Drivers for Uber and Lyft services are supposed to have added coverage for their “for-profit” vehicle. Hence, if the driver has failed to purchase such coverage, the insurance company will not cover damages that have happened as the result of an accident. Still, ride sharing companies stand ready to pay $1,000,000 per accident.

What do those facts say about the safety linked to using a ride-sharing service?

That transportation choice is safe, if the driver has purchased the added coverage, and if any acquired accident-related injury does not require a treatment routine that is more expensive than $1,000,000. Of course, it is impossible to know about any driver’s insurance coverage, at the time of a scheduled pick-up.

By the same token, no rider can predict when an accident might happen, and how serious that same collision might be. A serious collision can cause catastrophic injuries. Injury Attorneys In Davis know that such medical problems normally require extensive treatment, a routine that could cost well over $1,000.000.

Would someone that needed a ride be making a safer choice by calling a taxi?

One pair of statistics suggests that the rider of a taxi is at least as safe as someone that has chosen to use Uber or Lyft. That pair of numbers states that a passenger in a ride-sharing vehicle has been guaranteed a liability limit of $100,000. If that same passenger were to be in the ride-sharing vehicle at the time of an accident, the minimum total coverage would amount to $1,000,000.

On the other hand, an additional fact suggests that a rider in a taxi has assumed a greater risk that one that has hopped into a ride-sharing vehicle. That additional fact relates to a consideration of the different situations that can arise at the time of a collision. Suppose, for example, that the taxi gets hit by an uninsured driver.

In that case, who could be held responsible for covering the damages? Would the taxi company be ready to reimburse the passenger for his or her medical expenses? Moreover, suppose the injured passenger could not go to work while recovering; who would cover the lost wages?

The passenger would need to meet with an attorney, in order to plan a strategy for finding a way to cover the medical expenses and the lost wages. Under the law, taxi companies are not required to buy uninsured motorist coverage. So, a passenger in a taxi that were to be hit by an uninsured motorist could not expect any help from the taxi company.

The unanswered question:

Is there a law, regarding the extent of coverage that needs to be provided by a ride-sharing company? Are “for-profit” vehicles covered, if one gets hit by an uninsured motorist?