Hurt as an Uber Passenger? Learn About Your Rights

Being involved in a car accident is a disorienting experience, and it is often much worse for passengers than the driver. You may be thrown around the back of a vehicle without warning. Injuries can be potentially catastrophic.

While the most important thing you can do after the accident is to ensure you get the proper medical care, you will also need to think about protecting your legal rights, including your right to recover compensation for the losses caused by the accident. Your time to act can be extremely limited. But if you were injured as a passenger in an accident caused by an Uber or other rideshare driver, who do you contact? What should you be doing?

A knowledgeable personal injury attorney can review the circumstances pertaining to the accident and advise you about your next steps. If you have a case to seek compensation for pain, suffering, and other harm, your legal advisor could help you collect evidence and pursue maximum compensation for your losses.

What Do You Say to Insurance Companies?

If you were a passenger in a rideshare vehicle or you were hurt in an accident caused by a rideshare vehicle driver, there may be several different insurance companies involved in the case. Uber and Lyft provide insurance for their drivers, but the coverage only applies under specific circumstances. The drivers involved will also have personal insurance coverage.

Representatives from various insurance companies may start asking questions immediately, demanding that you provide a statement about what happened. They might even offer money as compensation, telling you that if you don’t accept quickly, the offer will be withdrawn and you won’t get anything.

These insurance companies deal with accidents on a daily basis. It’s their job to find the most effective ways possible to avoid paying full compensation for accident claims. And they’re very good at their jobs. They can often lead accident victims to say things that allow the insurance company to shift liability to prevent an accident victim from receiving compensation. Or they encourage accident victims to make statements that reduce the value of the damages they are able to receive.

So, if you’ve been hurt in an accident, do you have to talk to the insurance companies? Do you have the right to remain silent? The safest and easiest way to approach the issue is to refer all questions to your attorney. If you have not yet engaged a personal injury lawyer, then you can tell the insurance company representatives you won’t speak to them until you have first consulted an attorney. It is essential to learn how to avoid insurance tricks before speaking with insurance representatives. They try to act caring and start conversations that seem friendly and casual. But once they get you talking, they can take innocent statements out of context and use them in ways that damage your claim.

You have the right to speak to an attorney before you answer questions from insurance companies representing drivers involved in the accident.

You Have the Right to Seek Compensation Through a Personal Injury Claim

Accepting a settlement from an insurance company is not your only option for recovering compensation for your losses when you’re hurt in a rideshare accident. You have the right to seek damages by filing a personal injury lawsuit, and the compensation you can receive by taking this approach could be much greater than that provided in a settlement offer.

Before signing anything or even discussing a potential settlement, you need to understand the value of your claim. The civil legal system is designed to compensate you for all the losses you experience that are caused by the negligence or wrongdoing of others. This means you could receive separate amounts for factors such as:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages due to an inability to work
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of favorite activities

Injuries from an Uber accident will cause you to miss out o your regular activities for some time, and you may never be able to enjoy some activities ever again. You could suffer from long-term pain or permanent disabilities that change your future. Compensation from a personal injury claim will not restore what you’ve lost, but it can provide a sense of justice. The amounts you could be eligible to receive for intangible factors, such as pain, are often much higher than the amounts provided for losses you can calculate, such as medical expenses.

You Have the Right to Take the Time to Consider Your Future

It often takes considerable time to assess the situation and your future needs, and you have the right to take that time. You will not know what your maximum level of recovery will be until you’ve had time in treatment and rehabilitation. You may not know how liability will be assessed or who is considered responsible for causing the accident until an extensive investigation is conducted.

Don’t let someone pressure you into making a quick decision about the compensation that you will rely on to meet future needs. You should take the time to understand what those needs will be.

There are, however, some steps you do need to take quickly after an accident. The first step is to undergo a thorough medical examination and follow the instructions for treatment afterwards. The second is to collect and preserve evidence to show why you are not responsible for your injuries and why one of the drivers is legally liable. For instance, if there’s a witness who can testify that you were wearing a seatbelt, that can be very helpful. An attorney can help you gather evidence necessary to support your claim for compensation.

Michael M. Day Law Firm Helps Victims of Uber Accidents Recover Maximum Compensation

When you’ve survived a traumatic rideshare accident, it doesn’t seem fair to subject you to the further trauma of dealing with insurance companies before you’re able to get compensation to cover the losses you’ve experienced and will continue to experience in the future. We can help make it easier.

At Michael M. Day Law Firm, we know how to stand up to insurance companies and bypass the tactics they use to try to deny claims or reduce compensation. Insurance companies know that we are always prepared to win cases in court, so when they understand that we are working to help an accident victim, they frequently will negotiate reasonably and eventually offer a fair settlement that provides our clients with the compensation they deserve. For a free consultation to learn what your rideshare accident case may be worth, call us at 404-480-4284 or contact us online now.