Whether you don’t want to drive to work one day or you are looking for a safe ride home after a night out with friends, it’s no surprise that Uber and other rideshare services are so popular in Florida. Uber goes to great lengths to vet their drivers, including things like strict vehicle requirements, background checks, license requirements, and driving history checks, but even the safest Uber driver in Florida is always at risk of being involved in an accident because of another driver. A Destin car accident lawyer understands that when you get into the back seat of a rideshare vehicle, you put your trust in the driver (and the company’s driver requirements) and their ability to get you to your destination safely. While this is the case in nearly all rides, there is always a risk of being hurt or killed in an accident while riding in an Uber.
According to Uber’s own US Safety Report, the accident rate was 0.57 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled in 2018, which is about half of the national rate. 0.0003% of all Uber trips in this time period involved a fatal accident, physical, or sexual assault, meaning that your chances of being hurt or killed during an Uber ride are very low. That said, statistics are not guarantees, and because of the risk that you may be in one of the 0.0003% of rides that do result in an accident or injury, it is important that you understand your rights and contact a Destin personal injury lawyer if you were injured in an Uber accident.
Fasig | Brooks Is Here to Help With Your Uber Accident Legal Issues
We offer a free consultation to victims of Uber accidents, as well as the loved ones of victims of fatal Uber accidents, to discuss their legal options and explain in specific detail how the award-winning legal team at Fasig | Brooks can help. There is no amount of money that will undo the damage caused by accident, but this does not mean that a victim should have to take on the financial impacts of a situation that someone else is responsible for. Victims are able to file claims with the at-fault party’s insurer to, ostensibly, recover these damages, but the reality is that the insurance adjuster assigned to the case is incentivized to reach the lowest possible settlement in order to protect their employer’s bottom line.
When you are working with a personal injury attorney who is skilled in handling Uber Accident cases in Destin, you can focus on your recovery without taking on the additional stress of your claim. Insurance companies leverage victims’ inexperience — not to mention the fact that they are preoccupied with their injuries — to settle claims quickly and cheaply, but your lawyer will be working diligently to ensure that no damages are left out of the settlement conversations and that you are working towards the best possible compensation agreement.
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Who Pays for Your Uber Accident?
If you are a passenger in an Uber, there is a very low chance that you will assume any liability for the accident. That said, you will need to determine who is actually at fault, and therefore who will assume liability. In some cases, it may be determined that both your Uber driver and another driver are both at fault in one way or another, which would result in you seeking compensation from two different drivers’ insurance policies. Trying to manage a single claim is complicated for the uninitiated, but trying to negotiate two separate settlements at the same time is even worse. Luckily, you will have a personal injury attorney from the award-winning team at Fasig | Brooks handling this process while you focus on getting your life back on track.
Uber Technologies Inc. only provides full coverage insurance for drivers while they are actively working in the Uber app, meaning that they are either on their way to pick up a fare or are driving a passenger to their destination. When a driver has the app on and is available for a ride request but is not in the process of handling a ride, Uber’s insurance will only kick in if the driver’s personal insurance limit is reached.
In Florida, Uber’s insurance policy provides passengers with up to $1,000,000 of third-party liability coverage, but regardless of what the policy limit is, the fact remains that the insurance company wants to retain as much money as possible, so your attorney will need to fight hard to get you what you deserve.
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Determining Compensation After an Uber Accident
Of course, determining who is liable for your compensation is only the first step towards getting what you are owed. The claims investigation carried out by the insurance adjuster will touch on some of the high-level damages like your medical bills and immediate lost wages, but remember that the adjuster is both constrained by time AND working on behalf of the insurance company, meaning they are incentivized to gloss over as many damages as possible.
When you have a Destin personal injury attorney managing the claim from your end, they will go through all of the details closely to ensure that they collect information about each damage you have suffered, both economic and other. Compensatory damages — the type of damages a victim seeks in a personal injury claim — are subdivided into two parts: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the foundation of a personal injury claim because they seek compensation for the financially measurable impacts of the accident. These damages include things like the cost of your medical care and recovery expenses, as well as all income-related impacts, both short-term and long-term. If you have sustained an injury that will limit your ability to return to work in your former capacity, your attorney will need to calculate the long-term impacts of your reduced earning capacity, as well as possible job training or education to allow you to move past this loss of meaningful employment. In some cases, victims may suffer permanent injuries that will keep them from ever returning to work at all, which will require things like disability payments and more.
Each accident causes specific damages, which is why it is so important to work with an attorney who will go through the necessary due diligence before entering negotiation processes with the insurance company.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are the impacts of an accident that do not have dollar values associated with them, and therefore require additional calculations to quantify them in terms of monetary compensation. These include things like the actual pain and suffering of the injuries sustained in the accident, as well as the emotional impacts of such a painful and terrifying experience. Personal injury attorneys understand how to quantify and calculate these damages, and once they have reached a final determination, they will enter negotiations with the insurance company to ensure that you get the money you deserve for each damage.
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