Americans Are Spending a Lot of Money on Uber and Lyft

Silverman, McDonald & Friedman has been representing car crash victims for years. If you were injured in a collision involving an Uber or Lyft driver, we want to help. To schedule a free initial consultation at our office in Wilmington, New castle or Seaford, contact us today.

In July of 2017, CNBC ran a story about a woman who had spent $453 on Uber rides in the course of one month. In May of 2018, CNBC revisited the story, teaming up with a money app called Empower, which tracked the average monthly costs of both Uber and Lyft in 32 different cities.

Empower didn’t track usage in Delaware, but Indeed.com, the job site, puts the average yearly salary of an Uber driver at about $50,000 (based on 7 reported employee salaries), or about $17.50 an hour (based on 11 independent driver salaries). There were no numbers available for Lyft.

So what does all this mean? Mostly, that people spend a lot of money on ridesharing services – which means there are a lot of rideshare operators out there. The chances are increasing, then, that you might end up colliding with an Uber driver, while in the car of an Uber driver, or as an Uber driver yourself. If you do, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but you might also have to take some different steps to make your claim.

A quick look at liability for Uber

Uber is a ridesharing service which contracts with independent drivers. So while you use Uber’s app to contact your driver, your transaction isn’t between you and Uber; it’s between you and your driver. After all, it’s your driver’s car – not Uber’s – which is used to pick you up. All the drivers are supposed to be thoroughly vetted, having undergone criminal background checks to ensure that they are safe to hire, and their cars must be up-to-date with registration.

As a driver in Delaware, you must have car insurance – and Uber isn’t going to hire an independent contractor (the driver) who doesn’t have insurance. But what happens if you are a passenger and your driver gets into a wreck with another driver, or hits a telephone pole?

First, you should call the police and an ambulance, if you are hurt. Next, gather all the same type of evidence that you would if you had been driving: pictures of the scene, insurance information from the drivers, photos of any injuries you sustained, etc. If the other driver is at-fault, then his or her insurance should cover the cost of the crash.

If you or your driver was at fault, then it is a bit different: while technically, Uber is not responsible for your injury, all Uber drivers are covered by a million-dollar insurance policy. In order for that policy to cover you, however, the driver must be logged in, and must have accepted the ride. If the driver is not logged into the app, there is no liability insurance at all, which means you would have to file your claim against the driver’s personal insurance.

If you are driving the car and have logged into the app, but have not yet accepted a ride, then Uber’s policy covers $50,000/$100,000 bodily injury and $25,000 in property damage (numbers which are lower than what we might recommend to the average Delaware driver for his or her insurance plan).

If you are hurt in a collision involving an Uber, and the insurance company is giving you the runaround, we want to help. Silverman, McDonald & Friedman has represented injured drivers throughout Delaware for years. To schedule your free initial consultation at our offices in Seaford, Wilmington or Newark, please call 302-888-2900 or fill out our contact form.