Pearland Uber Accident Lawyer

Uber can be a great way to get around town quickly and without much hassle. For a competitive rate, you can get from Point A to Point B while leaving the driving to someone else.

Your Uber ride and your rights in the event of a crash are all subject to Texas law and the terms and conditions to which you agreed when you used Uber.

Uber is one of the big names in the rideshare industry and exists to make finding a ride in Pearland accessible and affordable. While getting a ride with an Uber driver may be easy, sorting out your legal rights and getting compensation after a wreck is not. 

Whether you were a passenger in an Uber vehicle or were driving your own car and were struck by an Uber driver, a Pearland, TX, Uber accident lawyer can help.

Untangling the mess of laws, insurance policies, and Uber terms makes this type of motor vehicle crash difficult to navigate. Experienced legal assistance from an attorney familiar with these complexities can be key to receiving adequate damages for your losses.

Uber Accidents Can Be Complex

When you are hurt in any motor vehicle crash in Texas, determining who is responsible for the accident is one of the primary issues that needs to be resolved. Texas is an at-fault car insurance state, which means that the insurance carrier of the driver who is at fault will be responsible for paying compensation to those who are hurt.

Once the issue of fault is decided, injured parties receive compensation up to the policy’s limits from the at-fault party’s insurance company. 

A major wrinkle in Uber accidents is that Uber drivers are covered by a generous insurance policy. However, this policy is not always in effect and does not come into play in every rideshare accident. Therefore, in addition to determining fault, your Pearland, TX, Uber accident attorney must determine whether Uber’s insurance policy or the rideshare driver’s personal auto insurance policy applies.

Uber’s insurance policy limits for its drivers can be as high as $1,000,000 if the driver is actively involved in picking up or transporting a rider. If the driver was logged into the Uber app and available to give rides, the policy limits are lower but still higher than the state’s mandatory minimum coverage.

Do not trust your ability to recover compensation by hiring a law firm that does not appreciate these complexities. DeHoyos Accident Attorneys and our rideshare lawyer’s know the steps to take after an Uber accident to ensure you have the best chance of being compensated adequately and efficiently. Contact us today if you have been hurt and an Uber driver is involved.

Do Certain Lawyers Focus on Uber Accidents?

While you could retain any attorney licensed in Texas to represent you following an Uber accident, not every lawyer is qualified to handle your case competently. The skill and knowledge it takes to navigate the legal issues in an Uber accident can only come from experience in successfully representing numerous accident victims.

Personal injury attorneys will routinely represent individuals who are hurt in motor vehicle accidents. To ensure you get the best representation possible, you should also look to hire an attorney who has handled rideshare accidents in the past and can speak competently about the issues present in your case.

If an attorney you are thinking of retaining does not understand or discuss the different insurance carriers that may be involved, that is a sign the attorney does not understand these cases well. Likewise, any attorney who is not concerned with whether the Uber driver was transporting a ride at the time of the crash may not realize the important issues in an Uber accident.

You can be confident that DeHoyos Accident Attorneys has the knowledge and experience you should look for in a rideshare lawyer. Let us put our knowledge and skills to work for you.

How Common Are Uber Accidents

Rideshare services like Uber are still a new innovation despite becoming increasingly common and popular. Data compiled by Uber showed that between 2019 and 2020, there were 91 fatal wrecks involving an Uber vehicle across the United States. According to this same data, only about six percent of these wrecks were the result of other drivers.

Uber’s data also showed that:

• A total of 101 people were killed in the 91 Uber-involved fatal wrecks
• 32 of these fatalities were due to at least one vehicle speeding, and 91 percent of the time, it was a third-party driver
• No Uber-involved wrecks were the result of an alcohol-impaired Uber driver
• 11 people who lost their lives were passengers in Uber vehicles 

The Texas Department of Transportation, which maintains data regarding traffic crashes that happen in the state, does not have statistics specifically for Uber or rideshare accidents. Nor are there statistics available describing how many accidents Uber drivers are responsible for causing that did not result in a death.

However, the statistics available from Uber confirm that accidents involving their drivers do happen and can sometimes be severe.

Is the Driver Personally Liable, or Is Uber Liable After an Accident?

When a driver is an employee of a company, and that driver gets into an accident, you can hold the company responsible for your injuries and losses. Uber rideshare drivers are considered independent contractors, not employees. Nonetheless, Uber does cover its drivers with an auto insurance policy at certain times.

