Taking a Lyft is an easy way for many people to get around in the Atlanta metro and many other areas of Georgia.
But if you’re injured in an accident while riding in a Lyft or have an accident that involves a Lyft driver in some other way, you might have questions about getting your damages paid.
A Lyft accident can leave you with extensive medical costs, reduced income if you have to take time off work, pain and suffering, property damage, and other losses. Your Lyft accident attorney will try to help you determine fault, and we will start by reviewing the police report.
A police report doesn’t necessarily say who is to blame for an accident. If one of the drivers was cited for a moving violation, this could be used as evidence that they were responsible, but in some cases, the police don’t have enough information to ticket anyone.
Instead, they will take statements from drivers, passengers, and witnesses and include these in the police report.
If the Lyft Driver Was at Fault, Can a Georgia Lyft Accident Attorney Help Me Sue Lyft?
You should definitely speak with a Georgia Lyft accident attorney about your case, but suing Lyft may not be necessary. Lyft drivers are required to maintain at least the state minimums for car insurance if driving their personal cars.
However, this personal insurance usually doesn’t apply to situations where the insured is driving for a rideshare company, so Lyft also has its own liability insurance that kicks in when a driver is liable for an accident not covered by their own insurance.
The amount of insurance available depends on what the driver is doing when the crash occurs:
- If the driver’s Lyft app is off, they are not available for fares and are not considered to be driving for Lyft. When an accident happens during this time, we will make a claim on the driver’s personal liability insurance. In the state of Georgia, all drivers are required to have at least $25,000 in bodily injury liability per person (up to $50,000 per accident) and $25,000 in property damage liability.
- If the driver’s Lyft app is on, they are considered available for fares but are not actively driving for a customer until they have accepted a fare. During this period, Lyft’s liability insurance will cover damages not handled by the driver’s personal insurance. This coverage is $50,000 in bodily injury liability per person (up to $100,000 per accident) and $25,000 in property damage liability.
- When the driver’s Lyft app is on, and the driver is either carrying riders or on their way to pick up a passenger, Lyft’s liability insurance also applies with much higher limits. This coverage will pay up to $1,000,000 for bodily injury and liability, which is enough for the damages in many accident cases. However, if you are severely injured and have more than $1,000,000 in damages, your lawyer will help you explore other solutions for recovering compensation.
So All I Have to Do is File an Insurance Claim?
Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy. As we discussed earlier, determining fault in accidents can be tricky.
The insurance options described above apply only if you can convince the insurance company that the Lyft driver was at fault, which is not always a simple task.
In many cases, the Lyft driver may claim that you were at fault, and the police may not have much evidence to show whose story is correct.
It’s helpful to remember that law enforcement agencies are often very busy and only have limited time to spend investigating most car accidents.
This is why having a Georgia Lyft accident lawyer is crucial. Your attorney and their investigative team have the time and experience to seek out more evidence in the accident, such as:
- Video of the crash. With smartphones and cameras everywhere, it’s becoming increasingly likely that we will find a video of an accident, especially if the injured party contacts us quickly. Our investigators will visit the scene and look for doorbell, traffic, or security cameras. If we can obtain the video before it’s erased (which usually happens frequently), we may be able to show exactly what happened.
- Witness interviews. The responding officer will look around and try to get a statement from anyone who saw the accident, but they probably won’t have time to knock on every door in the neighborhood. Our investigators will canvas the area and seek out anyone who might have seen the accident.
- Black box data. Although “plane crash” is usually the first thing to mind when we think of a “black box,” cars also have these event data recorders or EDRs. (Almost all domestic models made since 2013 will have a black box, although some older models may not.) This box records a large amount of data about an accident, including how fast and in what direction the car was moving, what actions the driver took, etc. Your attorney can seek this black box data from the Lyft driver’s car in the “discovery” portion of a lawsuit.
- Smartphone data. If you saw the Lyft driver texting or believe they might have been distracted, we can also ask for the driver’s smartphone data, which may show that they were using the phone when the crash happened.
- Your vehicle. If your car hasn’t been repaired yet, we may carefully study the damage to see if there are any clues about what happened.
What if You Are Injured as a Lyft Driver?
This depends on several aspects of your accident.
Were you at fault? Is there a disagreement about fault between you and the other driver?
If the other driver caused the accident, their liability insurance should cover your damages – but again, it’s not always a simple process to prove fault.
In many car accident cases, both drivers claim the other was responsible. Sometimes, they’re both right!
