New Orleans Lyft Accident Attorney

Office Location: 400 Poydras Tower, #1975, New Orleans, 70130

With unmatched convenience and competitive pricing, it’s no wonder rideshare services like Lyft have become a big hit with travelers, commuters, and anyone else who may need an affordable ride service.

No matter where your intended drop-off point is, your Lyft ride shouldn’t end in an ambulance ride to the hospital. However, it’s exactly how some rideshare users’ rides end. Unfortunately, Lyft drivers aren’t immune to accidents. Whether the accident is due to their negligence or another driver’s negligence, you deserve compensation for whatever damages you suffer. The best way to seek full and fair compensation for them is to speak to the New Orleans Lyft accident attorneys at Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers.

We are a national law firm with multiple offices around the country, including New Orleans. We also work with affiliate law firms in most states that share our focus and dedication to excellence. No matter where you are located, we may be able to help you, so call or contact us now. We are open, for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 800-898-4877, or you may contact us now by clicking here to submit your case for review.

Common Lyft Accident Injuries

Although some people view it as Uber’s underdog, rideshare company Lyft does reasonably well in the marketplace. It serves riders in 644 U.S. cities or towns and has a market share of 29 percent. Over two million drivers currently drive through its rideshare platform with an average salary of nearly $30,000. In a recent year, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, they had $3.6 billion in revenue and $2.3 in 2020 during the pandemic.

According to one study, rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber have supplied over two billion rides since rising to popularity in 2010. With this many rideshare app drivers on New Orleans roads, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the number of car crashes involving rideshare app drivers is steadily rising.

Individuals who are in such accidents often incur traumatic injuries. Common injuries in New Orleans Lyft accident cases include:

• Back injuries
• Head and neck injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
• Spinal cord injuries (SCI)
• Paralysis
• Organ failure
• Internal bleeding
• Loss of limbs
• Broken bones
• Lacerations
• Bruises and hematomas
• Sepsis
• Severe burns
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

These are just a few common injuries that Lyft accident victims regularly suffer in New Orleans. If you sustained a different injury, you can still file a claim seeking financial compensation for your damages.

Reach out to our experienced Lyft accident attorneys as soon as possible to further discuss your legal options for financial recovery today. We know how quickly medical bills for these injuries and others can add up and the pain and suffering they can cause. We are here for you from beginning to end.

The Importance of Post-Accident Medical Care

No matter the extent of your injuries after a Lyft accident, it’s imperative that you see a licensed physician as soon as possible. Just because you don’t go to the hospital via ambulance doesn’t mean you don’t need medical care. Take yourself to the hospital, urgent care center, or your doctor’s office and tell them the details of the accident. If you suffer injuries, it’s critical that you get an evaluation and treatment right away and that medical professionals document your injuries as soon as possible. This is in the best interest of your physical health and of your legal claim.

Fault for New Orleans Lyft Motor Vehicle Collisions

If you want to obtain maximum compensation for the suffering you endured in a Lyft accident, your New Orleans Lyft accident lawyer will need to determine who is responsible for causing the accident. Several different parties might share fault for causing your Lyft accident injuries.

Negligent driving is arguably the most common cause of motor vehicle accidents in New Orleans. In these kinds of accidents, your Lyft driver might have been driving irresponsibly, or another motorist may have been driving recklessly.

Examples of negligent driving can include:

• Speeding
• Following too closely
• Failing to use a turn signal when required
• Failure to yield
• Failure to stop
• Distracted driving
• Drowsy or fatigued driving
• Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol (DUI/DWI)
• Road rage

However, negligent motorists aren’t the only cause of Lyft crashes. There are multiple parties other than your Lyft driver who might share fault for the injuries and damages you sustained.

For example, suppose the roadways were unsafe in some way—such as an unsecured road construction zone, a dangerous gaping pothole, or another road hazard caused your rideshare accident. In that case, the government agency responsible for maintaining road safety and integrity might share fault for your accident and resulting injuries.

A part of any of the involved vehicles may have malfunctioned caused your Lyft accident.

In this event, you can hold several different parties liable for your accident, such as:

• Auto parts designers
• Vehicle parts manufacturers and distributors
• Dealerships
• Safety inspectors
• Technicians
• Other third-parties

Your Lyft accident lawyer will conduct a thorough investigation to determine who should compensate you for your suffering. If multiple parties should be accountable, they will do just that to maximize your compensation.

Determining Liability

Most liability in personal injury claims, Lyft accident claims included, involves the negligence of another party. When determining liability in your case, your New Orleans Lyft accident lawyer will examine you’re the details of your case to see if one or more parties satisfy the four elements of negligence.

