Jersey City Lyft Accident Lawyers
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Jersey City Lyft Accident Lawyers
In the early days of rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber, allegations of careless driving, theft, and even stalking and assaults were rampant. As a result, every state in the nation, including New Jersey, passed laws regulating these businesses and their drivers.
Lyft accidents can injure passengers and other road users. As a result, Lyft and its drivers in New Jersey must carry large liability insurance policies to compensate accident victims after a crash. Whether you were a passenger, motorist, pedestrian, or cyclist, Jersey City Lyft accident lawyers from Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq will fight Lyft and its insurers for injury compensation.
New Jersey Lyft Accident Insurance Law
For non-rideshare drivers, New Jersey is a no-fault insurance state. This means that all vehicle owners must purchase either a basic or standard no-fault policy. Both policies provide the minimum coverage required by the state. Specifically, both include the following types of coverage:
- Personal injury protection (PIP)
- Property damage liability (PDL)
- Uninsured motorist (UM)
PIP pays you when you get into a car accident, regardless of who caused the crash. It will even pay you for injuries suffered in a single-vehicle crash or one in which you were a passenger. It covers up to $15,000 in medical costs and income losses unless you purchase more coverage.
PDL pays to repair or replace any property you damage in crashes you cause. This coverage only pays third parties. Your insurer will not pay for damage to your car under your PDL coverage. That said, it will pay for vehicles, mailboxes, or street signs you hit while driving negligently.
UM pays you for property damage or personal injuries that you suffer in a collision caused by an uninsured driver. This coverage will also pay you after a hit-and-run accident. In other words, insurers consider unidentified drivers to be uninsured.
Rideshare drivers must carry these coverages like all other drivers. Importantly, though, a rideshare driver’s coverage does not cover you or them when they use their vehicles while driving for Lyft.
Instead, Lyft and its drivers must purchase special insurance policies that apply when the driver logs into the app to accept rides. Yet another insurance policy takes over when the Lyft driver picks up passengers.
These rideshare policies are fault-based. To recover compensation under such policies, you must show that Lyft or its driver was negligent and that their negligence caused the crash that produced your injuries.
Lyft Insurance Requirements
To summarize, after a Lyft accident, you have several possible sources of compensation. Your PIP coverage may pay for a portion of your losses regardless of fault. Payments under this coverage will depend on how you were injured.
Your UM coverage may pay you for injuries caused by a negligent Lyft driver who does not have personal coverage and hits you while on personal time. Finally, the liability coverage maintained by Lyft and its drivers may cover you as a rideshare passenger, motorist, pedestrian, or cyclist injured due to a Lyft driver’s negligence.
The rideshare liability policies required under New Jersey law are substantial. The coverage depends on the driver’s status. When a driver is logged into the Lyft’s network but hasn’t yet picked up passengers, the insurance policy must provide:
- Bodily injury coverage of $50,000 per person up to $100,000 per crash
- PDL coverage of up to $25,000 per accident
- PIP coverage that only protects the driver
- UM coverage
Once a Lyft driver picks up a passenger, the insurance policy must provide:
- Liability coverage of up to $1.5 million for death, bodily injury, and property damage
- Up to $10,000 in PIP coverage for the driver only
- UM coverage of up to $1.5 million
This means that your options after a Lyft accident depend on how the accident happened. In particular, your case will vary based on the circumstances surrounding the crash and whether you contributed to it.
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Leading Causes of Lyft Accidents
Claimants against a liability policy must prove the Lyft driver’s negligence, which is comprised of the following four elements:
- Duty of care
- Breach of duty
- Damages
- Causation
All road users owe a duty of care to others on the road. They breach this legal duty when they fail to exercise reasonable care. This means they must obey all traffic laws. It also means they must refrain from any unreasonably dangerous driving behaviors.
The damages from a Lyft accident include medical bills, lost wages, and other losses. The negligent act must be the cause-in-fact and proximate cause of these damages.
The cause of your accident will determine whether the Lyft driver was negligent. Lyft accidents happen for many of the same reasons that other car accidents do. Some common causes of Lyft crashes, then, include:
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving happens when a driver uses their hands, eyes, or mind for something besides driving. Lyft drivers have a lot going on. The Lyft app helps the driver navigate to the passenger and then to the destination, but looking at it can distract the driver. The driver can also get distracted while talking to the passenger.
One of the most common distractions happens when the driver is unfamiliar with the area. They may try to read street signs or follow directions from the passenger, which causes them to not see cars, pedestrians, and cyclists.
Failing to Yield the Right-of-Way
A driver’s failure to yield the right-of-way causes most intersection crashes. This error happens when Lyft drivers do any of the following:
- Disobey stop signs or red lights
- Turn left or right before the intersection clears
- Fail to slow down or stop at yield signs
- Proceed through a crosswalk occupied by pedestrians or cyclists
Failures to yield often result in side-impact crashes. You can get severely injured in a side-impact collision, whether your Lyft driver smashes into the side of another vehicle or another vehicle crushes your Lyft vehicle’s door.
Speeding
Lyft drivers are often in a hurry to take you to your destination so they can pick up another passenger. Unfortunately, this rush often motivates them to exceed the speed limit or drive too fast for the road or weather conditions.
