Salt Lake City Uber & Lyft Accident Lawyer

Rideshare crashes come with a layer of confusion no ordinary car accident has. Uber and Lyft classify their drivers as independent contractors, not employees — which they use to keep the companies at arm's length. And whether you're covered by a $50,000 policy or a $1 million policy can come down to a single detail: whether the app was on, and whether the driver was carrying a passenger, at the exact moment of the crash.

Whether you were a passenger, another driver, a pedestrian, or the rideshare driver yourself, you shouldn't have to untangle that alone. At West Injury Law, we know exactly how this coverage works — and how to make it pay.

The Key to Every Rideshare Case — Which Coverage Applies

Uber and Lyft provide insurance in tiers based on the driver's status in the app at the time of the crash. Getting this right is often the whole case:

• App off (offline). The driver's personal auto insurance is the only coverage — Uber/Lyft's policies don't apply.
• App on, waiting for a ride request. Uber and Lyft provide limited contingent liability coverage — commonly around $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident for injuries, and $30,000 for property damage.
• En route to pick up a passenger, or with a passenger in the car. This is the big one: Uber and Lyft provide up to $1,000,000 in third-party liability coverage, plus uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. That's often far more than a typical driver carries.

Determining which "period" the driver was in — using the app's own trip data — is one of the first and most important things we do. It's also something the insurer would love to get wrong in their favor.

Who We Represent in Rideshare Cases

You may have a claim whether you were:

• A passenger in the Uber or Lyft.
• A driver or passenger in another vehicle hit by a rideshare driver.
• A pedestrian or cyclist struck by a rideshare driver.
• The rideshare driver yourself, injured by another at-fault driver.

Each of these can trigger different coverage, and we'll identify every policy available to you.

Utah Law and Your Deadline

Utah regulates rideshare companies as Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), and the same core injury rules apply to your claim: Utah's modified comparative-fault rule (a 50% bar) reduces your recovery by your share of fault and bars it at 50% or more, and you generally have four years from the crash to file a personal injury claim (two years for wrongful death). Because trip data and records matter so much in these cases, it's best to act early.

How Uber, Lyft, and Their Insurers Fight Back

Expect the companies to first argue the driver was an independent contractor, then dispute which coverage period applied — because the difference between the waiting-for-a-ride policy and the on-a-trip policy can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. They may also push a quick, low settlement before your injuries are fully known. We pin down the driver's app status with hard data, identify every applicable policy, and hold the correct insurer to the full value of your claim.

Compensation You Can Recover

• Economic damages: medical bills, future care, lost wages, and lost earning capacity.
• Non-economic damages: pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.
• Long-term care costs: for serious or permanent injuries.
• Wrongful death damages: for families who have lost a loved one.