It is not surprising that Michael J. Redenburg, Esq. P.C. began to handle rideshare accidents as soon as rideshare services like Uber & Lyft came onto the New York scene. For more than a decade, our law firm has been known as a forward-looking team. We also have impeccable credentials, consummate legal skills, and a history of winning significant settlements for our clients. If you have been seriously injured in a ridesharing accident, you can contact us with confidence, knowing that we have the ability to win you the compensation you deserve.
There is no question that ridesharing is a convenient form of transportation, easy to access and pay for through your smartphone. It has the added advantage of giving you the location of your driver in real time so that you needn’t hail a taxi in inclement weather. Also, rideshare drivers are rated by each passenger so they tend to be polite and to keep their cars clean.
Nonetheless, there are downsides to rideshare travel. For one thing, rideshare vehicles further crowd the already congested streets of New York City. For another, the drivers of rideshare cars are not trained as livery drivers and may have very little driving experience. These downsides combine to make for an increasing number of accidents involving rideshare cars. Beyond that, for those unfortunate enough to be injured in such accidents collecting damages is more complicated than usual.
Why You Need a New York City Ridesharing Attorney
Because there are several parties involved in ridesharing accidents, and because rideshare drivers are considered independent contractors rather than employees of the companies they work for, layers of complexity are added to the legal process. This is why it is essential that you have a ridesharing accident attorney with in-depth knowledge of rideshare laws to handle your personal injury lawsuit.
Whose Insurance Company Pays the Bills?
New York City law requires all ridesharing vehicles to have $100,000 in personal injury insurance. Although most serious injuries involve costs well above this amount, the taxi industry has powerful lobbyists in Albany who manage to keep this mandatory insurance coverage very low. However, even though individual drivers usually have limited coverage, the ridesharing companies themselves are required by law to carry $1 million liability policies for each of the cars that work under their auspices.
In spite of this protection, the resources we may be able to tap to pay your damages will depend on the particular circumstances at the time your ridesharing accident occurred. If the rideshare driver was connected to the rideshare app — either cruising while waiting for a call or picking up or dropping off a passenger, then he/she is considered to be working for the company. If the driver is running a personal errand, however, or driving to meet a friend for dinner, he/she is deemed to be just another driver on the road. In the latter case, the rideshare company does not share liability. If we have to sue the rideshare driver personally, without the back-up insurance the company requires, that individual is likely to have only the minimum liability coverage of $25,000.
Damages We Will Fight to Win for Your Ridesharing Accident Injuries
We will typically seek both economic and non-economic damages and, in cases of particularly egregious recklessness or disregard for human life on the part of the defendant, we may seek punitive damages as well.
At Michael J. Redenburg, we are deeply committed to holding the responsible party accountable for all you have been through. You should bear in mind that there may be more than one responsible party — for example, your rideshare driver and the driver of another vehicle, the manufacturer of a defective car part, or the city, state, or town that has not met normal standards for keeping the road passable. Our extensive experience in negotiating and litigation stands us in good stead whomever we have to contend with, in or out of the courtroom.
Depending on your particular circumstances, we may seek damages to compensate you for:
- Medical and rehabilitative costs
- Lost of income, now and going forward
- Property damage
- Nursing care
- Household and/or child care
- Permanent disability
- Permanent scarring or other disfigurement
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
If you have endured the tragic loss of a family member in a rideshare accident, we will do everything in our power to obtain damages for losses through a wrongful death lawsuit
Reasons Ridesharing May Put You at Greater Risk than Riding in a Taxi
In spite of being an efficient mode of transportation, rideshares may put you at increased risk of being in an accident because rideshare drivers:
- Do not have commercial licenses that require special training
- Do not receive instruction from the rideshare company
- Do not have to adhere to a schedule and so may work very long hours in order to earn more money, resulting is a dangerous level of fatigue
- Are not drug tested
- May be more distracted than other drivers because they use their smartphone apps and GPS constantly
- May have as little as one year of driving experience
Whether or not your rideshare driver has good driving skills and is a responsible person, you may be involved in a rideshare accident as a passenger. You may also collide with a rideshare driver while driving another vehicle or be hit by a rideshare driver when bicycling or walking. Whatever the situation, Michael J. Redenbury is here to provide you with excellent legal representation and strong moral support. No matter what happened, even if you were partially at fault, we are on your side.
Contact Our New York City Ridesharing Accident Attorney
If you have been in a ridesharing accident that was due to someone else’s negligence, regardless if you are the passenger or the driver, you might be entitled to compensation if you suffered serious injuries. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation regarding your case. We do not get paid unless we win your case, so there’s absolutely no risk. Let us help you recover!