Motor vehicle accidents, in their purest forms, are situations between two cars where you, the other driver or both lose control. Losing that control may be frightening. But when you are the passenger of a taxi, bus or rideshare like Uber, there is not a lot of control to have in the first place.
After an accident in which you are the passenger, compensation for your injuries falls into an arena of insurances based on the precise details of your case.
Ridesharing
As detailed in the Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice, ridesharing services provide varying insurance over four common scenarios. While driving without the app on, the ridesharing service has no liability. The next two involve having the app on and waiting for a customer and driving en route to a customer. The fourth situation is for you, as the passenger, since this coverage scenario involves the ridesharing driver in an accident with you in the vehicle.
With you in the vehicle during an accident, the ridesharing service’s policy is the primary insurance if your driver is at fault.
Municipal fleets
Any transit system operated by California state or county systems require fleet insurance to cover passenger injuries. The details for the amounts covered vary between the types of transit systems and the counties that support them.
Your recovery
Beyond the primary coverage, you may have access to more compensation from secondary claims. The more insurance companies involved in the accident, the more headache you might have ahead of you. As a passenger in an unfortunate situation, having the right resources that hold the right insurance companies accountable may help smooth out the transition between physical recovery and financial recovery.
