San Antonio Ridesharing Accident Lawyers

In recent years, ridesharing companies like Lyft and Uber have surpassed traditional taxicab companies in sales and efficiency. Individuals and groups can request a ride simply by tapping a button on an app that the user downloads on their cellular device. The driver then arrives to pick up the fare and drop them off at a final destination. The user’s credit card information is linked to the app to make payment straightforward.

However, sometimes accidents occur while utilizing these services and these ridesharing companies may refuse to pay for any injuries you have suffered. That is why you need the skilled San Antonio rideshare accident lawyers at Wyatt Law Firm to assist in getting the compensation you are owed.

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Assisting Victims of San Antonio, Texas Ridesharing Accidents with Getting the Compensation They Need

Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing vehicles are extremely popular in the downtown San Antonio area for both visitors and locals alike. Individuals rely on these ridesharing companies for quick and easy transportation to meetings, work, and tourist sites in the area,

With the increase in ridesharing vehicles on roadways around San Antonio comes the possibility of more motor vehicle collisions. Like other passenger vehicles, Uber and Lyft vehicles can be in crashes. As a result, passengers can suffer severe injuries. In some cases, ridesharing accidents result from the Uber or Lyft driver’s negligence, while at other times, another motor vehicle operator might cause the accident.

Given the relative newness of ridesharing companies, there is not a significant amount of case law on the issue of insurance coverage. While the at-fault driver’s insurance coverage may come into play in some instances, at other times, the Uber/Lyft corporate insurance policy might provide the accident victim with the necessary coverage.

Suppose you or a person you care about has suffered injuries in a ridesharing accident. In that case, the San Antonio ridesharing accident attorneys at Wyatt Law Firm are ready to assist you with every aspect of your ridesharing case. Our legal team can identify the insurance policies that might come into play in your case. We can then file a claim on your behalf and work to get you the compensation that you need for your injuries.

In addition, the force of an impact can cause a passenger’s body to move from side to side or forward and backward in an abrupt manner, bringing about certain injuries. The impact force might also cause a part of the accident victim’s body to strike a part of the vehicle, such as the front or rear headrest, the window, or the doorframe next to the passenger. Any of these injuries can result in the need for significant medical treatment following the ridesharing accident.

San Antonio ridesharing accident victims can suffer potential injuries, including broken bones, soft tissue injuries, traumatic head or brain injuries, organ damage, shoulder injuries, back and spinal cord injuries, and paralysis. If you are a passenger in an Uber or Lyft accident and suffer any of these injuries, seek the medical treatment that you need as soon as possible.

Waiting too long might cause a relatively minor injury to become much more severe in a short amount of time. In addition, if you later file a personal injury claim arising from your ridesharing accident, and you did not seek prompt, same-day medical treatment, the insurance company handling the claim might view your injuries skeptically and conclude that they were not all that serious.

The good thing about having a knowledgeable ridesharing accident lawyer on board in your case from the beginning is that your attorney can handle the legal aspects of your case while you focus on getting better. The skilled team of San Antonio attorneys at Wyatt Law Firm can begin gathering all of the necessary documentation to prove your ridesharing claim while you seek the treatment you need to fully recover from your injuries.

Deadline to File a Claim or Lawsuit Arising from Your Accident

Victims of ridesharing accidents do not have unlimited time to file a claim or lawsuit for monetary compensation. In fact, Texas has one of the shortest (and strictest) statutes of limitations in the country. A ridesharing accident victim or any car accident victim for that matter only has two years from the accident date in which to bring a personal injury claim or file a lawsuit in the court system.

Suppose the accident victim or the accident victim’s lawyer does not file a claim/lawsuit in two years. In that case, they will not recover compensation or damages for accident-related injuries. Given this brief statutory period, victims of ridesharing accidents should seek out experienced legal counsel to represent them as soon as possible after their collision.

The knowledgeable San Antonio ridesharing accident lawyers at Wyatt Law Firm can ensure timely filing of your ridesharing claim or lawsuit. If the statutory deadline ends soon, our legal team can file a lawsuit right away to protect the statute of limitations from running. We can also start negotiating with the insurance company to recover the compensation that you need for your injuries.

Uber Corporate Limits of Coverage

Ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft must provide insurance coverage in varying amounts, depending upon the circumstances. For example, Uber corporate maintains insurance coverage limits of $1 million per incident and $1 million in the aggregate (for example, if more than one person suffers an injury in a particular Uber accident). This coverage comes into play when an Uber driver first accepts a fare on the app and lasts until the Uber driver drops the fare off at his or her final destination.

