Las Vegas Uber Accident Lawyer & Lyft Accident Attorney Las Vegas
Uber and Lyft are quickly becoming a main form of transportation across the United States. Laws have been created surrounding these rideshare apps. Insurance companies are creating packages for rideshare drivers to protect themselves while they work. Las Vegas is a hub for Uber and Lyft drivers and their respective passengers. It's a perfect system for visitors and locals to meander from one casino, restaurant, or club to another. As Uber and Lyft drivers become more prominent, however, more and more ridesharing accidents occur.
Common causes of these accidents include:
- Speeding — Uber and Lyft drivers are often encouraged by their respective companies to meet certain benchmarks. Lyft gives the driver $1300 if they give 125 rides in the first 30 days. Uber assigns daily quests such as give 3 rides between 4pm-6pm downtown. This could force drivers to finish their rides as quickly as they can to move on to the next one. Speeding is one of the top reasons traffic accidents happen. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 26% of all accident fatalities happen because at least one driver was speeding. Be wary of the road and if you feel unsafe, both apps have a report feature.
- Inexperience — When Uber and Lyft were created, the selling point was that practically anybody can become a driver. Drivers can work when they want and how they want. The downside is that this opens up to inexperienced drivers providing rides for hire. To combat the inexperience, the city of Las Vegas created laws that rideshare drivers must be 21 years old or older and/or have 3 years of driving experience. Make sure you check your driver's ratings to ensure that your driver is safe and reliable.
- Driving while drowsy — The equivalent of driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Drowsy driving has caused well over 1,500 fatalities and over a hundred thousand police-reported accidents. At the behest of ridesharing companies, drivers are heavily encouraged to drive beyond their physical and mental capacity. They'll receive promotions that ask them to do multiple drives in a row and the benefits of that are more financial incentives. Driving while drowsy is extremely fatal. If you're involved in an accident with a driver who fell asleep at the wheel, call a Las Vegas rideshare accident lawyer immediately.
- Distracted driving — Distracted driving includes many factors. You can be eating, drinking, talking to other passengers, changing the song on your radio, or most commonly for rideshare drivers, looking at your smartphone. Rideshare drivers are more likely to be distracted by their phones as using the app is how they find work. They use their phones when they are figuring out where the drop off point is, or when they are picking up passengers. They are consistently distracted by their phones. In a city as robust as Las Vegas, that poses fatal dangers to the driver, you, as the passenger, or to the people around the vehicle.
Accidents in the Las Vegas area can happen at any point in time. If you were injured as a result of someone else's carelessness, you may be entitled to due compensation for pain and suffering, emotional suffering, physical injuries, medical bills, and loss of work. Contact Dimopoulos Injury Law to receive personal injury legal advice from a Las Vegas Uber accident attorney.
What do you do after getting in an accident riding an Uber or Lyft?
- Call 911. Calling 911 will get you immediate help. Remember, some injuries won't surface until a few hours or even weeks later. If there are any potentially severe injuries, the emergency team will know what to do. Be sure to collect a health report from your doctor to highlight any injuries you sustained after the accident.
- Screenshot your rideshare information. The information will have your driver's information such as name, car, and when they were meant to arrive at the destination. Collect your rideshare driver's contact information as well.
- Contact a lawyer. This is highly recommended due to the driver's contract with either Uber or Lyft. Your Uber or lift accident lawyer will contact the appropriate insurance companies, conduct negotiations, and represent you in court, if necessary. A good lawyer will have access to information that a standard person wouldn't normally have. For example, Uber drivers are monitored through an app they must use. The app tracks their vehicle's speed, braking, location, and other factors. The downside is that the app is inaccessible to the average person. Hire a lawyer today to obtain this information.
What do you do after you get hit by an Uber or Lyft driver?
Getting hit by a Lyft or Uber car is absolutely devastating. Cars weigh several tons while a person weighs only several pounds. A reckless driver will do massive damage to anybody in their path.
- Call 911. Absolutely make sure 911 is called before all else. Stay put and don't move. If you've been struck by a car, you may have no surface damage, but the damage sustained inward can be fatal. Moving at all will likely make it worse.
Steps taken from here are dependent on the severity of your injury. Your health comes first. If the emergency team gives you the okay to move, take these next steps.
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- Contact a rideshare accident lawyer immediately. There are many avenues you would need to run through should you do it on your own. Make it easier on yourself and hire someone who will get you the compensation you deserve.
- Collect the driver's information. This will include name, type of car, license plate, phone number, insurance policy details, and which rideshare company they were working under. In the future, make sure your lawyer gets the driver's app data at the scene of the accident.
- Take note of where you were at the accident. Write it all down. In Nevada, pedestrians have the right-of-way at crosswalks, but outside of crosswalks, pedestrians must yield to cars.
- Don't speak with insurance companies until you've spoken with a lawyer. More often than not, the rideshares insurance will attempt to offer you less than what you deserve.
Lyft vs Uber Accidents in Las Vegas
Lyft and Uber both provide 1 million dollars in liability coverage for their drivers. This coverage for both rideshare companies is meant to pay for injuries sustained by drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and other parties that may be involved in an Uber or Lyft accident. Uber and Lyft will do all they can to ensure their out of pocket expenses are as little as they can get away with, even if that means giving you less than what you are entitled to. Because drivers are considered contractors and not employees of Uber or Lyft, they could argue that the drivers are not their liability. This is where having a lawyer comes in handy. There are specific verbiage and clauses that allow the rideshare companies to force the driver to be responsible for the accident.
Lyft's and Uber's insurance coverage begins when a driver is at fault. However, it's mainly a matter of convincing the companies that the driver is at fault.
Hire Us Today For a Free Consultation
Dimopoulos Injury Law is one of the top personal injury and accident law firms in Nevada and rideshare accidents is one of our specialty practice areas. If you are injured in any way that involves a rideshare driver, contact us today. We will take the time to listen to your story and ensure that our specialized team of Lyft and Uber car accident lawyers are on your case right away. Dimopoulos Injury Law runs on a contingency fee, meaning that we don't charge you anything unless we win. We'll be sure to get your due compensation and we'll take the burden off your shoulders.