Can You Sue Uber or Lyft After an Accident in Texas?
FREE CONSULTATION
Contact Us About Your Case
FREE Consultation Today.
Can You Sue Uber or Lyft After an Accident in Texas?
Yes, an injured person may file a lawsuit after an Uber or Lyft accident in Texas. However, the proper defendant is not always Uber or Lyft. The claim may be brought against the negligent rideshare driver, another motorist, a vehicle owner, or another responsible party. A direct claim against the rideshare company depends on the company’s own conduct, its relationship with the driver, and the specific facts and law.
Making a claim under insurance maintained for rideshare activity is also not the same as proving that Uber or Lyft is directly liable. This distinction affects whom to sue, which evidence matters, and what insurance may be available.
MLF Legal investigates every potential defendant and policy after a rideshare collision. Learn more from our Texas rideshare injury attorneys or contact MLF Legal for a free consultation.
Who Can You Sue After a Texas Rideshare Accident?
Depending on the evidence, responsible parties may include:
- The Uber or Lyft driver
- Another negligent motorist
- The owner of an involved vehicle
- An employer whose worker caused the crash
- A vehicle-maintenance company
- A vehicle or component manufacturer
- A bar or alcohol provider in a qualifying case
- A governmental body or road contractor
- Uber or Lyft under a legally supported direct-liability theory
Several parties may share responsibility. The presence of a rideshare vehicle does not make the case a claim against only one company or driver.
Can You Sue the Uber or Lyft Driver?
Yes. A rideshare driver may be personally liable when negligent driving causes an accident and injuries. Common examples include:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Looking at the app instead of the road
- Unsafe pickups or drop-offs
- Failure to yield
- Running a red light or stop sign
- Unsafe lane changes
- Following too closely
- Driving while fatigued
- Driving while impaired
The injured person must prove that the driver failed to use reasonable care, caused the collision, and produced legally compensable damages.
In many cases, an insurance company defends the driver and pays covered damages up to the policy limit. Naming the driver in a lawsuit does not mean the driver personally writes a check for the entire claim.
Can You Sue Another Driver Who Caused the Crash?
Yes. If another motorist caused a collision with an Uber or Lyft, the claim may be brought against that driver. A rideshare passenger does not have to blame the rideshare driver when the evidence shows someone else was responsible.
Another driver may be liable for:
- Drifting into another lane
When both drivers contributed, both may be defendants. Their insurers may dispute how responsibility should be divided.
Can You Sue Uber or Lyft Directly?
Potentially, but not merely because the accident involved a driver using the platform. Direct company liability is fact-specific.
Uber and Lyft generally classify rideshare drivers as independent contractors. Texas Occupations Code Chapter 2402 addresses circumstances under which a transportation network company driver is considered an independent contractor. That classification can limit traditional employer-liability arguments.
It does not mean the company is immune from every possible lawsuit. A direct claim may require evidence of the company’s own actionable conduct or another recognized legal basis. Potential issues may include:
- Compliance with statutory driver requirements
- What the company knew and when it knew it
- Representations made to riders or the public
- The company’s own policies or actions
- The actual degree of control shown by the evidence
- A contractual or statutory duty
- Other conduct that caused or contributed to the injury
The viability of a direct claim should be evaluated under the current facts and law. A website article cannot determine whether a specific company claim exists.
Is an Insurance Claim Against Uber or Lyft the Same as Suing the Company?
No. An injured person may have access to insurance maintained for rideshare activity even when direct company negligence is not established.
The rideshare policy may insure the driver’s liability during covered activity. A claim may be presented to the carrier, and a lawsuit may name the negligent driver or other parties. The existence of a policy associated with Uber or Lyft does not automatically make the company the tortfeasor.
Understanding this distinction helps avoid two common mistakes:
- Assuming no recovery is available because the driver is an independent contractor.
- Assuming the rideshare company is automatically liable because it maintains insurance.
How Does Rideshare Insurance Affect a Lawsuit?
The driver’s app status can determine which policy and limit apply.
Driver Offline
When the app was off, the driver’s personal automobile policy generally applies.
Driver Online and Waiting for a Request
Texas generally requires at least:
- $50,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person
- $100,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more people in one incident
- $25,000 for property damage in one incident
Ride Accepted or Passenger in the Vehicle
After a driver accepts a ride, Texas generally requires at least $1 million in total liability coverage through the pickup and passenger trip.
The statutory requirements appear in Texas Insurance Code Chapter 1954. For a plain-language explanation, read How Does Uber and Lyft Insurance Work After a Texas Accident?.
Coverage does not guarantee payment. The insurer may dispute app status, fault, injury causation, damages, or exclusions.
What If the Rideshare Driver Was Not Carrying a Passenger?
A claim may still exist. The critical questions are whether the driver was logged in and whether a ride had been accepted.
If the driver was online but waiting, the intermediate coverage limits may apply. If the driver had accepted a request and was traveling to the pickup, the higher accepted-ride coverage generally applies even though the passenger was not yet inside.