The Uber corporate policy provides $1 million worth of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage might come into play if another driver causes the accident, but he or she does not have insurance. The same situation will arise if the at-fault driver fled the scene of the collision, like in a phantom vehicle case.

In the event the Uber driver has the app running but has not yet accepted a fare and an accident occurs the policy limits of coverage are $50,000 per person, $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 for property damage. In cases where the Uber driver is clearly at fault for the accident, then his or her private motor vehicle insurance coverage might come into play and provide the necessary compensation for injuries sustained.

Lyft Corporate Limits of Coverage

Just like with Uber, when a motor vehicle collision involves a Lyft vehicle, there are certain times when Lyft’s corporate insurance policy may come into play. When a Lyft driver’s app is off, and a motor vehicle accident occurs, then the Lyft driver’s own motor vehicle insurance coverage will apply. At this point, there shouldn’t be a Lyft passenger in the vehicle.

If the Lyft driver’s app is on, he or she is waiting for a ride, and an accident occurs, Lyft’s corporate policy coverage will apply. The coverage limits are $50,000 worth of bodily injury coverage per person, $100,000 for bodily injury coverage per collision (for example, if more than one person suffers injuries in the accident), and $25,000 of coverage for property damage.

Once the Lyft driver has picked up a fare, $1 million of Lyft corporate coverage is in place until the vehicle operator drops the fare off at his or her final designation. Lyft provides uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage during this time as well.

Filing a Claim With the Proper Insurance Company

Once your lawyer has identified the proper insurance company with which to file a claim, he/she can begin the claims-filing and negotiation process. This process begins when your attorney submits a settlement demand package to the insurance company. That demand package may include a settlement demand letter and copies of various important documents. Documents that a lawyer will typically include in a demand package include medical records, medical bills, lost wage statements, photographs, witness statements, and police reports. The insurance company will review all of these documents, and an adjuster might make an offer to resolve the case through settlement. Your lawyer can negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf. In most cases, negotiations are necessary since the insurance company will not typically offer favorable compensation from the onset.

If the insurance company still refuses you favorable compensation, your lawyer can file a lawsuit that ushers in the litigation process. However, this does not necessarily mean that your ridesharing accident case will go to court. The parties can still work to negotiate a favorable settlement even after litigation has started. Moreover, the parties might select a mediator or arbitrator to help resolve the case as an alternative to taking the case to a jury trial. The skilled ridesharing accident lawyers at Wyatt Law Firm can help you select the best method for resolving your claim favorably.

Potential Damages in a Ridesharing Accident Case

The monetary compensation and damages that a ridesharing accident victim can recover are much the same as in any other car accident claim. Comparing one car accident to another, however, is like comparing apples to oranges.

All car accident claims are different, and the same is true with ridesharing accidents. Some claims are more compensable than others, and the compensation you recover will depend upon various factors. Those factors include the severity of your injuries, whether or not your injuries are permanent, the extent of medical treatment received, and the cost of that medical treatment.

In cases where an accident victim suffered a broken bone and underwent surgery, for example, will be more compensable from a monetary perspective than a case where the accident victim sustained minor soft tissue contusions.

First of all, in a San Antonio ridesharing accident case, the accident victim can pursue compensation for medical expenses paid for various treatments. In addition, if the injuries prevented the accident victim from working, the accident victim can claim lost wages.

In addition to these economic damages connected with a ridesharing accident, the accident victim can pursue compensation for non-economic damages. Those damages include recovery for pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental distress, loss of the ability to use a body part (such as with a paralysis injury or some other permanent disability), loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of family support and spousal companionship.

The San Antonio ridesharing accident lawyers at Wyatt Law Firm can tell you which of these types of damages you might be eligible to recover. We can then zealously advocate for your interests when negotiating with the insurance company adjuster. If the insurance company fails to compensate you reasonably for your accident-related injuries, we welcome the opportunity to file a lawsuit in the Texas court system and litigate your case in court or at an alternative dispute resolution proceeding.

Potential Causes of Uber Accidents in San Antonio

Uber accidents in the San Antonio region may happen for many different reasons. In some cases, the operator of the Uber vehicle behaves negligently and causes the collision, while at other times, someone else might be at fault. In most cases, motor vehicle accidents occur because a driver behaves carelessly or recklessly (for example, driver error).

In a car accident, negligence means deviating from the established standard of care and/or acting unreasonably under the circumstances. A driver behaves negligently when he or she violates a traffic law or rule of the road, such as by speeding, running a stop sign or red light, tailgating another vehicle, or carelessly weaving in and out of traffic without using a turn signal.

