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Rideshare drivers are capable of making mistakes behind the wheel, just like any other driver. When these mistakes result in accidents and injuries, victims may not be able to sue rideshare companies like Uber or Lyft directly, but they can still file a lawsuit against the rideshare driver and recover through their supplemental insurance coverage.
Plaintiffs can obtain compensation for economic harms, such as medical bills, lost income, and property damage. They can also get compensated for their more personal pain and suffering and impact on their life through non-economic damages. In certain cases, a court may also decide to award punitive damages where the defendant was particularly reckless or malicious. However, these damages are only available if the lawsuit is filed within the state’s strict time limit.
To get started on your case right now, call the seasoned Wisconsin Uber and Lyft accident attorneys of Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166. By calling now, you can obtain a no charge case assessment and get on the road to recovery.
If you get injured in an accident caused by the driver of an ordinary personal vehicle in Wisconsin, you would typically look to recover from the driver themselves (or, more likely, their insurer). If your accident was caused by a professional driver while on the job, you may be able to pursue your recovery from their employer. But rideshare drivers that operate for companies like Uber and Lyft blur this line.
Under Wisconsin law, rideshare drivers are technically classified as independent contractors rather than traditional employees. This means that the doctrine of vicarious liability (which is what allows injury victims to sue employers for the acts of their employees) does not typically apply in rideshare accident situations. Therefore, you likely cannot sue Uber or Lyft directly when one of their drivers causes an accident that injures you.
You can, however, benefit from the supplemental insurance coverage that the rideshare companies provide for their drivers. The policy limits on this insurance vary depending on the circumstances of the accident and the party that sustained the injury. For instance, insurance available can depend on whether the driver was actively carrying a passenger or had the rideshare app open and was merely on its way to pick up a passenger. Discuss your situation with a dedicated Wisconsin Uber and Lyft accident attorney to learn more about how the rideshare company’s supplemental insurance applies to you.
If you pursue a lawsuit to recover compensation for your Uber or Lyft accident injuries, you are aiming to recover damages. Damages are how a court calculates what a given plaintiff should receive from their suit, both in terms of their own financial and personal harms and the other party’s particularly reckless conduct.
The most straightforward damage calculations for any lawsuit stemming from an Uber or Lyft accident are those that account for economic harms. These are any costs that are strictly financial. The three most common forms of economic damage in these types of lawsuits are medical expenses, lost income, and property damage. While arriving at the values for economic damages is fairly easy in theory, you will still need evidence of all the costs that go into the calculation. Be sure to save every invoice or receipt you receive for all expenditures related to your accident.
Non-economic damages are based on the more personal consequences of the accident and injuries to the victim. Because this form of compensation is not based on explicit monetary figures, calculating them may prove more complex than it might for economic damages. But Uber and Lyft accident injury victims’ pain and suffering is just as real as their financial expenditures, and the monetary remedy for this pain and suffering will be a substantial factor in any court’s awarding of damages.
Unlike economic and non-economic damages, referred to collectively as compensatory damages, punitive damages are not available in every case. This is because these damages are not based on the harm that the victim suffered but rather the level of recklessness or maliciousness in the defendant’s behavior that caused the harm. Only when the defendant’s behavior deserves additional punishment will a court consider awarding punitive damages. In the case of Uber and Lyft accidents in Wisconsin, punitive damages are most commonly seen in instances of drunk driving.
If you believe you may have grounds for a lawsuit after sustaining an injury in an accident with a negligent or reckless rideshare driver, you do not have long to wait. Under Wisconsin’s statute of limitations, personal injury plaintiffs generally only have three years to file their official claim in court. The clock on this three-year period begins on the date that you sustained your injury.
Failing to file a lawsuit within the statutory window is grounds for dismissal of the case. Therefore, if you do not file your formal complaint in court within three years of the date of your accident, chances are that you will walk away without any means of recovering the compensation you are rightfully owed.
Three years may seem like a long time, but you should never wait around on your opportunity to hire a lawyer. It is always important to consult with a qualified lawyer early when the evidence in your case is fresh, and your Wisconsin Uber and Lyft accident attorneys have ample time to investigate, gather this evidence, and attempt to negotiate a favorable resolution which does not require you to file a lawsuit.
Serious injuries deserve serious legal assistance. To get your free initial case evaluation today, call (219) 322-1166 right now to speak with the dedicated Wisconsin Uber and Lyft accident attorneys at Wruck Paupore.
Don is a founding partner and one of the nation’s top-ranked personal injury litigators. He is a member of the Multi-million Dollar Advocates Forum, which includes less than 1% of the nation’s trial lawyers, and awarded the highest ranking given by Martindale Hubbel and AVVO.
More importantly, Don understands representing personal injury victims is about more than recovering the best settlement: it’s about helping clients get back on their feet and supporting them in every aspect of their recovery.
In nearly all cases, our clients seek compensation from the wrongdoer’s insurance company. Before forming Wruck Paupore, Jason worked for a prominent law firm representing some of the world’s largest insurers. This experience gives Jason a deep understanding of the insurance industry and the strategies it uses to pay injury victims as little as possible.
Jason -- and our entire team -- put this inside knowledge to work to force insurance companies to pay what is actually owed. Often, we use the insurance company’s own tactics against them as we fight for the full compensation our client deserves.
For more than four decades, Keith has been fighting for injury victims. During that time, he’s watched the insurance industry change, with insurers now more interested in protecting their stock price than treating injury victims fairly.
Since the beginning, Keith has put people first. From his childhood in Gary, Indiana during the 1960’s and working his way through law school, Keith has risen to become one of the Midwest’s most respected trial lawyers. He has never forgotten that being a lawyer is about helping people -- and seeing injury victims through struggles in a way that could change their lives forever.
Over the decades, Keith, Don and Jason have fought relentlessly for clients, even when other lawyers have said the case was impossible to win.
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Wruck Paupore P.C.
Injury Lawyers
275 Joliet St. Suite #250
Dyer, IN 46311
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