What happens if my Uber or Lyft driver crashes while I'm a passenger?

What happens if your Uber driver crashes?

If your Uber or Lyft driver crashes during your ride, Florida law requires at least $1 million in primary liability coverage from the moment the driver accepts your ride request until the last rider gets out. Personal injury protection (PIP) insurance may pay benefits for your injuries, and you may also have a claim against whoever caused the crash.

Two limits:

• Damages for pain and suffering from the owner or driver of a PIP-insured vehicle are allowed only for certain permanent injuries the law lists, or death. See Can I sue the other driver after a Florida car accident if I have PIP?
• A negligence lawsuit must be filed within two years for claims that arose after Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida, took effect on March 24, 2023. Other deadlines are explained below.

If a rideshare car hit you while you were outside it, see Whose insurance pays if an Uber or Lyft driver hits me? The page on rideshare accident lawyers in Melbourne has more.

What does Florida law say about rideshare insurance?

Florida's rideshare law is section 627.748, Florida Statutes. It covers any "transportation network company," or TNC: a company operating in Florida under that section "using a digital network to connect a rider to a TNC driver, who provides prearranged rides." App-based ride companies that meet this definition, such as Uber or Lyft, follow it.

Insurance during your ride

The law calls your trip a "prearranged ride." It begins "when a TNC driver accepts a ride requested by a rider" through the app and ends "when the last rider exits from and is no longer occupying the TNC vehicle." It does not include taxi or street hail service or carpools. During a prearranged ride, the law requires:

• "A primary automobile liability coverage of at least $1 million for death, bodily injury, and property damage."
• "Personal injury protection benefits that meet the minimum coverage amounts required of a limousine" under Florida's PIP law.
• "Uninsured and underinsured vehicle coverage as required by s. 627.727."

Under section 627.727, Florida Statutes, an auto policy with bodily injury liability coverage must include uninsured motorist coverage unless a named insured rejects it in writing on behalf of everyone insured under the policy. So don't assume that coverage is in place; ask. Underinsured means the at-fault vehicle's bodily injury limits are less than your total damages.

The required ride insurance may come from the driver or the car's owner, the rideshare company, or both.

Who pays if you're hurt as an Uber or Lyft passenger?

These are general examples, not predictions about any case.

Your medical bills

Start with PIP. Whose PIP pays and its 14-day rule for first care are explained below. What PIP pays and its limits are explained in Can I sue the other driver after a Florida car accident if I have PIP?

If your Uber or Lyft driver caused the crash

A claim against your driver generally looks to the ride's liability coverage, which must be at least $1 million for the whole ride. That is the least coverage the law requires, not a measure of what any claim is worth. See How much is my personal injury case worth?

The driver's personal auto insurer may exclude all coverage, including liability and PIP, while the driver is logged on to the app or giving a ride. If the insurance the driver must carry during a ride has lapsed or does not provide the required coverage, the company's insurance must provide it, beginning with the first dollar of the claim, and must defend the claim. The company's coverage cannot depend on a personal auto insurer first denying the claim.

Under section 627.737, Florida Statutes, damages for pain, suffering, mental anguish and inconvenience from the owner, registrant, operator or occupant of a PIP-insured vehicle are allowed only for certain permanent injuries the law lists, or death.

For passenger claims in any car, see Can a passenger sue the driver after a car accident in Florida?

More questions about Uber and Lyft passenger crashes

Can you sue Uber or Lyft if your driver crashes?

Possibly, depending on the company's own role and conduct. Section 627.748(18) limits a rideshare company's vicarious liability, meaning responsibility for someone else's conduct. The company is not liable under general law just because it runs the app or is the company the driver is affiliated with, for harm from the use of a rideshare vehicle while the driver is logged on, if all three are true: it was not negligent under the rideshare law and committed no crime, it met all of its duties under that law for that driver, and it does not own the vehicle that caused the harm and is not its bailee (someone holding it for the owner). That rule does not reduce the coverage or policy limits the rideshare insurance law requires, or change anyone's liability except the company's vicarious liability. Judges decide how these rules apply to each crash.