Motor vehicle drivers are also negligent when they engage in certain types of distracted driving. A distracted driver fails to pay sufficient attention to the road, usually because he/she is using a cellular phone or other electronic devices while driving. At other times, distracted drivers may be fooling with a GPS device, disciplining children in the back seat, or turning up loud music in the car.

Any of these distractions can divert a driver’s attention away from the road and onto something in the vehicle. However, even a one or two-second distraction can have catastrophic and sometimes fatal consequences for drivers and their passengers. A driver might not see another vehicle approaching, and he or she may cause a severe collision.

In addition to negligent and distracted driving, Uber accidents sometimes happen because one or more drivers are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In Texas, a driver who operates a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent or higher is intoxicated per se. An even higher standard applies to minors (for example, drivers who are under 21 years of age) and commercial vehicle operators (including tractor-trailer and semi-truck operators).

However, even if the driver is operating a vehicle with a lower BAC, his or her faculties can still suffer impairment. For example, the driver may have trouble judging distances or depth, and the driver’s reaction time might slow down, preventing him/her from stopping the vehicle quickly. In addition, an intoxicated driver might experience various physical symptoms, such as blurry vision.

If you or someone you care about has suffered injuries in an Uber accident that occurred in one of these ways, you have a right to monetary compensation. Your lawyer will explore the various legal avenues of recovery that may be available to you and can help you pursue the best course of action for your Uber accident case.

Possible San Antonio Lyft Accident Injuries

Victims of San Antonio Lyft accidents can suffer similar injuries to those in other passenger accidents. Whether a Lyft driver causes the collision or some other motor vehicle driver, the passenger’s body can move forward and backward, or from side to side, inside the vehicle, suffering serious injuries as a result. Moreover, if the accident victim’s body strikes the front or back headrest, door frame, or window, the injuries can be even more severe.

Common injuries that Lyft accident victims sustain include head and brain injuries, soft tissue injuries, broken bones, muscular sprains and strains, back injuries, shoulder injuries, and internal injuries.

If you have suffered one or more of these injuries in an accident that involved a Lyft vehicle, your first step should be to seek the medical treatment that you need. It is also important that you seek this treatment as soon as possible after your accident. Otherwise, the insurance company might become skeptical of your injuries and wonder about the severity of your injuries. When you seek initial medical treatment at a hospital emergency room, the doctor or nurse on duty can ascertain your condition, render emergency treatment if necessary, and take the necessary imaging studies, like MRIs, CAT scans, and x-rays. Furthermore, the treating healthcare provider can refer you to a specialist or recommend follow-up medical treatment for later on. You should be sure to follow through with this treatment, and once you have completed it, a knowledgeable San Antonio Lyft accident attorney at Wyatt Law Firm can file a claim with the insurance company on your behalf.

Recoverable Damages in an Uber and Lyft Accident

Monetary compensation and damages that a person can recover following an Uber accident are much the same as other passenger accidents. Not all Uber accident personal injury claims are the same since different accident victims can suffer various injuries requiring different medical treatment types. Generally speaking, an accident case where a person has to undergo surgery or other medical procedure is going to be more valuable from a settlement perspective than a case where an accident victim suffers minor soft tissue injuries.

After an Uber accident, the accident victim can pursue compensation for medical expenses and lost wages in the event the accident victim needed to miss time from work following the accident. Moreover, the victim can seek compensation for inconvenience, mental distress, emotional anguish, and loss of earning capacity in the event he/she had to switch careers or jobs following the collision.

If the accident victim suffered a permanent injury, such as a full or partial paralysis, then he/she can make a loss of use claim. On the other hand, accident victims can seek compensation for loss of life enjoyment resulting from their injuries.

The experienced Uber accident attorneys at Wyatt Law Firm can help you seek the damages and other compensation that you need following your car accident. Our legal team will work to maximize the settlement compensation that the insurance company puts on the table. Suppose the insurance company does not offer you fair and reasonable compensation for your Uber accident injuries. In that case, our legal team can file a lawsuit in the court system and litigate it to a favorable conclusion on your behalf.

Speak to an Experienced San Antonio Ridesharing Accident Lawyer about Your Legal Matter Today

With the increase in ridesharing vehicles on San Antonio roadways comes the possibility of serious motor vehicle collisions. If you have suffered an injury in a ridesharing accident that your driver or another motor vehicle driver caused, you have a right to recover monetary compensation for all of your accident-related personal injuries. The skilled attorneys at Wyatt Law Firm can help you pursue that compensation through settlement or litigation in the court system. Reach out to a personal injury lawyer.

For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a knowledgeable San Antonio ridesharing accident attorney, please give us a call today at (210) 340-5550 or contact us online for more information. We are ready to help you.

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