Uber accidents are not only very common in Fort Lauderdale but can also leave the victim in a perilous situation. However, the no-fault status of the State of Florida can make things tricky. But there is no point in giving up your legal rights before you’ve even begun pursuing them.
The physical, mental, and financial burdens of such crashes are enormous and thus demand a sizeable financial compensation to help the players get back on track with their lives. While Florida’s personal injury law does not make things any easier, there are a couple of possibilities that play out in your favor.
Read on to explore how you can demand your rightful compensation if you were involved in a rideshare accident and how having an experienced Fort Lauderdale Uber accident lawyer by your side will make a difference.
While Uber vehicles are generally considered safe and effective (which they are, to some extent), they are not immune to the problems of the road. Thus you are not completely secure when traveling in a Lyft or Uber, and serious accidents have left people suffering deeply.
Before we go on and explore your legal options regarding such events, let’s explore how these accidents happen to begin with:
Since Uber drivers are almost always in a rush, being paid only a fixed rate for their drive (based on the travel distance), they risk car crashes through their haste. Everyone seeks better profits, but this does not give people the excuse of endangering others.
Uber drivers owe it to their passengers that they take extra care when it comes to speeding or aggressive driving. When traveling at high speeds, vehicles have an increased momentum, which means that not only are they harder to stop but will also cause much more damage when a collision does happen.
This rise in momentum is proportional to the total mass of the vehicle, i.e. an accident at high speed will be more devastating if there is more than one passenger inside.
In such cases, the Uber Company will be partially liable for any damages that you sustained.
In most cases, Uber drivers have to navigate through sections of the city of which they have little to no information. This creates several problems, but the two most notable for these are distractions (more on this later) and speeding.
They will be forced to double-check their route via the Uber app and GPS devices.
This poses a direct safety threat, but to make things worse, they’ll also have to speed their way through the unknown web of roads to get to where they are going on time or faster to make up for the delay created by them not knowing where they’re headed.
This mad rush creates an unnecessary risk for the driver and the onboard passengers.
Since their income is dependent on the hours they put in for the work, Uber and Lyft drivers tend to push things beyond human limits and exert themselves more than what their bodies can tolerate. This leads to fatigue and drowsiness behind the wheel, both of which can be disastrous.
In either case, a collision will be especially devastating because the driver won’t be able to respond in time or at all. Thus the crash will cause serious property damage (for the driver) and physical harm – not to mention the financial burden associated with these losses.
But the problem here is that Uber does not consider the drivers as employees but rather as independent contractors, thus seeking compensation may be a bit tricky.
However, if the damages were serious and you were a passenger in an Uber vehicle via the ride request option, then your personal injury lawyer might be able to do something for your accident claim.
Most importantly, Uber accidents result due to distractions along the road. Since rideshare drivers constantly steal looks at the rideshare app screens, and they have to be careful about the road as well, their minds are a bit more burdened than average levels.
This means that between switching their gazes from the app to the road and back, they’re risking the safety of their passenger. However, at the same time, the entire Uber enterprise rests on top of the GPS-powered application which makes the transportation so precise.
Distracted driving is the leading cause of motor vehicle crashes throughout the USA, and the same is true for Uber crashes as well.
Although Florida is primarily a no-fault state but if the damages were severe, you can demand compensation from the responsible party. However, therein lies the biggest problem: you can’t drag the rideshare company into the mess in every case.
Only if the driver had their rideshare app screen on when the crash happened, can the company be held partly liable. Otherwise, the weight of blame will lie primarily on the shoulders of the driver and their insurance company will be responsible for compensating the victim.
However, in other cases, where the driver showed exemplary negligence or had a track record of irresponsible behavior on the road, the company will be held liable for offering their work contract to someone without proper screening.
Whether you were an Uber passenger, another driver struck by the vehicle, or a pedestrian – don’t give up your rights simply because the state of Florida does not follow the traditional at-fault statute.
Instead, have your accident attorney investigate the matter and see if the driver and the company can be made to pay up for your damages.
Just a PS, Uber offers a $1 million accident injury liability coverage and other damages to car accident victims in case their driver caused the accident when transporting a passenger or if they were on their way to pick one up through the ride request channel!
Thus, personal injury lawsuits may be the perfect solution for you to settle the expenses for medical care and whatnot with the at-fault drivers due to Uber auto accidents, if the insurance adjuster refuses to cooperate, as is usually the case with such motor vehicle accidents.
While there can be no generalizations here, the sudden impact will almost always cause whiplash (as is usually the case with rear-end collisions and head-on-collisions) or some other form of neck injury, traumatic brain injury is also possible if the impact was hard enough.
Similarly, bruises, lacerations, broken bones, muscle damage, and spinal cord damage are also common physical injuries resulting from such accidents.
The intensity of the injuries will reflect directly in the intensity of the accident, however, to make your point solid and convincing enough, seek medical help immediately after the crash and get diagnosed by a medical professional – keep the report with you, you’ll need it later on!
Also, be sure never to describe your injuries to the insurance adjuster on your own, and instead ask an experienced attorney to do so for you.
Based on the specific details of your accident case, seeking compensation from the at-fault party may be possible. In any case, however, a fair settlement sum for car crashes should cover all the economic and non-economic damages that the victim suffered from.
Uber accident victims can demand reimbursement for the following damages:
Such losses are, of course, worthy of maximum compensation. You should never bow down before pressure and give up your fight before it's begun and neither should you accept the first offer that the insurance company sends your way – they can do better, much better!
This is especially true in cases where the driver's gross negligence may win you punitive damages if you take matters to the court and seek fair compensation for damages caused by the negligent parties according to the personal injury law.
Instead, gather all the evidence at site (photographs, videos, contact info, etc.) and contact experienced car accident lawyers as soon as possible to get compensated fairly for your personal injury claim under the personal injury protection insurance policy of the insurance coverage of either side (depending on whether your state has an at-fault statute or a no-fault one).
Being in an Uber accident and having to deal with the consequences of someone else’s mistakes is not easy, to say the least. The mental toll of such events is overwhelming itself even without the added pressure of physical pain and the financial burdens embodied by hospital bills, property damage, etc.
While Florida remains a no-fault state, there are exceptions to this legal framework, and your case may demand exceptional treatment, i.e. drunk driving, gross negligence for duty of care, reckless driving, and so on.
Thus you should never put off calling experienced personal injury attorneys and getting legal representation on all levels of the settlement process and legal action to ensure that you get compensated fairly.
And if you’re worried about paying up the legal fees in advance or being charged for consultation, then don’t be, because we won’t do either.
Call VG Law today, and we’ll show you how we can help your case!
