Rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft have revolutionized how we travel, with billions of trips completed in the past decade. This innovative form of transportation has the potential to reduce the number of drunk driving incidents and their related casualties across the nation. Though drivers are essential to the success of this new form of travel, they have unfortunately faced incredible difficulties when attempting to seek proper recompense after being hurt in an accident while on duty.
No matter if it is your primary form of income or part of your job, if you are an Uber or Lyft driver in New Jersey who has been injured in a car accident, you have the right to seek legal help from an experienced attorney who will fight to ensure you receive full compensation. Don’t go it alone – contact a knowledgeable attorney to get the justice you deserve.
If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident while driving for a rideshare company, contact the experienced driver injury lawyers at Console & Associates by calling 866-778-5500 or by completing our online contact form. We can discuss your rights and what options may be available to you.
The responsibility for covering a rideshare driver’s medical expenses after an accident hinges on the details of the particular incident. Depending on the circumstances, it could be the driver’s insurance, the rideshare company’s insurance, or a third party who is held accountable for the driver’s injuries.
Being in a car accident as a rideshare driver can be upsetting and confusing, as you may be under the mistaken impression that your personal auto insurance policy covers all of your medical bills. But that’s not necessarily the case. Depending on during which “period” the accident happened, varying rules and regulations apply here in New Jersey.
When you use a rideshare service in New Jersey, the company is required to have a commercial policy in place for its drivers. This means that if you are involved in an accident while using a rideshare service, the company’s third-party auto liability insurance should cover you. However, the exact level of coverage depends on the “period” when the accident occurred.
If you’re a rideshare driver who has been injured in an accident while off-duty or with your app turned off, you may not be able to rely on coverage from your insurance policy to fully reimburse you for your damages. In such cases, it’s important to seek legal counsel to explore the possibility of a personal injury lawsuit for compensation.
Since the period during which a rideshare driver logs in and waits for a passenger can create coverage gaps, it’s important to be aware of New Jersey’s rideshare insurance laws. These laws require the driver or rideshare company to maintain car insurance that provides primary automobile liability insurance coverage of at least:
According to Lyft and Uber’s policies, both companies provide third-party liability insurance if the driver’s auto insurance does not apply.
If you are involved in an accident while driving to pick up a passenger, you may be able to seek coverage from the rideshare company for your medical bills.
Just like an accident that occurs while on the way to pick up a passenger, drivers who get in an accident while transporting a passenger should seek coverage from the rideshare company.
We can help.
You may be familiar with the requirement to carry uninsured or underinsured (UM/UIM) motorist coverage if you are a New Jersey rideshare driver. Unfortunately, many ridesharing drivers struggle to access these benefits when they are involved in an accident. Understanding the period in which the accident occurred impacts the amount of coverage you qualify for can be difficult.
Period 0: If you are a rideshare driver who is injured in an accident while using your vehicle for personal reasons, you cannot evoke a company’s UM/UIM coverage.
Period 1: In order to protect its customers, the state of New Jersey requires rideshare companies and their drivers to carry auto insurance with UM/UIM coverage.
Periods 2 and 3: To stay in compliance with the law, companies and drivers must ensure they have at least $1.5 million of UM/UIM motorist coverage in place.
Most NJ rideshare companies offer drivers the same level of protection as they would receive with their own personal car insurance policy.
If you drive for a rideshare company in New Jersey, it’s important to know that courts in this state typically consider rideshare drivers as independent contractors, meaning they are not eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. To determine if a driver is an employee or independent contractor, legal evaluations assess several factors, such as the employer’s control over how duties are performed, the amount of oversight, who provides the tools, and the compensation arrangement.
Even though NJ courts don’t generally consider rideshare drivers to be employees for workers’ compensation benefits, that doesn’t mean that injured drivers can’t seek compensation through other avenues.
If you’ve recently been injured in a rideshare accident in New Jersey, you may be struggling with the medical bills that have piled up. The New Jersey car accident attorneys at Console & Associates, P.C. want to help you get the compensation you need after an accident. We have over 25 years of experience helping connect injured motorists with the financial compensation they need. We provide free consultations and won’t collect our fee unless we manage to secure compensation. Give us a call today at 866-778-5500 or fill out our online contact form and discover how we can make a difference in your life.
