It used to be that you wouldn’t expect to find a cab company in many cities outside of the big ones like Madison or Milwaukee, but thanks to ridesharing, even Wisconsin’s smallest town can easily get a ride anywhere they need to go if they don’t have a car of their own. Services like Uber and Lyft are growing in popularity around Wisconsin, but it isn’t immune from one key problem with any vehicle – accidents happen. Even if you are riding with the best driver in the world, an automobile accident can happen to anyone, but what happens when to you when it does?
Obviously as the passenger in an Uber car, you won’t be responsible for any of the damages to either vehicle or property damaged outside the vehicle, but what happens if you are hurt? Will you need to pay for those injuries yourself? Will the driver or Uber cover the injuries?
Your Rights as an Uber Passenger
You have certain rights as a passenger when you get into any car. You should have the expectation that you will get from point A to point B safely, but that might not always be the case. However, as a passenger in an Uber car, you are covered by Uber’s liability coverage. Depending on the driver’s insurance, you may also be covered by their insurance as well. However, while your coverage by the driver’s insurance may be valid or invalid depending on any driver misconduct that might of occurred, no matter who was at fault in the accident, Uber’s policy will cover the passenger regardless of any circumstance up to a limit of $1 million dollars of compensation for a variety of injuries suffered in an Uber accident.
While it depends on the nature of the accident, Uber’s policy will cover:
- Damage to any property you had inside the car or outside of it
- Medical bills including hospital bills, surgeries, or physical therapy
- Lost wages that occurred from the accident or the injuries impeding your ability to work
- Loss of future earning from disability
- Pain and suffering
What to Do After an Uber Accident?
Although hopefully you never need to know, personal injury cases often begin immediately after the accident has happened. Obviously if you are injured, you should seek medical assistance immediately. However, you need to trust that the Uber driver will contact the proper authorities to report the accident and the police officer will file a detailed report. After the accident has occurred, pictures should be taken of the damages to both cars as well as any property. Typically, these pictures will help the driver’s who is not at fault file their insurance claim, but photos of the extensive damages to the vehicle can help prove the extent of your injuries as well.
When to Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer?
After you have been in an Uber accident, you should contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as your injuries have been treated. Often the longer you wait to seek compensation for an accident, the more difficult it will be to gather evidence and prove your case. If you wait a longer period of time to start filing your personal injury case, it can also call into question if your injuries were indeed from the accident or happened during some other unrelated event. For this reason, you shouldn’t wait and should be sure to get an experienced attorney to help you.
If you have been in an Uber accident in the Oshkosh area, contact us today. The Harnitz Law Office is dedicated to helping Wisconsin’s injured residents get the compensation they deserve for their injuries.