These elements include:

• Duty: Another party owed you a duty of care. For instance, your Lyft driver had a duty of care to drive sober, or the government employee had a duty of care to fix the road promptly.
• Breach or violation of duty: The other party failed to adhere to their duty. Perhaps your Lyft driver was drowsy, or even another driver disobeyed the rules of the road and ran a red light.
• Causation (cause in fact): The other party’s breach of duty caused your injuries and damages. The other party should have known their actions could injure others. For example, failing to yield the right of way can foreseeably cause an injury accident.
• Damages: You have compensable damages that arose from your injuries, such as your pain and suffering and your medical bills.

Your attorney may identify more than one party at-fault for your injuries. If so, each of them can be liable, which can maximize the compensation you are entitled to receive.

If your case ends up in court, the judge or the jury gets to decide who is liable for your injuries. If the court determines multiple parties are liable, it will decide each party’s liability.

Perhaps your Lyft driver was distracted by an incoming text message before running a stop sign. However, the stop sign was also partially obstructed by a large tree. You can hold the Lyft driver and the government entity responsible. The court may determine that your Lyft driver is 80 percent liable while the government entity is 20 percent liable. If your total court award is $50,000, the driver will pay $40,000 while the other party will pay you $10,000.

Lyft Car Accident Damages in New Orleans

After suffering severe or even catastrophic injuries in a Lyft accident, you deserve compensation for your losses. The monetary representation of these losses is known as damages. You may seek different types of damages after sustaining injuries in a Lyft accident.

The law breaks the different ways that your life was affected by your injuries into two categories—economic and non-economic damages. You may also receive punitive damages, depending on the specifics of the accident.

Economic Damages

Also known as special damages, economic damages have a fixed monetary value. These are the most apparent losses that you might think about.

Typical economic damages in Lyft accident cases include:

• Medical expenses such as bills for the ambulance, emergency room, surgery, medical specialists, prescriptions, and medical devices
• Lost wages and income from not working due to your injuries

Keep in mind that it’s easier for your New Orleans Lyft accident lawyer to determine the value of your economic damages because they have a fixed monetary value. Unfortunately, that’s untrue about non-economic damages.

Non-Economic Damages

General or non-economic damages lack an inherent monetary value. However, to recover fair compensation for them, your lawyer must determine what they are worth. Non-economic damages include all of the ways that your Lyft accident affected your life that doesn’t directly involve money.

For instance, you might have experienced a breakdown in your relationships with your friends and family, disturbing physical disfigurement or scarring, emotional and mental turmoil, decreased quality of life, and other non-monetary damages. Each injured party will experience these losses differently, and some may not at all. Therefore, it’s imperative to discuss your losses at length with your New Orleans Lyft accident attorney to ensure that their value is correctly measured and requested in your injury claim.

Punitive Damages

Finally, punitive damages may also be available in your claim. For example, the court may award punitive damages if it finds the liable party’s actions abhorrent or egregious. Courts award these damages to send a message and punish the responsible party for their disgraceful acts. Although courts rarely award them, punitive awards can substantially increase your compensation. You can discuss the possibility of asking the court for punitive damages in your case with your New Orleans Lyft accident lawyer.

The Louisiana Statute of Limitations

Louisiana law has a statute of limitations that applies a deadline to all personal injury claims, including those arising from Lyft accidents. Under the statute of limitations, injury victims have one year from the date they sustained their injuries to file a legal claim. However, there may be some variations in the deadline if the case involves an injured minor, a government entity, or other circumstances.

This is why it’s best to contact a New Orleans Lyft accident attorney as soon as possible after an accident. They can assess your case to determine the applicable statute of limitations and file your lawsuit by the legal deadline. If you miss this deadline, you don’t have legal rights to pursue your claim in court anymore. As such, you won’t receive any compensation for your injuries, no matter how severe they are.

New Orleans Lyft Accident FAQs

Being in any motor vehicle accident can come as quite a shock. You aren’t sure if you are okay physically or even about your next logistical steps. Suppose you are involved in an accident with a Lyft driver—either as their passenger, another motorist, or another passenger in a different vehicle. In that case, the situation can be even more complex. You likely have many questions and are looking for guidance. You can find both answers and guidance at Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers when you meet with us for a free case consultation. In the meantime, we hope our FAQ will help you.

Are Lyft Drivers More At-Risk for Accidents Than Other Drivers?

