Lyft Accident Attorneys

Technology has transformed the way we get around. Thanks to the emergence of apps like Lyft and Uber, commuters in Hartford County now have more traveling options to consider. Of course, unfortunate incidents can still happen during your ride, and being involved in one may necessitate a call to a Connecticut Lyft accident lawyer.

It is important to remember that Lyft accidents are different from typical vehicular crashes. If you end up badly hurt in the wake of that accident, securing the compensation you deserve may not be that easy. This is why considering hiring a professional attorney could be incredibly valuable.

So, what should you do if an accident occurs during your ridesharing trip in Simsbury or Glastonbury, CT? Who can you hold responsible for what happened? Discover the answers to those questions and learn more about other relevant topics by continuing with the rest of this article.

How Lyft, Uber, and Rideshare Services Work

Ridesharing has become a more than viable transportation option in this day and age. Numerous commuters even prefer it over a taxi or mass transportation. The statistics show how popular ridesharing has become.

According to Business of Apps, Lyft counted around 20.3 million riders in 2022. Meanwhile, Uber tallied a remarkable base of 131 million users. We are not exaggerating when we say that ridesharing is a fixture of modern transportation.

For many users, the appeal of ridesharing boils down to convenience. It all starts with you downloading your ridesharing app of choice. Lyft and Uber are the popular options, but other apps are available.

Once you have downloaded the app and created an account, you can put in your ride request. Your ride request must contain your destination, pick-up point, and pick-up time. The app will also inform you how much your desired trip will cost.

You will now decide if you are okay with the cost of the trip. Fares are affected by demand, so keep that in mind while you are looking for a ride. After your request is confirmed, the app will notify nearby drivers.

Drivers will have the option to either accept or decline your request. If a driver accepts your request, you will be notified and asked to wait for their arrival. The driver will then pick you up and transport you to the destination you highlighted in your ride request.

The ride ends when you reach your destination. They will deduct the payment from your account at the end of the ride. Both you and the driver can also rate one another.

What to Do if You Are in a Lyft Accident in Connecticut

The actions you take in the wake of being involved in a Lyft accident in Hartford County, CT, are critical. Someone may be badly hurt following the accident, and you cannot ignore them. Furthermore, you can increase or decrease your chances of receiving compensation based on your actions.

Detailed below are the actions you must take if an accident occurs during your Lyft ride. All Lyft users in Glastonbury, Hartford, and Simsbury, CT, need to pay attention to avoid making potentially critical mistakes.

Check on Yourself and Everyone Else in the Vehicle: Confirming the safety of everyone inside the vehicle should be your priority. If you are feeling well enough, check on the other passengers and the driver to see how they are doing. Although you should check for injuries, you want to avoid treating them. You may do more harm than good in that scenario, so it would be best to leave the treatment to the professionals.

Call 911: Regardless of whether anyone is injured or not, you must call 911. Call 911 to ask for emergency responders or police officers to investigate the accident. If your Lyft driver and the other motorist involved in the accident are having difficulty sorting things out, calling the police to the scene should change that.

Ask the Driver to Move the Vehicle: The vehicle you are in is likely not in a good position following the accident. If your Lyft driver is fine and the car is still usable, you should ask them to move it. Moving the vehicle off to the side will prevent additional collisions; also, ask the driver to turn on the hazard lights, so passing motorists will know what happened.

Gather Evidence at the Scene of the Accident: Assuming again that you are well enough to move around, you should take some time to collect evidence at the scene of the accident. Take as many photos of the accident site as you can and speak to any witnesses present as well. You should also speak to the drivers involved in the accident.

Your goal here is to accumulate as much evidence as possible to present a strong case if you decide to sue. Do not forget to also ask for contact information while you are collecting evidence so you can get additional details later.

Speak to the Police: Speaking to the police is highly recommended if you were involved in a Lyft accident. Like with any car accident, the police officers will create a report detailing what happened after completing their investigation. You can use that report to bolster your claims. Obtain the contact details of the police officers so your Lyft accident attorney can ask for a copy of the report later.

