Taunton, MA Uber and Lyft Accident Lawyer
Grabbing a ride in an Uber or Lyft is common nowadays, and people expect to arrive at their destination safely. Unfortunately, accidents happen sometimes, and drivers, riders, and others might be badly hurt.
After an accident with a Lyft or Uber, you should immediately call for emergency medical help and the police. You should also contact an attorney once you have gotten proper medical care. Your lawyer can help you file a personal injury lawsuit. Lawsuits for auto accidents in Massachusetts are somewhat complicated because of no-fault insurance laws. In your insurance claim and lawsuit, you need evidence. Photos from the crash site, data from ridesharing apps, and witness testimony might be crucial to your claims. Your evidence should help you get fair compensation for damages, including medical bills, property loss, pain, suffering, and other injuries.
Call the Law Office of John J. Sheehan at (617) 925-6407 and schedule a confidential case evaluation free of charge with our Uber and Lyft accident lawyers.
What You Should Do After a Crash with Lyft or Uber Vehicles in Taunton, MA
After a collision, your main goal should be getting help. Call 911 and have dispatchers send emergency medical personnel and the police to the scene immediately. Even if you do not believe your injuries are serious or you do not believe the police need to be involved, it is best to call for help anyway. You might be injured in ways not immediately obvious, and the police might investigate and write a formal report we can use to find valuable evidence.
You should remain at the scene until help arrives. Avoid leaving the scene for any reason, especially if you were another driver hit by an Uber or Lyft vehicle. Leaving the scene before the police arrive might be considered a hit and tun, and you could be investigated or even criminally charged even if the accident was not your fault. If the Lyft or Uber driver leaves the scene, inform the police when they arrive.
You should identify the other driver while waiting for help. Try to get names and basic personal information, like phone numbers and insurance details. Not only is this information necessary for an insurance claim, but we also need it to properly identify the defendant in a lawsuit.
Once the dust has settled and you have gotten the medical care you need, call a lawyer to discuss possible legal action and compensation. Injured victims often hesitate to contact a lawyer because the prospect of a lawsuit is intimidating. However, if your damages are high and you are out of work because of your injuries, a lawsuit might be your best bet to get fair compensation to continue supporting yourself.
Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit After an Uber or Lyft Accident in Taunton, MA
Massachusetts auto insurance includes mandatory no-fault policies. Personal injury protection (PIP) policies help cover medical expenses and a portion of lost income. Injured accident victims would file claims with their own PIP coverage, and there is no need to offer proof of fault. However, there are limitations on when accident victims may pursue lawsuits for additional damages.
According to Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 231 § 6D, a person may file a lawsuit for damages after a car accident only if their medical bills are more than $2,000 or their injuries result in death, the loss of body part, serious disfigurement, or the loss of vision or hearing. As you can see, this limits who can file a lawsuit. Typically, victims with less severe injuries are barred from suing, but their PIP insurance might fully cover their injuries.
Evidence in Lawsuits for Lyft and Uber Accidents in Taunton, MA
An attorney can assist you in collecting evidence to support your case and prove your claims against the defendant. Evidence can vary widely between cases and is often unique to each plaintiff and situation. Even so, certain types of evidence are so common that they come up in many, if not most, lawsuits for Lyft or Uber crashes.
Photos are very common in many car accident cases. People often take pictures of their vehicles and the surrounding area to show to insurance companies. Since you might have to file an insurance claim before filing a lawsuit, you should take some photos if possible. Our Lyft and Uber accident lawyers might also get video footage of the accident if security cameras were nearby and recorded the collision.
Drivers for Uber and for Lyft work through apps on their cell phones. The app records information about when and where passengers are picked up, and there might be information about the driver’s route. We might need this information to establish that the defendant was the driver in your accident or that you were a passenger in their vehicle.
Even when other evidence is unavailable, we can use witness testimony to prove your claims. While people sometimes regard witness testimony as less reliable than other forms of evidence, it can still be very persuasive to a jury. If we have multiple other drivers or people who saw the crash, we can have them testify about what they know and shed light on how the defendant caused the crash.
Damages You Should Claim in a Lawsuit for a Lyft or Uber Accident in Taunton, MA
Damages are often substantial in auto accident cases. Not only do victims encounter significant expenses, but the painful experiences they endure deserve full and fair financial compensation. Economic losses include several big expenses like medical bills, property damage, and lost income from being too injured to work. Non-economic damages are hard to evaluate but might include physical pain, emotional anguish, humiliation, and other subjective yet painful experiences.
Evaluating damages is not always easy. Even economic damages, often calculated simply by adding up costs, can be hard to assess when there are numerous costs. Even the cost of gas and travel to and from medical treatment should be considered.
Non-economic damages are usually evaluated by juries, but they will evaluate only what we claim. If we do not include your pain and suffering, it will not be compensated. Non-economic damages tend to be based on economic damages, meaning the greater your economic losses, the greater your non-economic injuries.
Call Our Taunton, MA Lyft and Uber Accident Lawyers for Help Now
Call the Law Office of John J. Sheehan at (617) 925-6407 and arrange a private case assessment free of charge with our Uber and Lyft accident lawyers.