Shared fault is common, and it’s possible that both you and the other driver made some mistake that contributed to the crash. What does that mean for your case?
Understanding Modified Comparative Negligence in Car Accidents
Georgia uses modified comparative negligence statutes for personal injury cases like car accidents. Modified comparative negligence allows for fault to be divided between two parties, with liability going to the party who is more than 50 percent responsible.
If you are less than 50 percent at fault, you can pursue damages from the more responsible driver, but your own percentage of fault will be reduced from your award.
After an accident, the respective insurance companies will negotiate liability for the accident, but this can cost you money if you don’t have a say.
Your insurance company might agree that you had a small percentage of fault because it means they won’t have to pay anything, but you could lose some of your damages.
If you really had nothing to do with the crash or if you had a much lower degree of fault than your insurance company agreed on, this could be frustrating and unfair.
Should You Try to Negotiate With the Insurance Companies?
No, unfortunately, that could negatively impact your situation. Insurance adjusters are always looking for excuses not to pay a claim.
They might twist or misinterpret anything you say, however innocent, to suggest you were at fault, or your claim shouldn’t be covered for some other reason.
Instead, the best solution is to contact a Georgia Lyft accident attorney who will collect evidence and negotiate with the insurance companies on your behalf.
Unlike an insurance company’s claims adjuster, whose job is to save the company money, your lawyer works for you and will fight to get you the settlement you deserve.
They will also have the knowledge and experience to refute any claims that you were at fault or show how little responsibility you had, which can lead to a more significant award.
What if I Was Actually at Fault for the Accident as a Lyft Driver?
Never assume you were at fault, even if the other driver or the officer at the scene thought so. It’s possible none of you have all the information about the crash yet.
Also, you may only have a small percentage of fault, in which case you should still be able to collect some damages. Please talk to a Georgia car accident lawyer to be sure if you were actually at fault, and if so, by what percentage.
If it turns out there is significant evidence that you were primarily responsible for the accident, your own or Lyft’s liability insurance should cover at least some of the injured party’s damages.
As explained in a previous section, which policy covers you is determined by what you were doing at the time of the crash. If you were carrying a fare or en route to pick one up, you would have the most robust coverage from Lyft, up to $1,000,000 in liability.
Unless the accident was very severe, this should cover the expenses of other people who were injured in the crash.
What about your own expenses? Lyft offers collision and comprehensive coverage for damage to your vehicle but with a deductible of $2,500.
In some cases, your own insurance may cover car repairs with a lower deductible.
Medical expenses are a bit more complicated. If you are online but not actively carrying passengers or traveling to pick them up, you only have Lyft’s liability coverage, which does not apply to your own injuries.
Once you’re engaged with a customer, you will have access to Lyft’s first-party coverages, which may include Medical Payments coverage or MedPay. MedPay covers the insured party’s medical bills with no need to prove fault in an accident and no deductible.
What Happens if a Lyft Driver Hits You as a Pedestrian or a Bicyclist?
Lyft’s liability insurance should cover your injuries, with coverage amounts varying depending on whether or not the driver was engaged with a fare.
If the driver was online but not engaged with a fare, you might only have $50,000 in coverage for medical bills and $25,000 for property damage. The latter is usually sufficient for property damage – most people don’t have a bike, phone, or laptop worth more than $25,000.
However, being hit by a car as a pedestrian or biker can cause severe injuries, and if your health insurance doesn’t cover all your care, you could have more than $50,000 in medical bills.
In these situations, we work to find alternate sources of compensation. You could sue the driver personally, but this might not be a helpful endeavor if they don’t have substantial assets we could seize.
We will often check if the injured person has uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UM/UI), which usually covers the insured party in pedestrian or biking accidents.
With the right type of stacked UM/UI policy, you could collect $50,000 from Lyft’s liability insurance, then collect up to the policy limit from your own insurance.
Another issue with bicycle or pedestrian accidents is that the driver often claims the pedestrian/biker was at fault. For example, they might say you ran out directly in front of their car instead of crossing safely at a crosswalk.
Your lawyer will work to present evidence that refutes these claims so you can get the compensation you need to recover.
How Can I Find a Georgia Lyft Accident Lawyer?
Please contact us at the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation about your case. We’ll review the police report, answer your questions, and discuss your options for seeking damages.
Attorney Ali Awad founded the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm, which is now one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country.
When he’s not negotiating with insurance companies or fighting for his clients in court, Mr. Awad shares plain-language legal advice with more than a million followers on social media.
Call us today at (470) 323-8779.
