Huntsville, AL – Rideshare Accident Attorneys

How Does Ridesharing Work?

Ridesharing companies offer a convenient transportation option by joining drivers with passengers looking for a ride via a smartphone app. The drivers have a contract with the ridesharing company and agree to use their personal vehicles to transport passengers.

Even though these services provide customers with needed transportation, they are not without their problems. Just like other motorists, rideshare drivers can be involved in accidents, and when that happens, many questions arise regarding who is responsible for the victim’s injuries.

Distracted Driving Issues With Ridesharing

Rideshare services link drivers to patrons via smartphone apps. Anytime a potential passenger logs on to the app and requests a ride from a driver, the driver only has about 10 to 15 seconds to accept the ride before it gets passed to someone else. In most cases, it isn’t feasible for a driver to promptly pull over to a safe place before accepting the new ride.

A rideshare driver who forgoes a ride request loses out on the money for that ride. Their acceptance rate will also be negatively impacted, which will ultimately affect their pay and could even result in them being deactivated as a driver. Due to this, the very nature of the job lends itself heavily to distracted driving, which increases the chances of a rideshare accident.

Are Ridesharing Companies Required to Provide Insurance?

Lyft and Uber both have policies in place designed to protect passengers and other potential victims from injuries that could occur should one of their independent contractors be involved in an accident.

These insurance policies are the consequence of many years spent contesting lawsuits and taking various other actions in an attempt to shirk responsibility for injuries that occurred during rideshare accidents. States eventually passed laws that required these corporations to supply liability coverage.

Liability coverage serves as secondary coverage to the contracted driver’s own policy only when the driver is logged into the app and waiting for a passenger. Additionally, a much more extensive $1 million policy acts as the immediate liability insurance policy as soon as the driver accepts a passenger through the app and is headed to pick them up, as well as anytime there is a passenger in the car.

The company’s auto insurance coverage is used when:

• The rideshare driver strikes a vehicle.
• The rideshare driver strikes a pedestrian or cyclist.
• The rideshare driver is the cause of an accident with a passenger in their vehicle.
• Another driver causes an accident involving a rideshare vehicle carrying a passenger.

Here at Mama Justice, our Huntsville personal injury lawyers know how Lyft and Uber insurance policies operate and how to pursue a successful claim for recovery based on that knowledge. We can begin building your rideshare claim today.

Alabama’s Statute of Limitations on Personal Injury Accidents

Alabama has a deadline of two years from the day of your accident for filing a car accident lawsuit. Although it isn’t always necessary to file a suit to recover fair compensation in a rideshare accident claim, it is essential that your right to do so is protected by negotiating a settlement or taking legal action before the deadline passes.

It will be virtually impossible for any attorney to negotiate an honest settlement with the insurance carrier if we have missed our chance to file a personal injury suit in your case. This is just one of the many reasons why it is vital that we get to work on your claim as soon as possible.

What Compensation Is Available for a Huntsville Rideshare Accident Case?

In terms of recovering financial compensation for a rideshare lawsuit or settlement, the damages you are entitled to collect should reflect the documented damages you sustained.

For instance, a victim who was seriously injured and required hospitalization would be eligible for a considerably larger payout than a victim who broke their arm, was treated, and sent home later that same day because the first victim will have much higher medical bills.

Due to this, it isn’t possible to know exactly how much your claim may be worth until your lawyer completes their investigation and fully understands all your current and anticipated accident-related damages.

The recoverable damages in a Huntsville rideshare accident award or settlement could include:

• Current and anticipated medical care, treatments, and therapy
• Current and future lost income
• Reduced earning capacity if you are unable to go back to work or unable to perform the job you had
• Property damages, including damage to your car and any personal property you had with you
• Pain and suffering
• Various other non-economic losses

In cases where victims experienced the death of a family member in a rideshare accident, we can help them seek damages for wrongful death as available according to the Alabama Wrongful Death Statute.

Immediately after a Huntsville rideshare accident, there are steps victims can take to safeguard their rights. Taking the actions listed below will put you in the best possible position for collecting full and fair financial compensation for your injuries:

• Make sure that everybody who was involved in the incident is okay. Call 911 for emergency assistance if necessary.
• Notify the police so an accident report can be created.
• Collect the names, contact information, insurance information, and vehicle information of the other motorists involved in the accident.
• Take pictures or videos of the scene. The images need to include any visible damage to the vehicles and any visible injuries. Road conditions, traffic, weather conditions, obscured road signs, and anything else that may have contributed to the collision should be documented.
• Record the contact information of anyone who witnessed the accident.
• Seek professional medical treatment right away, even if you think you managed to escape unharmed. Many crash-related injuries, such as whiplash, can take several days to manifest.
• Speak with an experienced rideshare accident attorney in Huntsville. Make sure that you fully understand your rights and all of your options for financial compensation.

Negotiating With Insurance Companies

As a general practice, insurance carriers typically offer unfairly small settlements or will deny a claim, even a legitimate one, outright. If you are involved in a rideshare accident, never provide a statement to anyone, sign anything, or agree to an insurance company’s settlement offer without speaking to a lawyer.

In cases where more than one insurance company is involved, they might even work together to dispute your valid claim, trivialize the degree of your injuries, or be adamant in the fact that their insured party was not liable.

Our rideshare accident attorneys are proficient at handling negotiations with multiple insurers. We are resolute in our dedication to acting as your advocate, and we will not give up until you have recovered the financial compensation you are entitled to.

How a Huntsville, AL Rideshare Accident Attorney Can Help

As of 2018, new laws enabled ridesharing businesses to operate in Alabama. Presently, the only companies allowed to conduct this type of business are Lyft and Uber.

The laws governing rideshares are fairly new and have a lot of gray areas which means they are open to interpretation by the courts. This is just another reason why it is so important for victims to reach out to an experienced Alabama rideshare accident lawyer.

The Mama Justice rideshare accident attorneys in Huntsville will make sure you are fully informed of all your legal rights and options. We will investigate your rideshare accident and determine how it happened and which driver was at fault. If we find that a rideshare vehicle was responsible for your injuries, our law firm will advocate aggressively on your behalf. We will use our considerable legal experience to bring the driver and rideshare company to account.

If you or a family member was injured in a Huntsville rideshare accident, contact the Huntsville rideshare accident attorneys at Mama Justice today by calling (888) 699-1846. We will schedule a free consultation to review your potential rideshare accident claim.