After a rideshare crash, the hardest part is often figuring out who answers for causing your injuries. Is it the driver, the app company, or several insurers? Our team at Schefman & Associates handles these claims for riders, drivers, and pedestrians across metro Detroit. When you need an Uber accident lawyer in Detroit, our team untangles the coverage questions so you can focus on getting better.
Who Answers for a Detroit Rideshare Crash?
Fault in an Uber wreck is different from which insurance coverage is available and can be recovered on; it rarely sits with a single party. As a passenger, liability can fall on the rideshare driver, another motorist, or both, and the at-fault driver’s coverage often overlaps with Uber’s commercial policy, or one policy might exclude coverage. Injury suits over $25,000 are filed in the County Circuit Court, where these multi-insurer fights play out.
How Coverage Shifts With the App
The money available depends almost entirely on what the driver’s app was doing at the moment of impact, a structure set by Michigan’s Limousine, Taxicab, and Transportation Network Company Act, MCL 257.2123. Coverage falls into clear tiers:
- App on, no ride accepted: $50,000 per person and $100,000 per crash in liability coverage.
- Driving toward a rider or carrying a passenger: up to $1 million in liability coverage.
- App off: the driver’s personal auto policy applies if coverage for ride-share is available.
- Your own underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage for bodily injury may be available.
Because the payout can swing from thousands to a million dollars based on app status, the insurer has every reason to claim a lower-tier policy is applicable. Winning that point means getting Uber’s trip and app logs, the second-by-second records the platform holds but rarely hands over without a fight.
Can I Sue Uber as an Injured Pedestrian or Bicyclist?
Yes. A pedestrian or cyclist struck by a rideshare vehicle can pursue the liability coverage tied to the driver’s app activity for a bodily injury claim where the serious impairment threshold under MCL 500.3135 is met. Michigan’s no-fault benefits cover medical bills (coverage depending on policy) and lost wages (3 years), no matter who caused the crash. Which insurer pays those no-fault benefits depends on whether you carry your own auto policy, or a relative’s coverage, or assignment by a state assigned claims plan.
Our attorneys push for the trip data through formal preservation letters, which lock in the coverage period before an insurer reshapes the account of what happened.
Why Choose Schefman & Associates?
With more than 60 years of combined experience, Schefman & Associates builds rideshare claims around hard proof. We deliver aggressive but nuanced representation that gets results. Our work for Uber injury victims includes the following:
- Coverage analysis: we assess which insurance tier applied when the crash happened.
- Data demands: we send preservation letters for Uber’s trip records and conduct aggressive discovery.
- Damage accounting: we tally medical costs, lost income, and pain & suffering, and hire the experts needed to support the claim and convince the jury.
- Free consultations: we review your options at no charge.
Detroit’s rideshare crashes concentrate near the airport and downtown event traffic, and our Detroit Uber accident lawyers know how those local patterns shape an insurer’s defense.
Detroit Uber Accident Lawyers Ready to Help
If you were injured in an Uber crash and are unsure who is responsible, Schefman & Associates is ready to handle the legal issues while you focus on recovery. Our team investigates insurance coverage, deals with the adjusters, and pursues the full value of your claim.
You pay no attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for you. Call (248) 594-2600 or contact us online for a free consultation.