Any rideshare app driver is at an increased risk for causing or being in an accident due to the unique demands of the work.

Consider:

• Distractions: Lyft drivers have inherent distractions on the job. They are constantly using their apps to accept more passengers and look at their directions. They might also be distracted by their passengers’ conversations or behaviors.
• Driving in unfamiliar places: Lyft drivers frequently drive in unfamiliar areas. Not only does this cause them to consult their digital map more, but it increases the risk of an accident since they don’t know the roads of the area. For example, they may accidentally turn the wrong way on a one-way street or unintentionally ignore a stop sign.
• Driving drowsy or fatigued: The reality is that for many Lyft drivers, this is their moonlighting gig. They have other part-time or full-time jobs and often drive for Lyft during early morning or evening hours or on weekends. Unfortunately, this can decrease their rest and sleep, making them less safe drivers.
• Heavy traffic: Lyft drivers are often used during times of heavy traffic so that riders don’t have to deal with the traffic or pay for parking at their destination. Workers frequently summon Lyft rides during rush hour or individuals for bar hopping or sporting or concert events. Whenever there is more traffic, the chances of an accident increase.

Lyft drivers are responsible for their actions. They need to ensure they are doing all they can to be safe on the road. If they fail to do so and an accident happens, they will be liable for the damages they cause.

Will Lyft Handle My Accident Claim?

While you will need to report your accident to Lyft, do not under any circumstances rely on them to do anything about your claim. It’s up to you to file a claim with the right insurance company and pursue the compensation you deserve. Lyft isn’t going to pay you out of their pocket or attempt to convince their insurance company to pay you for your damages. The best thing you can do is hire a New Orleans Lyft accident lawyer. They have a vested interest in your claim and handle it if it were their own.

How Do You File Lyft Car Accident Insurance Claims?

Louisiana is a fault state for motor vehicle accidents and insurance purposes. In a fault state, if you have serious injuries from a car wreck of any type, you will need to file an accident claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier. However, when you are dealing with a Lyft driver, the process for filing an insurance claim can often grow to be quite complex since rideshare drivers are independent contractors.

Lyft doesn’t provide insurance coverage for its drivers 24/7.

The only times that Lyft’s $1 million auto insurance policies will take effect include:

• When the Lyft driver is in driver mode on the app awaiting a passenger
• When a Lyft driver is en route to pick up a passenger
• When the Lyft driver is actively transporting a passenger

When the driver is no longer in driver mode on the Lyft app and not effectively working for the company, Lyft’s auto insurance coverage does not apply. Instead, the driver’s own auto insurance coverage should go into effect.

Louisiana law requires all drivers to have liability insurance coverage to protect you in the event of an accident. This coverage pays for property damages or personal injuries for which the driver may be legally responsible, up to their policy’s dollar limits.

Each driver must have a minimum of:

• $15,000 for bodily injury to one person
• $30,000 for bodily injury to more than one person in a single accident
• $25,000 coverage for damage to another person’s vehicle or other property

They call this 15/30/25 coverage. If another driver, not your Lyft driver, is responsible for causing the accident, you will file a claim with that party’s insurance.

Once you file your claim, the insurance company, whether it’s Lyft’s or the driver’s own insurance company, will probably fight back every step of the way. Many insurance adjusters try to place unjustified fault on you or otherwise deny you the damage compensation that is rightfully and legally yours. In addition, the insurance company may only compensate you for certain types of losses, such as the cost of repairing or replacing damaged property and any medical bills you incurred.

Other losses you suffer and any other damages that you can’t recover from the insurance company will need to be obtained by other means. For example, if you have additional questions or concerns about the insurance claims process for Lyft accident cases, be sure to contact our well-versed New Orleans Lyft accident attorneys for more specific information.

Should You Litigate Your Lyft Car Accident Case?

The other option to recover maximum compensation for your injuries is filing a civil court claim. You may need to pursue a lawsuit in several circumstances.

The first is if the Lyft driver in question doesn’t have an insurance policy. This means you cannot file a claim through their insurance company. As such, your single remedy is to seek the monetary recovery you deserve through the civil court system.

Keep in mind that even in cases where the insurance company will grant you compensation, their proposed insurance settlement may not fully cover your losses. Insurance settlements frequently only provide compensation for specific types of economic or financial losses and not non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, scarring and disfigurement, or loss of enjoyment of life.

However, you have the legal right to receive compensation for all of the ways that your injuries turned your life upside down. If you desire to recover compensation for these types of damages, going to court may be your best option. You’ll want to discuss your accident and injuries with one of our seasoned accident attorneys as soon as possible.

