Whose insurance applies after an Uber or Lyft crash depends entirely on what the driver’s app was doing at the moment of impact, not on who technically caused the wreck. If the app is off, the driver’s personal policy is the only coverage available. If the app was on and the driver was waiting for a ride request, a smaller state-required policy applies, with limits well below the $1 million level.
If the driver had already accepted a ride or had a passenger in the car, Uber and Lyft’s $1 million commercial policy typically governs. A Savannah Uber accident lawyer at Calvin Smith Law starts every case by pinning down exactly which of these phases applied, because that single fact decides which insurance company you’re actually dealing with from the very start.
River Street and the Historic District generate rideshare volume that outpaces what a city of Savannah’s size would normally produce. Cruise ship crowds, weekend bachelor and bachelorette parties, and a bar scene that runs late every night of the week keep drivers circling downtown corridors well past when most cities go quiet. That volume means more crashes than search traffic alone would suggest, and it means our Savannah personal injury attorneys handle these cases regularly, not as an occasional exception.
Tourism traffic creates a specific pattern worth understanding. A driver unfamiliar with Savannah’s one-way grid, picking up a fare near a crowded square on a Friday night, is navigating unfamiliar streets while also managing pickup pins that don’t always match where a passenger is actually standing. That combination produces a steady stream of low-speed collisions near pickup and drop-off zones, along with more serious crashes when a driver rushes through an unfamiliar intersection trying to make up time on a delayed trip.
If an Uber or Lyft crash left you injured in Savannah, call us at 404-842-0999 for a free consultation. We’re available 24/7, and there’s no fee unless we win.
The Four Insurance Periods, in Plain Terms
Georgia law and Uber and Lyft’s own policies break rideshare coverage into distinct phases, and knowing which one applied to your crash is the first step in any claim.
App off. The driver isn’t logged into the app at all yet. Only their personal auto policy applies, the same as any ordinary car accident.
App on, waiting for a request. The driver is logged in but hasn’t accepted a ride. Georgia requires the rideshare company to carry at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident in bodily injury coverage during this window, plus $50,000 in property damage coverage.
En route to pick up a passenger. Once a ride is accepted, at least $1 million in combined liability coverage applies under Georgia law, and it stays in place until the ride is complete.
Passenger in the vehicle. The same $1 million policy covers injuries to the passenger, the driver, occupants of other vehicles, and pedestrians struck along the way.
Figuring out which period applied isn’t always obvious from the outside, and it’s exactly the kind of detail an insurer won’t volunteer on its own. Trip data logged by the app, including timestamps for when a ride was requested, accepted, and started, usually settles the question, but that data has to be requested and preserved before it becomes harder to access.
Calvin Smith Law has recovered over $1 billion for injured clients across Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee, and our Savannah team brings more than 30 years of combined experience to rideshare and auto claims filed in Chatham County. We take these cases on contingency and answer the phone 24 hours a day. Call our Savannah office at 404-842-0999, and we’ll identify which policy applies before you say anything to an insurer.
Results may vary. Prior case outcomes do not guarantee similar results.
What Happens If a Private Driver Hits You?
If you were hurt by an Uber or Lyft driver who wasn’t working at the time, or by any other regular driver on the road while you happened to be a rideshare passenger, this becomes a standard auto claim rather than a rideshare-specific one. A Savannah car accident lawyer handles this the same way as any two-vehicle crash, pursuing the at-fault driver’s personal insurance policy without needing to sort through app status or commercial coverage tiers at all.
The distinction matters because rideshare passengers sometimes assume every crash during a ride automatically triggers Uber’s $1 million policy. It doesn’t, if the other driver caused the crash and wasn’t logged into a rideshare app themselves. In that scenario, your claim runs through that driver’s own liability coverage, and if it’s insufficient, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may need to fill the gap.
Can You Sue Uber or Lyft Directly?
Suing Uber or Lyft directly is difficult in most crash cases because both companies classify their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. How to sue Uber after a crash typically means pursuing the driver and accessing the commercial insurance policy that Uber is required to provide, rather than holding Uber directly liable the way you would an employer.
Direct claims against Uber or Lyft as a company become possible in narrower circumstances, such as when the company negligently failed to conduct a required background check on a driver, or when a defect in the app itself contributed to the crash. These claims are harder to prove and typically require evidence beyond what’s available in a standard crash investigation.
Georgia law sets the insurance requirements that transportation network companies and their drivers must meet, codified at O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24, and the Georgia Secretary of State’s transportation network company rules govern how those companies are licensed in the state.