Speeding increases the odds that a Lyft driver will lose control of the vehicle. It also reduces the time and distance your driver has to stop or swerve to avoid a collision.
Tailgating
Frustration, distractions, and impatience can cause Lyft drivers to follow other vehicles too closely. Tailgating drivers do not have the space to maneuver when the vehicle in front of them stops.
Tailgating leads to rear-end collisions. You can suffer serious injuries, including whiplash and a concussion, when your Lyft driver slams into the back of another vehicle.
Compensation in New Jersey Lyft Accident Cases
The compensation you can pursue may include economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages encompass your financial losses and costs resulting from the collision. These damages include past and future medical expenses and wage losses.
Non-economic damages are composed of the effects of your injuries on your quality of life. These damages result from:
- Pain
- Suffering
- Disability
- Dismemberment
- Disfigurement
Under New Jersey law, the Lyft driver’s PIP coverage won’t pay for your injuries regardless of whether you were a passenger, motorist, pedestrian, or cyclist. Instead, your options for compensation will depend on the extent of your injuries and your role in the crash.
Motorists in a Vehicle Hit by the Lyft Driver
If a Lyft driver crashes into your vehicle, your options will vary based on your auto insurance coverage. New Jersey is a “choice no-fault” state. This means you must choose between a limited or unlimited right to sue when buying your vehicle insurance policy.
Drivers and passengers in a vehicle hit by the Lyft driver who chose the unlimited right to sue can pursue economic and non-economic compensation from the Lyft driver for any injuries. They don’t need to pursue PIP claims, although many do so because PIP claims often proceed more quickly.
Motorists hit by the Lyft driver who chose the limited right to sue can still pursue compensation for economic losses not covered by their PIP coverage. They do not have to prove a permanent injury in order to pursue compensation.
Normally, accident victims who elect a limited right to sue cannot pursue non-economic damages from an at-fault driver unless they suffer a permanent injury. However, New Jersey law blocks companies like Lyft and Uber from asserting the “lawsuit threshold” defense when picking up or carrying passengers who are deemed to be “zero threshold” and, therefore, do not have to prove a permanent injury.
This means that a motorist hit by a Lyft driver who is on duty — that is, after accepting the ride request until dropping off the passenger — can claim non-economic losses like pain, suffering, and disability. This rule does not apply when the driver is off-duty or logged in but without an active ride request.
Family members can also pursue both economic and non-economic damages in a wrongful death claim after losing a loved one in a collision with a Lyft driver.
Motorists with the unlimited right to sue can pursue a negligence claim against the Lyft driver. They will get compensation from the liability policy carried by Lyft and its driver after proving the Lyft driver acted negligently in colliding with them.
Importantly, the policy limits of the Lyft driver’s liability coverage will depend on whether the driver was carrying passengers or merely logged into the app and available to pick up passengers.
When the driver is carrying passengers, the policy has a $1.5 million limit. When they are logged in but not carrying passengers, the policy limit is $50,000 per victim.
Lyft Passengers
Lyft passengers may be covered by their own PIP insurance if they have an auto insurance policy. They can also pursue a negligence claim against the Lyft driver’s liability policy. Again, to obtain compensation from the driver’s liability policy, the passenger must prove the driver negligently caused the crash.
The liability policy in force when the driver carries passengers has limits of $1.5 million. This policy does not have a per-person limit. Nonetheless, if more than one accident victim pursues a claim against the policy, they will draw from the same fund.
Pedestrians and Bicyclists
Under normal circumstances, pedestrians and cyclists hit by a driver are covered by the driver’s PIP coverage. But New Jersey law specifically excludes anyone except the Lyft driver from their PIP coverage.
As a result, pedestrians and bicyclists hit by a Lyft driver must file a claim against the Lyft driver’s liability policy. To recover injury compensation, they must prove the driver was negligent in causing the crash.
Why Hire GGL?
Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq was founded over 30 years ago to provide aggressive and knowledgeable legal representation to accident victims. Since the firm’s founding, our New Jersey injury attorneys have recovered over $1 billion in financial compensation for our clients.
We understand the challenges you face when you get injured in a Lyft accident. Lyft’s insurers have a financial incentive to delay, deny, and defend negligence claims against its drivers.
Our Jersey City Lyft accident lawyers prepare every case as if it will go to trial and have decades of experience standing up to insurers. Contact GGL today to discuss your Lyft crash and how we can help you fight for fair injury compensation.
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Jersey City Lyft Accident Lawyers
Address: 3000 John F. Kennedy Blvd. Suite 311 Jersey City, NJ 07306
Phone: (201) 695-1000
Open 24/7 365
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Recent GGL Wins
Medical Malpractice
A 30-year-old pregnant woman went into labor. The doctor failed to take proper steps in the baby’s delivery, making the mother wait in the hallway for ten hours while the baby’s heart rate began to drop. The baby was delivered via C-Section; he was blue from lack of oxygen resulting in Cerebral Palsy.
$14 Million
Verdict
Construction Accident
Mediation award resulting from an industrial explosion causing disfiguring burns and severe orthopedic injuries.
$7,8 Million
Verdict
Auto Accident
31-year-old man who was cut off by another car causing his car to flip over. He sustained head injuries, facial injuries, and half of his pinky finger was amputated.
$3 Million
Verdict
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GGL Wins
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