Lyft Accidents

Complicated liability and insurance issues may affect rideshare accidents because multiple insurers may be involved. To deal with the different drivers and their insurance companies, you may need an attorney to protect your legal rights. Persons injured in Lyft accidents should speak with the experienced Syracuse Lyft accident lawyers at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano. We understand the nuances of these types of accidents and may be able to assist you. Retaining a reputable attorney is critical to getting insurers to take your claim for damages seriously.

While rideshare apps have made transportation easier for many, when an accident occurs, you may have questions concerning who is responsible for your injuries. Lyft accidents may be the fault of the Lyft driver. However, they can also be the result of negligent driving by another driver, defective car design, improper road design, or failed repair of the vehicle used by the rideshare driver. It's important to look closely at the accident to determine all parties that may be at fault. You can sue these parties for damages.

New York is a no-fault insurance state. This means that if you drive or own a car in New York, you'll need to carry a minimum of $25,000 for one person and $50,000 for all persons in personal injury protection (PIP) insurance. This will cover a portion of your medical expenses and lost income irrespective of fault. It's important to report the accident and your injuries to your own insurer within 30 days, so that you can obtain PIP compensation.

Additionally, Lyft should have liability insurance coverage to pay for injuries sustained by passengers and others when these are caused by its drivers. A Lyft accident attorney in Syracuse can help you make a claim against this coverage, which will kick in only if a Lyft driver is working at the time of the accident he causes and continues for the duration of a passenger’s ride. Lyft drivers should also carry insurance policies to cover their negligence when they are not driving for Lyft. A driver may be covered if he is waiting for ride requests or actually transporting a passenger.

You can hold a Lyft driver or other driver liable for your injuries if they meet certain threshold of seriousness. To establish liability in those cases, you'll likely need to prove negligence. This means you'll need to show the defendant owed you a duty of care, breached that duty, and thereby caused your injuries. Your damages must be quantifiable. Drivers breach the duty to use reasonable care by speeding, tailgating, weaving, drunk driving, texting while driving, and failing to obey signs and signals. A Syracuse Lyft accident attorney can gather evidence to prove a breach of duty.

Your damages may be reduced under a doctrine of comparative negligence. Usually this doctrine doesn't apply to passengers because they don’t contribute to an accident. However, if you're driving another car that collides with a Lyft vehicle, and you sustain injuries, your damages will be reduced by an amount proportionate to your degree of fault. New York follows the rule of pure comparative negligence. Therefore, you can recover damages from an at-fault Lyft driver after sustaining serious injuries caused by her, even if you were substantially at fault for the accident.

If you can establish liability for a Lyft accident, you may be able to recover damages incurred for serious injuries. Losses may be economic or noneconomic. They could include concrete losses like medical bills, surgical bills, lost wages, replacement services, medication costs, out-of-pocket costs, and more. They could also include intangible losses such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of enjoyment, mental anguish, and lost earning capacity.

If you were seriously injured or a loved one was killed in a Lyft accident, the experienced attorneys of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano may be able to represent you. We represent Lyft accident victims across upstate New York in Syracuse, Rochester, Watertown, Lowville, Oswego, Auburn, Canandaigua, Wampsville, Ithaca, Lyons, Oneida, Cooperstown, Utica, Elmira, Herkimer, and Binghamton. Complete DeFrancisco & Falgiatano’s online form or call us at 315-479-9000.