Uber Accident Lawyer San Antonio, TX

Uber Accident Lawyer San Antonio, TX

In many Texas car accidents, there is one driver who is at fault and the law says that driver is then legally responsible for any damages that resulted from the crash. These damages often include losses suffered by injured victims, as well as any property damage. If that driver is driving their own vehicle as a private citizen, then the victim’s attorney would file the accident claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. However, if the vehicle driver that caused the accident was a ridesharing driver, the case becomes much more complex. The following is a brief overview of ridesharing crashes. For more detailed information, contact the Law Office of John W. Shaw, PLLC to speak with an Uber accident lawyer San Antonia, TX clients trust.

Ridesharing Car Accidents

Although not without some controversy, ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft have become popular all over the country. The convenience of just picking up your smartphone, plugging your information in an app, and having a driver show up a short time later to your destination is one of the reasons for that popularity. Many ridesharing users may not realize that the person who is providing that ride is not an employee of the ridesharing company but is considered a gig worker or freelance contractor. This is why when a crash occurs, determining liability can be complex. Liability is actually based on what the ridesharing driver’s status was at the time of the accident.

A San Antonio, TX Uber accident lawyer is aware that both Uber and Lyft consider the following factors when determining liability:

• If the ridesharing driver who caused the crash has no passengers in their vehicle and does not have his or her driver app active, accident claims must be filed against their own vehicle insurance policy.
• If the ridesharing driver who caused the crash has no passengers in their vehicle but they are logged into the driver app and are available for service, accident claims can be filed against both the ridesharing company’s corporate insurance policy and the driver’s vehicle insurance policy.
• If the ridesharing driver who caused the crash has passengers in their vehicle at the time of the crash, then accident claims are filed against the ridesharing company’s corporate insurance policy.

Anyone who has been injured in a ridesharing accident should contact a personal injury law firm to discuss what legal options they may have. Even if the ridesharing company’s corporate insurance company should be covering the victim’s damages, it is not uncommon for the company to try to shift legal responsibility for these damages onto the at-fault driver. On the other hand, if the driver’s insurance company is responsible for damages, they may try to shift legal responsibility onto the ridesharing company. Having a San Antonio Uber accident lawyer advocating for you will ensure you get the financial compensation you deserve.

 Facts about Uber and Lyft Accidents

Rideshare services like Uber and Lyft have made getting around a lot easier for most of us. This is especially true when we shouldn’t be driving (like after we have had some beer with our buddies). When you get into a car driven by an Uber driver, you are at risk of being involved in an accident just like you are at risk when you are behind the wheel or when you’re riding with a friend. When you are involved in an accident in an Uber in San Antonio, you need to first call the authorities, and seek medical attention, then you should call an uber accident lawyer San Antonio, TX residents recommend. Lawyer John W. Shaw, at the Law Office of John W. Shaw, PLLC is the lawyer you should call. Located on Broadway Street, John concentrates his practice solely on personal injuries, including Uber accidents.

There are several important reasons that contacting a lawyer should be among one of the first things that you do.

Uber accidents are different than regular car accidents

Unlike a regular car accident where you have a claim against the driver of the other car, in an Uber accident where you are an Uber passenger you can have a claim against the driver of the other car, the Uber driver, Uber itself, or all three depending upon the facts surrounding your accident.

Additionally, if you are driving your own car and you are hit by an Uber driver you may have a claim against the Uber driver, or Uber itself.

Determining who is responsible for your injuries and damages when an Uber driver is involved can be complicated and should be evaluated by an Uber accident lawyer. The reason that this is important is that it is the only way to determine who is financially liable for your injuries and damages.

Insurance companies will fight to determine who is financially responsible for your injuries and damages

When an Uber driver is involved, they are sometimes covered by a policy of insurance issued to them while they are on the clock with Uber. When the Uber driver is not on the clock, their own insurance may cover your injuries and damages, but, sometimes the driver’s insurance company refuses to do so because they did not notify their own insurance company that they were driving for Uber. Sometimes, Uber will fight with injured individuals about whether their driver was actually on the clock or not, and, if the driver did not inform their own insurance company that they were driving for Uber, their insurance company may deny your claim for injuries and damages.

An experienced Uber accident lawyer in San Antonio, such as John W. Shaw, and the Law Office of John W. Shaw can cut through the red-tape and help you prove who is responsible for your injuries and damages.

The insurance company’s claim process can be confusing and distract from you getting better

Your job as an injured person should be to concentrate on seeking medical treatment so that you can recover from the injuries that you sustained through someone else’s negligence. As you see your doctors and get treatment, they will keep a medical record. Our job as your lawyer will be to collect those records and bills and appropriately package those records and bills and send them to the appropriate insurance company with a request to pay your damages. If you don’t give them the right information, at the right time, you may not get compensated for your damages. And, if an insurance company evaluates your claim and places a dollar amount on it, it is very hard to change that dollar amount down the road.

There are several different types of damages that you suffer when you’re involved in an auto accident

Generally speaking, there are two types of damages that you suffer when someone else injures you: economic damages; and non-economic damages.

Economic Damages include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:

• Past medical expenses;
• Future medical expenses;
• Past lost wages;
• Future lost wages; and
• Funeral expenses.

Non-Economic Damages include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Pain and suffering;
• Impairment;
• Loss of companionship;
• Loss of consortium;
• Inconvenience;
• Physical disfigurement; and
• Loss of use of a body part or function of a body part.

I like to explain it this way. Economic damages are damages that you can prove by showing a jury or insurance company a receipt. Non-Economic damages are incapable of being proven with a receipt or other proof of payment or expense, but they are still recoverable losses when you are injured through no fault of your own. You need a good Uber accident lawyer to help you determine the amount of these damages. Insurance companies will do everything that they can to not pay you the full amount of your economic and non-economic damages. It is the job of your lawyer to ensure that you are appropriately and fairly compensated for the damages that you sustained as a result of the negligence of the Uber driver.

If the insurance company decides they do not want to pay you appropriately and fairly, you are going to have to sue someone

If, after all the information about your damages is properly presented to the appropriate insurance company and they do not want to pay you reasonably and fairly, you are going to have to sue someone. Properly filing a lawsuit, serving the proper defendant, conducting written discovery, taking depositions, picking a jury, and presenting a case to that jury for final judgment is no easy task. It is also not a task that you want to take on without the assistance of an Uber accident lawyer. While details of how a lawsuit for an Uber accident are not appropriate for this article, you should know that the quicker you get a lawyer involved in this process, the better the results will be for you and your claim.

Hiring an Uber accident lawyer in San Antonio, Texas

John W. Shaw, an Uber accident lawyer in San Antonio, Texas wants to be with you from the very beginning of this process to ensure that you can concentrate on what you need to concentrate on after being injured in an Uber accident, getting better. Let us deal with the insurance company for you. We have successfully recovered damages on our clients’ behalf in multiple Uber accident cases throughout the State of Texas. Contact an experienced Uber accident lawyer in San Antonio, Texas today by calling John W. Shaw at the Law Office of John W. Shaw, PLLC at (210) 272-7075 and let us do the same for you.