Uber and Lyft Car Accidents and Car Insurance

2018 was another huge year for rideshare services – as companies like Uber and Lyft continue to disrupt the broader mobility market. It’s been a little over 5 years since passengers all over America started reaching for their cellphones to hail a ride – and the adoption of this technology has been swift.

Uber says it has over 2 million drivers globally – serving an estimated 75 million active users. These number have grown over 30 percent per year since 2016. In contrast, the second biggest rideshare company – Lyft – has 1.4 million drivers and an estimated 18.6 million active users. Lyft alone is responsible for 1 billion rides. These staggering numbers beg the question, what happens in the event of a car accident?

In the early stages of ridesharing, Companies like Uber and Lyft were notorious for working to avoid as much responsibility as a possible when it comes to accidents. They would keep drivers in an “independent contractor” status/ There were countless stories of these companies requiring drivers to file claims through their personal insurance first before the company’s policy.