RIDEGURU
Sometimes it seems obvious what to do if you're in an accident, but when it happens you may be stunned, confused, and even injured. It's important to know ahead of time the best practices so you come out on top. We put together a step by step list to make it easy.
- Call the Police. It's one of the first questions we ask drivers when they call us after an accident: "Did you file a police report?". This is very important because if it wasn't your fault, now you have written proof.
- Be Polite but don't admit fault. If it turns out it wasn't your fault, the other drivers involved in the accident can use that against you.
- Don't move your vehicle unless told to do so.
- Get names, addresses, and telephone numbers of drivers and witnesses. If you had a passenger at the time, it's important you get their contact info before they leave.
- Exchange insurance information with the other drivers.
- Take pictures of the scene. Again this will aid you in the future, should they claim it's your fault when it wasn't.
If you or your passengers are injured: - Even if you THINK you may be OK, you (and/or your passengers) should always seek medical treatment immediately. It could take days for the pain to sink in, but it doesn't mean you weren't hurt on day one.
- Be specific when describing your injury to medical providers.
- Contact LegalRideshare
I personally speak dozens of rideshare drivers every day and always stress these 9 steps, which were written by our attorneys. We wanted to make it easy for drivers to remember these steps so we put together a printable version here: Download Printable version: LegalRideshare Driver Checklist
Comments
Maybe it is different for rideshares and taxis, but in NC, if the damage is minimal, you are required to move to the side of the road.... of course you should take pictures of the accident, pavement, skidmarks, reasonably clearly first.
I didn’t know that. “Required”, huh?
But it makes sense.
It’s like that time I got pulled over in CT for not knowing you can’t have the phone up to the ear. How am I supposed to know that if I was just driving through the state?
Put up a huge sign with all the state level driving rules?
#3 is so hard. I’d imagine a huge percentage of people move the cars to “get out of everyone’s way.”
I’ve done it myself. Got hit in an intersection. Wanted to move my car past the intersection to get out of the way, and the guy (or girl) who hit me just kept on going. Never saw him again.
You say, “unless told to do”. I assume that’s by the authority.
This just happened to me last Saturday night. The driver who hit me took off. What was your outcome as a driver? How did your rideshare platform treat you after the accident? Any compensation for damages? I'm using Lyft Express, and I'm nervous that I'm going to get charged for it.
#3 is tough and we understand situations happen where you can't always do what you should. Yes, "Unless told to do so" would be dictated by law enforcement. Really our focus is to make sure drivers get enough information to have them covered and these are the best steps to do that. We made this checklist after we noticed a trend of drivers not gathering enough information after an accident.
I thought the same thing. I always move my car out of the way...
Man, I was reading this from a rider’s perspective. It’s for drivers, huh.
You should create one for riders.
You get out, yell and complain as to how important you are and now you are late, then call another Uber. Disregard all the pain the drivers would have to go through.
That’s pretty much how it’s always done.
I have always been scared to call the police after an accident and never want to deal with waiting around for them but the last time I was in an accident the guy behind me was so angry (he hit me!), he was throwing his phone and everything that I decided to call the police. I was pleasantly surprised how easy they were about everything.
It feels inconvenient at the time, but it really does make a difference. Plus they're trained to know what to file and how to handle the accident report.
I have always wondered in these situations, do the passengers just call another Uber? I hope I am never in this situation.
A lot of times yes. That's why it's important to get their info before they jump out and switch cars.
But then you’d be dinged with another fare.
Perhaps what would be a useful info is what the heck the driver should do after the car is out of commission.
It’s our livelihood, and this is a huge problem for rideshare drivers.
Checked out your site. What the heck is a Divvy?
And naturally, I have to ask whether you support non-Uber, non-Lyft, now-Divvy clients. I assume you do.
Different cities have different names for them, but in Chicago Divvy is a bike rental like Lime Bikes or Motivate.
LegalRideshare's focus is mostly geared toward rideshare issues, however we're always happy to see if we can help outside that scope and if not, can refer you to another firm.
I think you missed one. You probably need to contact Uber, right? I wouldn’t even know what to say, but that seems like something we should do.
The least, ask for the fare back.