Boston Uber Accident Lawyer
Over the past decade, the rideshare company Uber has contributed to revolutionizing transportation in and around Boston. Residents and tourists use Ubers to get to-and-from Logan Airport, head to a game at Fenway or TD Garden, shuttle to meetings at Government Center, or simply as an alternative to riding the T.
But as Uber continues to grow in popularity, so does the number of Boston traffic accidents involving Uber drivers. These crashes can leave victims struggling with devastating injuries but extensive financial hardships.
The experienced Boston Uber accident attorneys at Jacoby & Meyers LLP help these victims secure financial compensation for the harm they have suffered. Contact our Boston personal injury accident lawyers today for a free consultation about your rights and options after getting hurt in a Boston Uber accident.
Jacoby & Meyers LLP – Boston’s Uber Accident Attorneys
Founded in 1972, Jacoby & Meyers LLP is one of the country’s top-rated and most innovative personal injury law firms. We provide high-quality, personalized legal representation for victims of all types of harmful accidents and incidents in Boston.
Over the past few years, Uber accident cases have accounted for a substantial and growing part of our Boston office’s law practice. Drawing on our firm’s resources and legal and practical knowledge, Jacoby & Meyers LLP’s attorneys, fight tirelessly to ensure our Boston Uber accident clients receive total, fair compensation to pay for their medical care expenses. Our proven track record of success handling Uber and motor vehicle accident claims gives our clients confidence that we can get top-dollar results in even the most complicated cases.
About Boston Uber Accidents
The Transportation Network Company (TNC) Division of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities reports that tens of millions of rideshare rides originate in Boston every year. The number of rides has continued to grow, despite a temporary decline during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, and Uber drivers provide a substantial number of them.
Some Boston rideshare rides will inevitably end in harmful motor vehicle accidents. According to the City of Boston’s Project Zero traffic program, roughly a dozen fatal crashes and more than 3,000 injury-related crashes occur in the Hub every year.
Local and state agencies in Massachusetts do not yet report data on the number of those accidents that involve Uber rides. Still, there are reasons to suspect that rideshares may heighten crash risks in Boston.
Consider these crash risk factors:
- Rideshare drivers have a financial incentive to speed up to complete as many trips as possible. This is especially so between trips when they do not have a passenger to answer to, and they’re competing with other drivers to get to an ideal location from which to receive and accept a ride request.
- Rideshare drivers interact with an app while behind the wheel. Many drivers use multiple apps and devices to drive for more than one company and follow routes on a GPS, contributing to dangerous driver distraction.
- Rideshare drivers often drive while fatigued. After finishing a day at work, many people drive for ridesharing companies as a second job or drive late at night or early in the morning when demand is high, but their natural alertness is low.
- Ridesharing increases traffic volume. More cars on the road lead to more accidents.
That is not to say that taking rideshare is inherently dangerous. But it does suggest that Uber passengers and others who share the road with Boston Uber drivers face potential accident risks that might not have been as significant before ridesharing companies came along.
What makes Boston Uber accidents different from other accidents?
At first blush, Uber accidents might seem indistinguishable from other motor vehicle accidents in Boston. After all, an Uber car is still just a car, and an Uber driver is a driver, and a crash involving them usually has the same causes and impacts as any other crash.
That’s all true, but it’s also not the whole story. What makes Uber accidents different—and why Jacoby & Meyers LLP wants you to know about our experience handling Boston Uber accidents, specifically—is insurance.
By law, every Boston driver must carry auto liability insurance that pays for damage the driver causes in an accident. But in addition to ordinary auto insurance, Uber drivers must also carry extra liability insurance coverage against damage caused by an accident that occurs when the driver is logged-on to the Uber app.
This additional insurance has two tiers of coverage:
- During times when the driver is logged-on and available to receive ride requests but not engaged with a prearranged ride, the insurance provides, per occurrence, $50,000 of coverage per individual for bodily injury, $100,000 of total coverage for bodily injury, and $30,000 of coverage for property damage.
- When the driver has a prearranged ride (i.e., from the moment the request is accepted until the completion of the ride), the insurance provides at least $1,000,000 per occurrence, per vehicle coverage for death, bodily injury, and property damage.
These extra coverage amounts, which apply only at times described, are far higher than the typical liability coverage under most Boston drivers’ ordinary auto liability insurance policies. In other words, if you get hurt in a Boston Uber accident, you may have access to funds that will help you pay for your care, recovery, and inconvenience than you might otherwise have if the accident didn’t involve an Uber driver.
But that also means it’s critically important for you to have a lawyer who knows how to preserve and obtain evidence to prove that your accident happened at a time of extra coverage and who understands how to use that evidence to your maximum advantage in negotiations with defense lawyers and insurance companies. Jacoby & Meyers LLP in Boston is that kind of law firm.
Who does the extra insurance in a Boston Uber accident cover?