Therefore, it is vitally important to your case that your Pearland, TX, Uber accident lawyer uncovers whether the Uber driver was looking for a ride, transporting a ride, or not on duty. Knowing this tells you and your rideshare lawyer whose insurance company should foot the bill for your medical expenses and other losses.

If the Uber driver had accepted a ride request and was on their way to pick up that ride when the accident occurred, Uber’s insurance policy provides up to $1,000,000 for injuries to third parties. A third party would include you if you were a passenger in the Uber vehicle and were hurt, the occupant of a car struck by an Uber vehicle, or a pedestrian hit by an Uber driver.

Uber also has an insurance policy that covers drivers who are not actively transporting or picking up a ride but who are logged into the app and available to give rides. This policy provides up to $50,000 in bodily injury coverage per person, up to a maximum of $100,000 per accident. There is also up to $25,000 in coverage for property damage.

In both situations, this policy provided by Uber is the primary insurance policy to pursue for compensation. The driver’s personal auto insurance policy would be secondary.

In all other situations, the driver is primarily responsible for injuries they cause in an accident, and their personal auto insurance coverage would apply. If the driver only has a policy with the state’s minimum coverage, the policy would pay up to $30,000 for each injured person, up to a total of $60,000.

Because Texas is an at-fault state, these various policies only come into play if the Uber driver is primarily responsible for the wreck.

What Types of Compensation Are Available After the Accident?

The same types of compensation available in motor vehicle crashes are available to you after you have been hurt by an Uber driver or in an Uber crash. Your Pearland, TX, Uber accident lawyer can help you pursue a claim for:

• The bills you incurred from hospital visits, surgeries, and doctor’s visits
• Ongoing occupational or rehabilitative therapy expenses
• Loss or reduction of wages due to your injuries
• Damage to your vehicle or other property
• Your emotional suffering and mental trauma, including compensation for anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder

Working with a Pearland, TX, Uber accident attorney like Ryan DeHoyos with DeHoyos Accident Attorneys is the best way to ensure you do everything possible to receive fair compensation for your injuries in an Uber accident.

What Is the Process of Filing a Claim in an Uber Accident in Texas?

When an Uber driver is responsible for your injuries, you and your Pearland, TX, Uber accident lawyer will begin the claims process by verifying the status of the driver at the time of the accident. This step is crucial to complete because the rideshare driver’s status determines which insurance company you should look to for compensation.

Uber provides an online form that your attorney can complete and submit to Uber. The company will then check its records and verify whether the driver was logged into the app and whether they were actively involved in picking up or transporting a ride.

If the Uber driver was logged in and available for trips, or if the driver was transporting a ride, your Pearland, TX, Uber accident lawyer will submit a claim to Uber’s claims department. Information will need to be provided to support your claim. However, assuming it is determined that the Uber driver was responsible, Uber’s insurance coverage would apply.

You would submit a claim to Uber if you were in any way hurt by an Uber driver. For instance, if you were a passenger in an Uber vehicle and your driver’s carelessness caused a crash in which you were hurt, your claim would be filed with Uber. Pedestrians struck by an Uber driver and other motorists hurt by Uber drivers would also file claims against Uber’s insurance policy.

If the driver was not logged in and available to give rides, then your claim would be filed against that driver’s personal auto insurance policy. You or your Pearland, TX, Uber accident attorney would obtain a copy of the accident report to see who that driver’s insurance company is. Your claim would then be submitted to that insurer for payment.

No matter the insurance company to whom you submit your claim, you can expect that the insurer involved will attempt to settle your claim if their insured is at fault. It is crucial that you have competent representation when this happens. While a settlement can effectively resolve your claim quickly, the insurance companies are looking out for their bottom line, not your welfare.

You need to ensure any settlement you reach addresses your needs and losses, and an experienced rideshare lawyer can help ensure this happens.

Pearland, Texas, Rideshare Attorneys

Do not be intimidated or fearful if you have been injured by a negligent Uber driver. No matter the circumstances of your crash, Ryan DeHoyos and DeHoyos Accident Attorneys are capable of helping you with your next steps. Mr. DeHoyos is an experienced and tenacious advocate for his clients, pursuing compensation and protecting his clients’ rights at every step of the claims and recovery process.

Hiring the wrong attorney to handle your Uber injury can lead to frustration. More than that, if your claim is settled for too little or if you do not support your case at trial, you can lose out on valuable damages you need to address your bills and expenses. DeHoyos Accident Attorneys knows what is at stake following an Uber accident, and we are prepared to get to work immediately on your case. Call or contact DeHoyos Law today.