If you’re involved in a Lyft accident, our team stands in your corner. We’ll walk you through the process of filing your claim and represent your best interests in court. But our Wayne Lyft accident attorneys do more than break down your post-accident losses.
Do you know where you start when combatting rideshare losses? Each case, including yours, is highly unique. Fortunately, Morelli Law Firm has secured more than $1 billion for its clients in the past. It’s time for us to put that experience to use for you.
Lyft Accident Liability
You can’t begin a rideshare suit without understanding who you want to hold liable for your losses. Unfortunately, Lyft can make determining accident liability more complicated than it needs to be. The company wants to do everything it can to protect its own legal team, so it will often try to offload liability onto its riders, or even onto you.
New Jersey is also a no-fault state. This means that your insurance provider won’t help you understand who you can hold liable in a rideshare accident. Instead, all injured parties must file insurance claims with their own providers before pursuing a civil suit.
Fortunately, you can still rely on evidence and eyewitness testimony to establish liability. A personal injury attorney can even walk through your scene with you, assessing the extent to which another driver, Lyft, or even an unaffiliated party may be liable for your losses.
Lyft’s Liability in Rideshare Accidents
There are some circumstances under which Lyft may take on liability in a car insurance accident. For example, the company provides insurance to all of its on-duty drivers. In turn, if a Lyft driver is on duty at the time of an accident, Lyft is liable for its employee’s role in said accident.
However, Lyft may enthusiastically argue that its employees were not on duty at the time an accident occurred. As such, the only Lyft drivers who benefit from the company’s protection and insurance are those who have passengers in the car or who are on their way to pick passengers up.
Drivers who are waiting for rides without using the Lyft app may take on liability for an accident on their own.
Independent Drivers’ Liability in Rideshare Accidents
Independent drivers can also be held at fault for an accident with a rideshare vehicle. In these circumstances, injured passengers and drivers can take up civil claims against the allegedly liable driver.
Lyft drivers who want to pursue civil suits can do so, but they will not have Lyft’s help throughout the process. Rather, all parties involved in an accident caused by an independent driver – even on-duty Lyft drivers – must operate within New Jersey’s legal system without corporation interference.
Have You Been Injured In An Accident? Contact Morelli Law
877-751-9800What to Expect From Lyft After an Accident
There’s a chance, depending on the nature of liability in your accident, that Lyft may offer you a settlement based on your losses. These settlement offers are designed to help you address your accident-related injuries and property damage. That said, they aren’t always as comprehensive as they could be.
You don’t have to accept a settlement offer as soon as it’s been offered. Instead, turn to the math yourself. You can work with a Lyft accident lawyer in Wayne, NJ, to calculate what your compensation might look like if you pursued it through a trial. In turn, you can use that number to negotiate for a higher settlement.
If negotiations fall through, don’t worry. Our team knows how to represent your best interests in court. We can transition you and your loved ones into a trial and represent you before Lyft’s legal team.
Requesting Compensation for Your Lyft Accident Losses
You’ll want to submit an estimate of your potential compensation with your claim, even if you’d prefer to avoid going to court. This estimate lets Lyft or another liable party know what the extent of your losses look like. In turn, the county clerk to whom you submit your complaint can weigh your estimate against an objective take on your accident.
Most rideshare accident complaints can include requests for compensation detailing:
- Medical expenses related to the accident
- Property damage
- Rental expenses and repair fees
- Future surgeries
- Pain and suffering
- Wrongful death
You can learn more about the ways you can increase your personal injury settlement during your initial case consultation with our team.
Contact our Wayne Rideshare Accidents Lawyers today
877-751-9800Lyft and New Jersey’s Statute of Limitations
Each state has a statute of limitations designed to limit the amount of time injured parties have to bring personal injury cases forward. Because the majority of Lyft accidents can be classified as personal injury accidents, you can turn to New Jersey Revised Statutes section 2A:14-2 to determine how much time you have to submit your claim.
This statute gives you two years to act on your losses. If you can’t bring a complaint forward within two years of the day your accident occurs, you won’t be able to rely on the state’s legal system to help you secure post-accident compensation.
Injured As a Rider: What to Do
If you are riding in a Lyft at the time an accident occurs, your rights and coverage are unique. For starters, Lyft strives to cover all of its active passengers under its insurance policy. This means that injured riders can file insurance claims with Lyft’s coverage after filing with their own providers.
That said, Lyft won’t provide legal guidance to passengers who want to pursue civil suits. This is in part because passengers may wish to take up a legal complaint against the rideshare giant. If it appears that a Lyft driver was responsible for the passenger’s losses, any civil claims the passenger files will name Lyft as the liable party.
Alternatively, passengers can take out civil claims against independent drivers who bear responsibility for a rideshare accident. However, cases involving an underinsured or uninsured driver may not be as lucrative as passengers want them to be. When in doubt, contact a Wayne, NJ, Lyft accident lawyer to determine how best to carry your case forward.
Consult Our Team for Legal Guidance
Contending with the losses you’ve faced in a rideshare accident is never easy. Not only are you trying to recover, but Lyft’s legal team can stand in your way. Fortunately, you never have to embark on this fight alone.
If you’re ready to file a civil claim against Lyft, call our Wayne Lyft accident lawyers at Morelli Law Firm. We’ll walk you through the legal process and stand by you through negotiations and trials. To schedule your first case evaluation, contact our team by phone or through our online
Call or text 877-751-9800 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form