Anyone injured in an accident involving an Uber driver in Boston may have the right to seek compensation from the extra Uber insurance mandated under Massachusetts law.
That includes:
- Uber passengers;
- Uber drivers;
- Drivers and passengers in or on other vehicles;
- Pedestrians and bystanders; and
- Bicyclists.
You do not have to be an Uber passenger in an accident to benefit from the extra insurance Uber drivers must carry. In addition, Uber’s additional insurance may also cover individuals harmed by Uber drivers in non-accident situations, such as if a driver assaults a passenger.
At Jacoby & Meyers LLP, we have the experience and know-how to represent anyone who suffered harm in an accident or incident involving a Boston Uber car or Uber driver. No matter what type of injury or loss you suffer, we want to help you explore your rights and options. Contact us for a free case evaluation.
Potential Compensation for Boston Uber Accident Injuries
The extra insurance Uber drivers must carry provides additional financial protection for victims of Boston Uber accidents. But for what does it pay?
The answer is: it depends. Every Uber accident case we handle at the Boston office of Jacoby & Meyers LLP has its particular facts and circumstances that dictate the types and amounts of financial compensation our client might have the right to receive.
In general, however, our team can frequently secure payment for:
- Past and future medical expenses related to Uber accident injuries and any resulting health complications, including costs of surgery, hospitalization, medication, and therapy
- Other past and future out-of-pocket expenses made necessary by the Uber accident and the injuries our client suffered in it, including the cost of repairing or replacing damaged property or of paying for services to help with daily tasks while recovering from an injury.
- Current income lost due to our client not being able to work due to an injury, including the value of paid-time-off our client had to use
- Future lost income our client would have earned had the Uber accident not happened, such as when an injury results in a disability that prevents our client from working or progressing in a career.
- Pain and suffering encompasses every aspect of the inconvenience and difficulty of sustaining an injury in an Uber accident, including loss of enjoyment of life, interference with intimate relationships, embarrassment, discomfort, and mental health challenges.
In some cases, the Jacoby & Meyers LLP team may succeed in securing additional statutory and punitive damages on behalf of a client injured in a Boston Uber accident. These damages provide extra compensation to victims when the party at fault for a crash violated a statute or acted in an extreme or intentionally harmful manner.
The specific amount of compensation you might receive for your Boston Uber accident can vary depending on the severity of your injuries, the strength of your case, and the amount of insurance available. The most reliable way to learn about the potential value of your case is to speak with a skilled Boston Uber accident attorney, like a member of the team at Jacoby & Meyers LLP.
How We Help Boston Uber Accident Victims
Jacoby & Meyers LLP is a full-service personal injury law firm. Our experienced attorneys and legal professionals handle every aspect of the process of securing financial compensation on behalf of our injured clients. No case is too complicated, and no adversary is too powerful.
Notably, at Jacoby & Meyers LLP in Boston, we give every client personalized attention. We shape our services to meet our client’s individual needs and priorities.
In any given case, we may:
- Conduct a thorough investigation of an Uber accident, sometimes with the help of forensics and other experts, to figure out how it happened and whom to hold legally and financially accountable for our client’s injuries and losses.
- Perform a search evaluation of the harm and difficulty our client has suffered to ensure that any legal action we take on our client’s behalf seeks total, fair compensation.
- Offer patient guidance and explanations to our clients about their rights and options, answering their questions and helping them make important decisions that affect their future and wellbeing.
- Prepare solid and well-supported claims for financial compensation to submit to courts, insurance companies, and others to demonstrate our client’s right to receive maximum payment.
- Engage in skilled settlement negotiation with defense lawyers, insurance companies, and their clients to explore whether we can resolve our client’s case by mutual agreement.
- Go to trial in Boston area courts to prove our client’s case to judges and juries using robust evidence and sophisticated legal arguments.
- Pursue actions to collect a settlement, judgment, or jury award from parties who owe damages to our clients.
Because we aim to tailor our services to our client’s unique needs, the sooner we can speak with a Boston Uber accident victim, the better. Our clients tend to have the broadest options and best chances of success when we get involved in their cases early. But we also have the skill and resources to make the most of an Uber accident case no matter when it arrives in our Boston office.
Your Skilled Boston Uber Accident Attorneys in Boston
Boston Personal Injury Lawyer, Andrew Finkelstein
Suffering injuries in any motor vehicle accident can throw your life into disarray. If the accident involved an Uber car, however, you may have the opportunity to secure significant financial compensation for your injuries and losses.
But act quickly. A skilled lawyer may have to take swift action to preserve critical evidence on your behalf and assert your rights to maximum payment for the harm you suffered. Waiting too long to speak with an attorney can even result in the loss of your rights entirely.
Do not delay. Contact the experienced Boston Uber accident attorneys at Jacoby & Meyers LLP today at (877) 472-3061 for a free consultation with our knowledgeable legal professionals.
Boston Location
Finkelstein & Partners, LLP
50 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02109