UBER, LYFT INJURIES, PASSENGER’S RIGHTS- MINNEAPOLIS INJURY LAWYERS
The Minneapolis Personal Injury Lawyers at the Schmidt Salita Law Team are very aware of the fact that many people today use Uber and Lyft in place of conventional taxi cabs. Uber and Lyft have become a popular alternative to the standard taxi cab. Uber and Lyft are is a modern method of hailing a taxi cab substitute using a Smart phone. Using an app and your phone’s GPS, you can click and locate the nearest available Uber driver, even tracking the progress of your driver to your location. Uber and Lyft and other so-called “rideshare services” have become very popular. They are convenient, inexpensive and readily accessible by smart phone.
Unlike the traditional taxi driver who works for a company that owns a fleet of cars, Uber drivers use their own personal cars to transport passengers. They can work as many or as few hours per day, setting their own schedule by logging into the system when they are ready to work.
Many folks wonder what protection the occupants of Uber or Lyft have in the event of a collision causing personal injury while riding in an Uber of Lyft in Minnesota. What are the rights of the Uber and Lyft customers?
Uber offers $1 million in liability insurance that protects the passenger against the negligence of the Uber driver. That liability insurance may also be available to drivers and passengers of other vehicles injured by the negligence of the Uber driver-but only when the driver is “on the job” and carrying a paying customer. When not hauling paying customer, that insurance may not be available.
When the passenger of an Uber ride is injured as the result of the negligence of the other driver, that passenger always has a liability claim against the “at fault driver”.
Under Minnesota law, any Uber passenger also have rights under the passenger’s own policy of car insurance if they own a car or live in a household where a relative owns a car that is insured with a Minnesota No Fault Insurance policy. (In Minnesota, every policy of automobile insurance must have No Fault coverage.)
The Schmidt Salita Law Team has locations throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as Minnetonka, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Osseo, Anoka, Coon Rapids, Brooklyn Center, Fridley, Blaine, Shoreview, Woodbury, Falcon Heights, Columbia Park, Stillwater, Hastings, Inver Grove, Cottage Grove, South St. Paul, Apple Valley, Eagan, Burnsville, Savage, Shakopee, Richfield, Bloomington, Chaska, Chanhassen, Edina, Eden Prairie, and Hopkins.
