When ride sharing companies first began accepting riders, the insurance industry had never covered an identical arrangement, with respect to driving a motored vehicle. Yet each rider that chose to share the availability of one of the company’s cars put themselves at risk. That was due to the driver’s dependence on two sources of distraction.
Each driver relied on a GPS system for directions, after a rider had stated where he or she wanted to go. In addition, all the drivers contracted by a ride-sharing service carried apps, which allowed each driver to hear from new customers.
What sort of protections did those early riders have?
Despite the rider’s need to accept an obvious level of risk, not one of them could count on a strong level of financial protection, if their means of transportation got involved in a motor vehicle accident.
The ride sharing companies, Uber and Lyft declared each of their drivers to be an independent contractor. Because it came from a contractor, the driver’s need for added insurance protection remained overlooked or disregarded. On the other hand, the Car Accident Lawyer in Cambridge knows that insurance industry would not furnish each driver with added protection, because none of them had purchased commercial insurance.
How was that situation corrected?
Uber and Lyft finally agreed to provide each of their drivers with a limited amount of insurance. Still, the companies’ insurance provider expects to receive lots of information from any rider that hopes to get compensated for injuries suffered while sharing a ride. For that reason, anyone that plans to use a ride sharing service ought to review the list of steps that should be taken, after being injured in an accident.
That rider should not leave the scene of the accident. Instead, he or she should remain there, and wait for the arrival of the police. Once the police have arrived and spoken with the injured rider, then he or she should seek medical attention. The insurance provider for the ride sharing company would get handed a possible defense, if the potential plaintiff (the insured rider) did not seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Later, the potential plaintiff should keep all the bills and other documents that relate to their medical treatment. In addition, each of them should listen to and obey the instructions given by the treating physician.
If a treated patient failed to obey the doctor’s orders, or elected to cease showing up at the time of a scheduled visit, the insurance company would make note of that fact. That information would provide the insurance company with yet another defense. That defense could be used against any patient seeking compensation for the injuries suffered at the time of a ride-sharing accident.
