If someone else caused the rideshare accident that injured you, they could owe you money for your:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Diminished earning potential
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Reduced quality of life
You should not have to bear the cost of an accident that wasn’t your fault. Get help from an Uber or Lyft accident lawyer to demand the money you’re entitled to.
How a Rideshare Accident Lawyer Can Help
Don’t make the mistake of pursuing your own rideshare accident case. You’ve got enough to deal with already between your injuries and your medical treatment. You shouldn’t have to go up against aggressive insurance departments that will do whatever they can to reduce your compensation or deny your claim altogether. Instead, an Uber accident lawyer with Flickinger Legal Group can:
- Meet with you during a free, no-obligation consultation to understand what happened and get to know your specific concerns
- Investigate the Uber or Lyft accident to recover critical evidence proving another party’s fault for what happened
- Identify all available sources for compensation, including by determining whether the rideshare company’s insurance policy was active at the time
- Work with experts as necessary to calculate the financial and personal costs of your injuries, both now and in the future
- Negotiate aggressively with liable parties to secure a settlement that pays you what you’re owed without
- Take your case to trial if the liable parties won’t make you a fair offer
We’ll do all this without charging you any upfront fees for our services. Instead, you only pay us if and when we win your case. That way, you’re never paying out of pocket to assert your rights and demand fair compensation for what you’ve suffered.
The Statute of Limitations for Rideshare Claims
While the consequences of a serious accident can last for a lifetime, Ohio law does not give you unlimited time to seek justice. Per the state’s statute of limitations on personal injury claims, you have just two years under most circumstances to bring suit against the people responsible for a rideshare accident. If you attempt to file suit after this deadline has passed, the defendant will move to have your claim dismissed as untimely, effectively ending your right to compensation.
There are other practical reasons to act fast after a rideshare accident. Critical information can go missing over time, and eyewitnesses’ memories may fade. The insurance company or department might point to exclusionary language in policy terms to get out of paying you what it owes you. Rather than let this happen, get in touch with a rideshare accident lawyer right away.
Rideshare Accident (FAQ)
Rideshare accidents can be confusing in ways that regular car crashes are not. Between determining whether rideshare drivers were using the app or not, multiple insurance policies, and different claim rules, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed after getting hurt. The questions below address the concerns the attorneys at our law firm hear most often from people injured in and around Columbus, OH, in the places they drive and travel every day.
Your health should always be the top priority after a rideshare accident. If you're injured, call 911 and get medical care immediately, even if your injuries seem minor, because some symptoms take time to surface. When it's safe to do so, document the scene by taking photos of the vehicles, road conditions, traffic signs, and your injuries. Be sure to exchange information with everyone involved, not just the rideshare driver. You should also report the crash through the app, but avoid giving recorded statements or accepting fault before speaking with a lawyer who can protect your interests.
Yes. If you were a passenger in an Uber or Lyft, it is improbable that the accident was your fault. Passengers rarely cause crashes, so you may be able to file a claim no matter which driver caused the accident. In many situations, passengers can be covered by more than one insurance policy. This can be very important if you were severely hurt and your medical bills are high. Even so, these claims still need to be handled carefully. Insurance companies may argue over who is responsible or downplay how severe your injuries really are. You need a lawyer from a personal injury law firm to handle your case, so you don't have to worry about these details.
Ohio has a comparative fault law. This means that if you are found to be partly responsible for a rideshare accident, the amount of money you can receive may be reduced. Rideshare accidents often involve multiple vehicles, and people may remember the crash differently. Because of this, it is common for insurance companies to argue about who caused the accident. Substantial evidence, trustworthy witnesses, and sometimes expert crash reports can help show what really happened and affect the amount of compensation you can receive.
Rideshare drivers often drive across city and state lines, but that does not stop you from filing a claim in Columbus, Ohio, if the accident happened there. These cases can be more complicated because of rules about where the case should be filed and which insurance applies. A lawyer can handle these details and work to keep your case from being delayed or dismissed.
Possibly. Some health insurers and medical providers who treat you prior to the conclusion of your case may place a lien against your settlement or award. An attorney who handles these types of cases is skilled at addressing and negotiating these claims. They can protect your rights and work to reduce any liens while pursuing the compensation you deserve.
When a rideshare crash results in a fatality, surviving family members may have the right to pursue a wrongful death claim. These claims focus on the financial and personal losses suffered by loved ones, not just the harm to the deceased. Because wrongful death cases are both emotionally and legally complex, hiring an experienced lawyer is especially important to protect the family's rights and interests in these cases.
Columbus rideshare accidents present unique legal and financial challenges across Central Ohio. Getting clear answers from an attorney from a reputable law firm right away can ease uncertainty and explain your options.
Contact a Rideshare Accident Lawyer Today
If you’ve been injured in a rideshare car accident in Columbus, you need seasoned legal help to demand fair compensation for what you’ve suffered. Contact Flickinger Legal Group today to speak with our Lyft and Uber accident lawyers about your case, and we’ll tell you what we can do to recover money for your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.