Ridesharing drivers strive to make your day-to-day life simpler. When you don’t have to worry about getting from Point A to Point B, your other responsibilities are easier to deal with. Unfortunately, ridesharing drivers are human. If they’re not careful, they and you could end up involved in an accident.
Whether you’re a rideshare driver, passenger, or unaffiliated driver, car accidents are no joke. If you’re a resident of Wayne, New Jersey, you can reach out to an attorney for guidance. Morelli Law Firm’s rideshare accident lawyers in Wayne can help you break down your losses and bring them before a court.
Assessing Damages in a Rideshare Accident
You may find yourself facing all manner of expenses after a rideshare accident. Personal injuries can demand hospital time, mobility aids, and even long-term prescriptions. These accidents can also result in long-term PTSD or similar conditions.
If you find yourself contending with a sudden onslaught of expenses, you can fight for financial support. The compensation you request can be for both economic and non-economic in nature losses, too. Examples of common avenues for compensation after a rideshare accident include:
- Medical expenses
- Surgery fees
- Vehicle rental, replacement, or repair
- Property loss and replacement
- Lost wage or opportunity for employment
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of companionship
- Wrongful death
- Funeral expenses
If you’re not sure what avenues for compensation apply to your case, sit down with the team at Morelli Law Firm. Our rideshare accident lawyers in Wayne can help you start to build up your estimate.
Settlements Versus Civil Cases
Settlements are financial offers designed to limit your time in court. Rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber are often in the financial position to make settlement offers thanks to their reach. While these settlements can cover your losses after an accident, they may not be as comprehensive as they first seem.
If you don’t trust a settlement offer, reach out to a personal injury lawyer. Our office can help you understand what’s been offered to you. If it appears that the settlement is insufficient, we can calculate your best personal injury settlement. Our team can even negotiate for more coverage on your behalf.
Comparatively, you can forgo a settlement offer. In these cases, you’ll need to pursue a civil suit if you want compensation for your losses. Civil complaints do not always lead you to trial. Instead, they can give you the legal footing you need to argue for the accident compensation.
Drafting a Rideshare Accident Complaint
If you choose to pursue a rideshare accident complaint, you need to have the right information on hand. Rideshare accident lawyers in Wayne can help you collect and present details relevant to your losses.
Your complaint needs to identify the party you want to hold liable for your losses. You need to establish a direct connection between your losses and that liable party, often with the help of preliminary evidence. What’s more, you need to establish the full economic value of your losses along with an estimate of your preferred compensation.
Wayne Rideshare Accident Lawyer Near Me 877-751-9800
You Have Two Years to File a Rideshare Accident Claim in New Jersey
New Jersey’s statute of limitations limits the amount of time you have to file a rideshare accident claim. For more information, New Jersey residents can turn to New Jersey Revised Statute §2A:14-2. This section states that all residents have two years from the day an accident takes place to request compensation for their losses.
Your attorney can make this deadline more manageable. Our team can bring together the documentation you need to establish liability. We can also calculate your post-accident compensation. You can meet with our team as soon as you file an accident claim with the appropriate insurer.
Accident Protection Is Available Through Ridesharing Services
Insurance and civil suits are inherently tied together in New Jersey. Because New Jersey is a no-fault state, all parties involved in a rideshare accident must file a claim with their provider before pursuing legal action. However, the influence of rideshare companies can change with whom an injured party needs to file their insurance claim.
Protection for Drivers
Most ridesharing services only offer their drivers insurance under certain conditions. In most cases, drivers must meet their company’s definition of “on duty” to receive coverage. Drivers that a company doesn’t consider to be on duty at the time of an accident are often left to fend for themselves when it comes to the extent of their damages.
Most companies consider their drivers to be on-duty if the driver is actively ferrying passengers from one location to another. Drivers may also be considered on duty if they are using their employer’s app to wait for ride requests.
Rideshare companies do not consider their drivers to be on duty when using their vehicles for personal purposes. Similarly, drivers will not benefit from their employer’s insurance if they are not using the employer’s app while waiting for a ride request.
Passenger Coverage
Ridesharing passengers always benefit from the insurance provided by the ridesharer’s company. With that in mind, all rideshare passengers in New Jersey can file insurance claims with companies like Lyft and Uber, provided their experience matches up with the company’s expectations.
That said, passengers who want to pursue civil claims need to determine liability ahead of time. This gets easier with the help of our legal team.
In accidents involving a liable rideshare driver, the passenger may hold a company like Lyft or Uber responsible for their losses. Accidents involving a third-party driver can see that driver held liable, instead.
Reacting to a Ridesharing Accident As an Independent Driver
Drivers who aren’t affiliated with a ridesharing service do not benefit from ridesharing companies’ insurance. As such, independent drivers need to submit insurance claims with their own providers immediately following a car accident.
However, rideshare companies may opt to offer unaffiliated drivers accident settlements. Companies tend to offer these settlements when it appears one of their employees may be liable for another party’s losses.
Schedule a Wayne Rideshare Accident Consultation ASAP
Ridesharing accidents can be as detrimental to your financial well-being as independent accidents, if not more so. Understanding what your legal rights look like in the aftermath of such an accident can be challenging, too. The good news is that you don’t have to try and parse the legalities of a ridesharing accident alone.
Instead, the team with Morelli Law Firm can guide you through the post-accident legal process. You can schedule a consultation with a rideshare accident attorney in Wayne to establish liability and estimate your rideshare accident compensation.
For more information about your post-accident options, contact us via phone or through our website.