Report the Accident to Lyft: If you are planning to seek compensation later, reporting the accident to Lyft is something you will need to do. You can report the accident directly to Lyft using this link.

Visit the Doctor: You should make it a point to stop by the doctor as soon as possible if you were in a car accident of any kind. Go to the doctor even if you do not feel any symptoms to confirm that you are in good condition. If you have sustained injuries, it would be best to learn about them right away so you can figure out how to proceed.

Hire a Lyft Accident Lawyer: Hiring a personal injury lawyer experienced with Lyft and Rideshare cases will be necessary if you intend to seek compensation for what happened. These lawsuits can get pretty complex, so you must move forward with a legal expert on your side.

Understanding Liability in a Lyft Accident

Victims in Lyft accidents often end up confused. That is because many do not know who is ultimately liable for the accident. If you are a Glastonbury, Hartford, or Simsbury, CT resident who uses Lyft often, you need to understand how liability works in those accident cases.

To figure out who you should file your personal injury lawsuit against, you must first identify who caused the accident. The party responsible could be your Lyft driver or the other motorist.

You must sue the other driver if they caused the accident. If they are uninsured or underinsured, Lyft’s uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage will come into play.
So, what happens if the party responsible for causing the accident is your Lyft driver? In that case, you should file a claim against the ridesharing company.

Lyft provides up to $1,000,000 of coverage for every accident. That is the policy that will cover you since you were a passenger when the accident occurred. The payout you receive from Lyft should account for all the losses you sustained due to the accident.

Do I Need a Connecticut Lyft Accident Attorney?

The way Lyft lays things out makes the process of obtaining compensation look so easy. After you report the accident, you can file a compensation claim, and Lyft will hand over your payout.

Unfortunately, things are rarely that simple. Lyft is in ridesharing to make money, so paying out every claim will not be good for their bottom line.
You should enlist the services of a Lyft car accident lawyer if you want to secure compensation. The reasons detailed below explain why taking that step is necessary.

Lyft Accident Claims Are Hard to Make

Why do you need a lawyer to file a claim against Lyft? Part of that is due to how difficult it is to successfully make that claim.

Lyft and its insurance partners have high-powered lawyers on their team and can make claiming compensation difficult for accident victims. Even getting a hold of Lyft may turn into a challenging ordeal.

You want a lawyer on your side so they can deal with Lyft on your behalf. Task them with handling your claim and avoid that potentially nightmarish ordeal.

The Other Side’s Lawyers May Trick You into Accepting an Unfair Settlement

While you are in the hospital worrying about your medical bills, you may get a phone call from one of Lyft’s lawyers. During that conversation, Lyft’s legal representatives may present you with a compensation offer you can receive now if you agree.

No matter how enticing that offer is, you should avoid giving in. That offer is likely well short of what you could receive if you file a claim against their insurer.
Do not entertain that offer from the other party. Get your Lyft accident attorney involved and let them handle that conversation.

You Will Need Time to Recover

Car accidents can cause all kinds of injuries. Some of those injuries go away after a few days, but others will make their presence felt for a while.
Now, imagine dealing with your injuries and the annoying tactics of Lyft’s attorneys? That would be unbearable.

You want a Simsbury or Glastonbury lawyer representing you so they can take care of that matter in your stead. Ask your lawyer to handle the calls from Lyft’s representatives so you can focus solely on your recovery.

Injuries You May Sustain from a Lyft Accident

The injuries you may sustain from a Lyft accident are no joke. Some of them could render you unable to work for a while, and others may have effects that linger for a long time. Let’s gain a better understanding of how that kind of accident could impact you by discussing the common injuries they cause.

Injuries to Your Extremities: First off, you must check your arms and legs for any injuries if you were involved in a Lyft accident.

If the car you are riding in gets hit by another vehicle, chances are some parts of it will cave in. A door being pushed in by the force of the crash can trap your legs and possibly break your bones.

Passengers are also likely to sustain some injuries to their arms following a crash. The window on your car door may shatter and cover you in sharp shards of glass. You may get some cuts and scratches from that.

Your shoulder could also end up seriously injured if it bangs against a hard surface during the crash. Dislocating your shoulder is a possibility if that happens.