Does my own PIP pay, or the rideshare's?

It depends mainly on whether you own a car with PIP or live with a relative who does. Paragraph (4)(e) of section 627.736, Florida Statutes, sets the order:

• Yours, if you own a car with PIP: your PIP insurer must pay PIP benefits for injuries you suffer in Florida while riding in any motor vehicle.
• A relative's, if you don't own a vehicle that must carry PIP: the PIP insurer of a relative who owns a vehicle must pay in those same situations, if that relative's household is your permanent home ("domiciled").
• The vehicle you rode in, if you don't own a vehicle that must carry PIP and are not entitled to PIP benefits from such an owner's insurer: that vehicle owner's PIP insurer must pay PIP benefits for injuries in Florida.

The ride's insurance must include PIP, so report the crash to both insurers.

What if another driver caused the crash?

You may have a claim against the other driver. If more than one driver was at fault, under section 768.81, Florida Statutes, the court enters judgment against each one based on its own percentage of fault. If that driver has no insurance or not enough, the ride's uninsured and underinsured coverage may help, unless it was rejected in writing. See What if the driver who hit me has no insurance or not enough?

What should you do after an Uber or Lyft crash?

• Get medical care. To get PIP medical benefits, you must receive initial care within 14 days after the crash, from a provider type the PIP law lists: a medical or osteopathic physician, dentist, chiropractic physician, or advanced practice registered nurse registered under section 464.0123 who provides, supervises, orders or prescribes the care; a hospital or a facility that owns, or is wholly owned by, a hospital; or a licensed provider of emergency transportation and treatment.
• Make sure the crash is reported. Under section 316.065, Florida Statutes, the driver in a crash causing injury must immediately notify the local police inside a city, or otherwise the county sheriff or nearest Florida Highway Patrol station, by the quickest means. Ask the officer for their name and the report number.
• Get the crash report. Under section 316.066, Florida Statutes, a crash report that reveals the personal information of the people involved is confidential for 60 days after it is filed, but it may be released right away to the people involved, their legal representatives and their insurers, among others.
• Save the trip details. The app must show the driver's photo and license plate number before you get in, so screenshot that screen. Keep the electronic receipt the company must send, which lists the ride's start and end points, time, distance and fare.
• Ask the driver for insurance information. After a crash, the driver must give it to anyone directly involved, auto insurers and investigating officers, and on request must say whether they were logged on to the app or giving a prearranged ride.
• Ask for records early. In a claims coverage investigation, the company must immediately give a directly involved party, on request, the exact times the driver logged on and off in the 12 hours before and after the crash. It must keep each ride's records for at least 1 year after the ride.
• Report the crash in the app and to your own auto insurer, and keep your medical bills.

Your deadline

Under section 95.11, Florida Statutes, a lawsuit for an injury caused by negligence must be filed within two years. That two-year rule applies only to claims that arose after the 2023 change took effect on March 24, 2023, and under section 768.28, Florida Statutes, a negligence lawsuit against a Florida state or local government agency must be filed within 4 years after the claim arises, except medical malpractice and wrongful death claims, which follow the deadlines in section 95.11(5). Before you can sue a government agency, a written claim generally must be presented within 3 years after the claim arises (2 years for wrongful death) and then denied, or left without a final decision for the time the law allows. Older claims follow different rules, explained in How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in Florida?

Talk to a Melbourne rideshare accident lawyer

Douglas R. Beam, P.A. is a personal injury law firm in Melbourne, Florida. If you were hurt during an Uber or Lyft ride, you can talk with us about it in a free consultation.

Call us at (321) 723-6591, or send us a message through our website. Our office is at 25 West New Haven Avenue, Suite C, Melbourne, FL 32901.

Sources

• Section 627.748, Florida Statutes
• Section 627.736, Florida Statutes
• Section 627.727, Florida Statutes
• Section 627.737, Florida Statutes
• Section 768.81, Florida Statutes
• Section 316.065, Florida Statutes
• Section 316.066, Florida Statutes
• Section 95.11, Florida Statutes
• Section 768.28, Florida Statutes
• Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida