The biggest question all victims involved in any Uber rideshare accident ask is whether they can sue the company for injuries. Well, any accident with an Uber ride is a complicated affair, and most accidents get tangled in legal complications and lost in the fine print. That is because, firstly, Uber classifies its drivers as contractors (not as employees), which helps the company wriggle out of a sticky situation. Secondly, its complicated TOS (Terms of Service) is packed with fine print that restricts the rights of its passengers in seeking legal recourse.
Uber tries to shift responsibility for any accident to its drivers and it restricts the passengers from suing it. Therefore, most lawsuits filed against Uber fail or result in negligible settlements. The whole process is so complicated and full of legalese that it only can be deciphered by very experienced Uber car accident attorneys – like us.
To help Uber car accident victims understand the complications, our team of lawyers drafted this FAQ:
Employee vs Contractor Status of Uber Drivers
Strictly speaking, Uber should be held responsible if its drivers’ negligence or intentional actions result in the riding passengers (or anyone else on the road) getting injured. To escape responsibility, Uber classifies its drivers as contractors – so that the company can hold the drivers responsible and personally liable for the injuries they cause. On a side note, classifying its drivers as contractors also helps Uber save on taxes, prevent the creation of worker unions, and save on providing worker benefits.
Having said that, Uber does buy some kind of liability insurance for its drivers, but that may not be enough. The company tries to avoid any responsibility and shift it entirely on the driver. Therefore, the victims need to hire an experienced Uber car accident attorney to analyze the party-at-fault, his contract with Uber, and the policy that the company has purchased.
Uber’s Restrictive Terms of Service (TOS)
Before using Uber’s services, a passenger has to agree to their TOS. Else, he cannot use the company’s service. These TOS are extremely restrictive and they snatch his right to a public trial, class action lawsuit, or a court trial. In many cases, these terms also restrict his right to an appeal.
Restricting plaintiffs from filing a class action lawsuit helps Uber restrict the settlement amount, and it helps the lawsuit from getting bigger.
Can an Uber Car Accident Victim Proceed Against Uber, and if So How?
The short answer to this is that the Utah-based victim needs to hire a skilled and experienced Uber car accident attorney to investigate the case and file a lawsuit. Such attorneys get to the heart of the matter by analyzing the following:
- Whether or not the driver had gone through a proper screening process before being contracted by Uber. The buzz is that Uber normally contracts anyone who owns a motorable vehicle and has a valid driver’s license unless he has a criminal record or is a regular violator of traffic rules. Uber does not test its drivers’ driving skills, as basically it just offers a platform to connect passengers to drivers. The onboarding process doesn’t seem fully foolproof.
- Did Uber ensure that the driver had adequate training? Most likely, it didn’t. But the company’s not going to tell the victim that.
- Does Uber buy adequate insurance? If the driver’s personal insurance does not cover the liability, Uber covers drivers who are available or waiting for a ride request with third-party liability insurance ($50,000 for bodily injury per person, $100,000 for bodily injuries per accident, and $25,000 for property damage per accident). For drivers on the road, it buys $1 million for third-party liability claims.
So, if an accident occurs and Uber gets sued, the company first shifts responsibility to the driver and if the claim exceeds the driver’s insurance, Uber is anyway covered for $1 million, though this amount may not be sufficient in cases of severe injuries. However, getting the claim from Uber’s insurance company is a steep, uphill ride that, like we have been saying, only a skilled and experienced Uber car accident attorney can manage.
In Utah, the following parties can sue Uber:
- An injured ride-sharing passenger.
- A pedestrian or a cyclist hit by an Uber ride.
- A property owner whose property was damaged.
- A motorist/passenger/motorcyclist who was riding in another vehicle that was involved in the crash with the Uber ride.
Suing Uber is easy; extracting the compensation requires heavy-duty skills. If you’d like to know more, we urge you to set up a free meeting.
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If you or a loved one has been involved in an Uber accident in Utah, and are searching for an experienced legal firm that has successfully helped victims get the rightful compensation, we urge you to take advantage of our free initial meeting offer.