Arbitration clauses buried in the rideshare app’s terms of service create another obstacle worth knowing about early. Both Uber and Lyft require users to agree to arbitration for many types of disputes, which can affect how a claim against the company itself proceeds, though it typically doesn’t prevent an injured passenger or third party from pursuing the insurance claim tied to the crash.
Immediately After the Crash
What to do after an Uber accident in Georgia starts with the basics that apply to any crash, but a few extra steps protect a rideshare-specific claim.
- Call 911 and get medical care at the scene or the same day.
- Take a screenshot of your trip details in the app before anything changes or the trip disappears from your ride history.
- Photograph the vehicle, the scene, and any visible injuries.
- Get the driver’s insurance information directly, since app-based coverage details aren’t always obvious from the crash scene alone.
- Report the crash through the Uber or Lyft app, which creates an official record tied to the specific trip.
- Avoid giving a detailed statement to any insurer, including the rideshare company, before speaking with an attorney. If an insurer will not deal with you fairly, Georgia’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Fire Safety takes consumer complaints.
Skipping the app screenshot in particular causes more problems than people expect, since trip data can become harder to access once a ride is several days old. The official Georgia crash report is the other record worth pulling early, and it’s available through the state’s crash reporting system.
Cruise ship passengers hurt during a shore-day rideshare trip face an added wrinkle. If your trip started or ended near the cruise terminal and you sail the same day, get the crash documented in Savannah before you leave, including the police report, the driver’s information, and photos of the scene. Records gathered weeks later from another state are far harder to tie back to the crash.
How Long Do You Have to File in Georgia?
Georgia gives injured people two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit, codified at O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, and rideshare crashes follow this same deadline. Georgia also follows a modified comparative negligence rule, codified at O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, meaning you can still recover compensation as long as you’re found less than 50 percent at fault, with your award reduced by your share of responsibility.
Compensation can include medical costs, lost income, property damage, and pain and suffering, and Georgia doesn’t cap damages in ordinary negligence cases. When the rideshare driver caused the crash during an accepted trip, the $1 million commercial policy is the source of recovery. When another motorist caused it, you pursue that driver’s liability coverage first, and the rideshare company’s uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is capped at $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident under Georgia law.
Most Savannah rideshare injury cases are filed in the State Court of Chatham County, which handles civil tort claims for the county. Filing in the right venue matters because a case filed in the wrong court can be transferred or dismissed while the two-year clock keeps running.
FAQs: Savannah Uber & Rideshare Accident Lawyer
These are the questions we hear most often from people injured in Savannah rideshare crashes.
Am I covered if I was a passenger and my own driver caused the crash?
Yes, if your driver caused the crash during an accepted trip, the $1 million commercial policy covers your injuries as a passenger. If another motorist caused it, your claim runs through that driver’s liability coverage first. The rideshare company’s uninsured motorist coverage sits behind that at $100,000 per person.
What if I was walking or driving and an Uber hit me?
The same insurance-period analysis applies. If the driver had a passenger or was en route to one, the commercial policy generally covers your injuries as well. If the app was off entirely, only the driver’s personal policy applies.
Can I sue the driver personally instead of going through Uber’s insurance?
In most cases, the claim resolves through the applicable insurance policy rather than a personal judgment against the driver, since that’s where the actual funds to pay a claim exist.
Does an arbitration clause in the app’s terms block my claim?
Not usually for an insurance claim tied to a crash. Arbitration provisions typically govern disputes with the company itself, and pursuing the commercial insurance policy through the driver proceeds through the normal claims process instead.
What if I was a tourist and didn’t live in Georgia?
You can still pursue a claim without returning to the state for every step, since an attorney can handle communications with insurers and coordinate medical documentation from wherever you actually receive treatment.
What if the app’s GPS data shows conflicting timestamps?
This happens more often than expected, and it’s exactly why requesting full trip data early, rather than relying on a screenshot alone, often becomes necessary to resolve a disputed insurance period.
Talk to Calvin Smith Law About Your Crash
Rideshare claims involve layers of coverage that most people never have to think about until they’re hurt and trying to figure out who actually owes them money.
At Calvin Smith Law, we offer a free consultation, work on contingency, and answer the phone 24/7. Call our Savannah office at 404-842-0999 or reach out through our contact page to get started. We don’t play, and we know which policy to go after.
Calvin Smith Law – Savannah Office
Address:
785 King George Blvd Ste C
Savannah, GA 31419
Phone:
(404) 842-0999
Office Hours:
By Appointment Only
Available for free consultations