Injuries to Your Muscles: Muscular injuries are also fairly common for passengers involved in vehicular crashes. You are more likely to sustain those muscular injuries if rear-ended by another car.

The force of the other vehicle slamming into the Lyft vehicle may do a number on your lower back. Expect to feel sore after something like that occurs. The muscles in your back could also end up battered and bruised due to the impact.

Sore muscles can keep you bedridden for a while. Trying to work with bruised muscles could prove to be an impossible task.

Head Injuries: Probably the most concerning among the injuries you may sustain from a Lyft accident are the ones that involve your head. The effects of a head injury can be devastating. They also tend to stick around.

You may be plagued with headaches and feel nauseous constantly because of your head injury. Individuals with head injuries may also have a tougher time concentrating, and they may become more sensitive to lights and sounds.

Side effects of severe head injuries also include seizures, loss of consciousness, and depression.

Lyft’s insurance policy provides up to $1,000,000 for covered accidents. You may end up needing every cent of that if you are diagnosed with a serious head injury. It may not even suffice if you and a loved one sustained head injuries from the accident.

Financial Compensation for Lyft Accident Injuries

Compensation should be coming your way if you were recently involved in a Lyft accident. However, you may not be fully aware of how much you should receive because of what happened. Your Lyft driver’s insurance provider may approach you, offering a significant sum of money. The people over at Lyft could end up doing the same thing.

Even if their offers appear substantial, they may still not be representative of the compensation you deserve. The Lyft car accident lawyer you are working with can help you calculate exactly how much compensation you should receive. They can do that by noting the compensatory damages that apply in your case. Which brings us to the question, how much can you expect to receive in terms of compensation?

The financial awards handed down in these cases will vary based on your specific circumstances. To be more specific, the compensation awarded to you will depend on the losses you sustained. Examples of losses that may factor into your financial compensation:

Medical Expenses: If you received injuries during the accident, your compensation reflects that. That is why going to the doctor is so important following an accident. You cannot ask for proper compensation if you do not know what is ailing your body.

Together with your lawyer, you want to carefully detail every injury you sustained and establish how much treating them costs. You should also account for long-term care in your calculations. Consider the costs of additional medication and/or medical devices that you will need to deal with the effects of your injuries. If your doctor says that you need physical therapy in the future, the compensation package must pay for that too.

Damaged Property: You may have had your laptop or smartphone when the crash occurred, and they received damage following the crash. Someone will need to pay for your busted gadgets. Aside from gadgets, the compensation should cover all your damaged possessions.

Lost Wages: Some of the more serious injuries people sustain from car accidents include broken bones and brain injuries. If you are suffering from those injuries, you probably cannot do your job. That will likely lead to you losing out on your regular wages. Lost wages are also counted as actual compensatory damages. That is only fair because you might not work for a while due to the injuries you sustained.

Do not worry because you can still recoup those losses. Include your lost wages in your lawsuit, so the insurer has to pay for them. You may also sue the other party for employment opportunities you missed out on due in part to the accident.

General Compensatory Damages: The Lyft accident lawyer you are working with can also help you figure out the general compensatory damages in your case. General compensatory damages are losses you incurred that do not involve any monetary expenditure. Some examples of general compensatory damages you can sue for include pain and suffering, loss of opportunity, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Pain and Suffering: The financial award handed down must also compensate you for the pain and suffering you have already endured. Pain and suffering is a legal term used to highlight the physical pain and emotional distress that someone experiences. If your involvement in the accident has left you traumatized, you must demand that the other party compensate you for that.

Hartford County Lyft Car Accident Attorney

Being involved in a Lyft accident can be damaging in so many ways. You can quickly find yourself in a huge financial hole because of the injuries you are dealing with and the work you are missing. Securing fair compensation is the only way you are getting out of that mess.

Get in touch with us at Hassett & George, P.C. if you need expert legal representation in your Lyft accident case or you require an Uber accident lawyer in Simsbury, Glastonbury, or Hartford. Our rideshare accident attorneys will handle the legal battle with Lyft so you can take your time recovering from the accident.