Riding in a Lyft in Maryland can be a convenient, yet expensive way of travel. While some prefer the Metro, the Metro does not reach many of the cities in Maryland. As a result, Lyft or some other ride share app is sometimes the best option. Unfortunately, much of riding with a stranger is out of your control. Sure, Lyft has some vetting process, but it is not necessarily the most vigorous. And unfortunately, Lyft does have some experience in the news for drivers taking advantage of passengers. Of course, this is inevitable to some extent. But that does not necessarily excuse the liability on the part of Lyft, causing Maryland Lyft accident lawyer to intervene. Lyft’s legal troubles extend even beyond their drivers. In September of 2023, Lyft was ordered to pay a $10 million civil penalty over disclosure failures with the SEC.
So, it begs the question. With a company that can be difficult to trust, and with drivers you do not know, who is there to protect you when you are in an accident? Maryland Lyft accident lawyer Roger Gelb and his team of associates and paralegals have been handling Lyft cases for about 10 years. Further, our office has been handling personal injury cases in general for the greater part of a century. Experience matters. When you are hurt due to the negligence of a third party, whether your own driver or another one, you want the best personal injury lawyer in Maryland. On the other hand, a Lyft driver can do everything right and a third party collides with the Lyft. In either event, the injured party may be entitled to compensation. Below we will cover the options of both the driver and the passenger of a Lyft.
If you are the driver in a Lyft accident and you are driving a passenger at the time, you have three possible scenarios. First, you are at-fault. If this is the case, then simply hand the case over to your insurance provider. The second possibility is that you have a claim against your passenger. This does happen from time to time. For as scary as it might be for a passenger to get into the car with an unknown driver, it is not always easy for a driver to let strangers into his or her car. If a passenger attacks you from behind, you may have a claim for civil battery. Of course, you can and should press criminal charges. Under these facts, there is no question that the tortfeasor also has broken laws.
While a civil assault claim is possible, it is less likely given the requisite elements of an assault claim. Why might this be? To have a viable claim for civil assault, we must prove that the act by the defendant creates a reasonable apprehension in you of immediate harmful or offensive contact. This is unlikely if you are driving because, unless the passenger calls for your attention, you are focusing on the road. Thus, it is less likely that you have reasonable apprehension, or knowledge, that you are going to be offensively contacted by your passenger.
Battery Claim
On the other hand, a claim for battery does not require reasonable apprehension of immediate harmful or offensive contact. Rather, there simply must be a harmful or offensive contact to your person. Your Maryland Lyft accident lawyer must also prove intent on the part of the passenger as well as causation. This also distinguishes an intentional tort from a claim for negligence because negligence does not have to be intentional.
This is perhaps the most intuitive option. This is when your Lyft vehicle collides with a third-party vehicle when the driver of that vehicle is behaving negligently. As an aside, we will not touch on a fourth option of you merely being off-duty when in an accident but happen to be a Lyft driver because that behaves simply as a regular personal injury claim. But for this third option, if you hire a Maryland Lyft accident lawyer, we will make a claim with the defendant’s insurance provider.
In the event that there is not sufficient coverage or no coverage at all, you may make a claim with your coverage provided by Lyft. This can either be in the form of an uninsured motorist claim or an underinsured motorist claim. While similar sounding, they are two separate claims. Further, they are both with your own insurance provider. Moreover, you cannot make both claims; you can either make one or the other.
If you are a Lyft passenger and you are in an accident, there is an extremely high likelihood that you are not at fault. Although, if you distract your driver to the point that an accident results, you may be. But in general, you can make a claim for your injuries. Who you make the negligence claim against depends on the facts of your case. If you are in an accident and you have no insurance coverage of your own, you may be able to access Lyft’s coverage. However, this depends in large part on which driver is at fault.
If you have any questions on the information above or believe you have a viable claim from your accident, reach out to a Maryland Lyft accident lawyer today. Our consultations are always free. You can reach us by phone 24/7 at (202) 331-7227.