What Are Lyft Car Accident Cases Worth?

It’s only natural to want to know how much you can receive if you were to win your Lyft accident case. Each Lyft accident case is unique, making it difficult to predict the outcome. However, when you meet with one of our skilled Lyft accident lawyers, they can provide you with an estimate of what your claim might be worth based on their own local experiences and other recent cases.

The value of your claim can depend on:

• How many parties are liable for the accident
• The extent of your injuries and damages
• The insurance policies available
• The strength of the evidence in your case

Your economic damages are easier to calculate, though you still want an attorney to run these calculations.

Your non-economic damages are more difficult to put a value on, and you need an experienced Lyft accident lawyer to fully account for them.

Get a New Orleans Lyft accident attorney on your side who knows the actual value of your claim and isn’t afraid to fight for it on your behalf. Far too many times, rideshare accident victims settle with the insurance company for much less than their claim is really worth. Sometimes they settle because they simply don’t know their claim is worth more. Having an attorney on your side before entertaining any offers the insurance company gave you is in your best interest.

Another reason why injured parties are quick to settle is that they need the money. The medical bills are starting to show up in their mailbox while their paychecks aren’t because their injuries keep them from going back to work. This is a terrible predicament because the insurance company knows you are desperate for money and will take advantage of you.

If you are in dire financial straits, talk to your New Orleans Lyft accident lawyer to find out your other options besides accepting a low settlement.

For instance, they might arrange a medical lien for you. With a medical lien, the medical provider agrees to wait for payment until your case concludes. In return, you and your attorney agree to pay them all that you owe them after obtaining a monetary award or settlement.

Will Your Lyft Accident Case Settle or Go To Trial?

Most personal injury cases either end with a negotiated settlement or through litigation. The more complex the case is and the more parties involved, the longer it will take.

Most personal injury claims end with a settlement.

Many people prefer settlements because they:

• Save time
• Cut down on legal expenses
• Give both sides more control over how the case ends

If you opt for a settlement, you can have your compensation in your pocket sooner and not have to testify in front of the court. However, you still deserve full and fair compensation for your injuries. If you don’t feel like you received such a settlement, don’t take it. Your attorney can advise you whether you have received a decent settlement, about making counteroffers, or going to court. Some cases even settle after a trial begins but before the court renders a verdict.

How Soon Should You Contact a New Orleans Lyft Accident Attorney?

After being in a Lyft car accident, the most important step is seeking the medical and then the legal help you need. Considering this, you will want to get medical care as soon as possible after the accident. Once you are medically stable, please call our office to schedule a complimentary consultation.

The sooner you reach out, the sooner we can get to work fighting for you. We can protect you from the insurance company’s attempts at delaying, devaluing, or not paying your claim. Our attorneys will also ensure that they file your claim within the statute of limitations.

Our Seasoned New Orleans Lyft Accident Attorneys Can Help

Injury accident cases involving Lyft or other rideshare companies can be complex for victims to negotiate. You might be dealing with severe personal injuries, communicating with Lyft insurance claims adjusters, managing hospital bills and lost income and wages, and at a loss for what steps to take next. There’s no need to handle your case on your own. Contact Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers to speak to a seasoned New Orleans Lyft accident lawyer who genuinely cares about you, your family, your livelihood, and your future.

Our compassionate accident injury lawyers have time to work on your case now, beginning with investigating your Lyft crash and gathering crucial documents, including eyewitness statements and medical records. We will find all available sources of compensation and prove why you deserve monetary recovery for your damages.

We are skilled negotiators who can negotiate your claim with Lyft’s insurance carrier, fighting for full and fair recovery on your behalf. We aren’t afraid to take your case to trial to seek full compensation for your damages if we need to. We offer all you need for a successful Lyft claim.

The legal team of Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers, is nationally recognized for protecting the rights of injured victims for more than 20 years. If a Lyft accident injured you, call our office right now for a free consultation! Because we take all of our Lyft accident cases on a contingency fee basis, you will not owe us a dime unless we win your case.

We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so call us today at 800-898-4877 or contact us now by clicking here. Please don’t wait—contact us today to ensure the most successful Lyft accident claim possible.

Office Location:

400 Poydras Tower,

#1975, New Orleans, 70130

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“Mr. Guss was wonderful. He fought hard against the insurance company to get us what we deserved. I went from owing almost $5000 in medical bills to actually getting money in my pocket. Absolutely Amazing!!!!! A big thank you from me and my family!!!”

-Karley B.