App-login data, acceptance timestamps, GPS records, and ride history may establish the applicable period.
Can an Uber or Lyft Passenger Sue?
Yes. An injured passenger may bring claims against the driver or drivers whose negligence caused the crash. Passengers are rarely responsible for vehicle operation, but they must still prove that the collision caused their injuries and damages.
Passenger claims can become complicated when:
- Both drivers blame each other
- The at-fault driver is uninsured
- Several passengers share a policy limit
- The rideshare insurer disputes coverage
- Medical causation is challenged
- A preexisting condition was aggravated
Read MLF Legal’s guide to passenger rights in Texas rideshare accidents for more information.
Can a Rideshare Driver File a Lawsuit?
Yes. An Uber or Lyft driver injured by another negligent motorist may bring a claim against that driver. The rideshare driver may also need to examine:
- Personal injury protection
- Medical payments coverage
- Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage
- Optional occupational-accident or injury-protection coverage
- Health insurance
- Vehicle-damage coverage
The liability policy maintained for the driver’s responsibility to third parties may not pay the rideshare driver’s own medical bills. Each policy must be reviewed.
What Damages Can Be Recovered?
Depending on the facts, Texas law may allow recovery for:
- Survival damages
Texas generally limits recovery of medical expenses to amounts actually paid or still legally owed under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 41.0105.
Claim value depends on the individual evidence. Read How Much Is an Uber or Lyft Accident Claim Worth in Texas? for a detailed discussion.
What If You Were Partly Responsible?
Texas uses proportionate responsibility. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001, a claimant generally cannot recover if the claimant’s responsibility is greater than 50 percent.
When the claimant is 50 percent or less responsible, the damages are generally reduced by that percentage. A passenger is usually not at fault for the driving, but a rideshare driver, other motorist, pedestrian, or cyclist may face comparative-fault allegations.
What Evidence Is Needed to Sue After a Rideshare Accident?
Important evidence may include:
- Police reports
- Photographs and video
- Witness statements
- Uber or Lyft trip receipts
- Driver app-login records
- Ride-acceptance timestamps
- GPS and route information
- Driver communications
- Dashcam or surveillance footage
- Vehicle event data
- Driver and vehicle records
- Insurance policies
- Medical records and imaging
- Itemized medical bills
- Wage and employment documents
Some electronic evidence may be overwritten. Preservation notices should be sent promptly.
For immediate evidence steps, read What to Do After an Uber or Lyft Accident in Texas.
Do You Have to Sue to Recover Compensation?
No. Many rideshare injury claims resolve through insurance negotiations without a lawsuit. Filing suit may become necessary when:
- Liability is denied
- Coverage is disputed
- The insurer undervalues the injuries
- The parties disagree about future damages
- Evidence must be obtained through subpoenas or discovery
- The filing deadline is approaching
- Settlement negotiations fail
A lawsuit preserves the ability to ask a court or jury to decide disputed issues. It does not prevent later settlement.
How Long Do You Have to File a Texas Rideshare Lawsuit?
Texas generally requires a personal injury lawsuit to be filed within two years after the claim accrues. Wrongful-death claims also generally have a two-year limitations period. The general rule appears in Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003.
Exceptions may change the deadline. Claims involving governmental bodies can require formal notice much sooner. Insurance negotiations do not necessarily extend limitations.
Do not wait until the end of the two-year period. Evidence can disappear long before the legal deadline.
What Defenses May Uber, Lyft, or an Insurer Raise?
Common defenses and disputes include:
- The driver was offline
- No ride had been accepted
- Another driver caused the collision
- The claimant was partly responsible
- The crash did not cause the medical condition
- Treatment was excessive or unrelated
- A preexisting condition caused the symptoms
- The policy excludes the loss
- The claimant failed to reduce the damages
- Filing deadline expired
- The company is not liable for an independent contractor’s conduct
The response depends on documents, testimony, electronic data, medical proof, and applicable law.
How MLF Legal Can Help
Our Personal Injury Lawyers can:
- Investigate how the crash happened
- Identify every potentially responsible party
- Determine the rideshare driver’s app status
- Preserve and pursue electronic records
- Locate personal, rideshare, commercial, and UM/UIM coverage
- Analyze whether a direct company claim is legally supported
- Document medical care, lost income, and future damages
- Address insurer defenses
- Negotiate for a fair settlement
- File suit and prepare the case for trial when appropriate
Our Texas personal injury lawyers and Texas car accident attorneys handle claims involving multiple drivers, companies, and insurance policies.
Speak With an MLF Legal Texas Rideshare Accident Attorney
The name on the rideshare app does not, by itself, identify every proper defendant. A careful investigation may reveal claims against one driver, multiple drivers, a vehicle owner, another company, or other responsible parties.
MLF Legal represents injured passengers, drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists in Dallas, Fort Worth, North Texas, and throughout Texas.
Call MLF Legal at 214-357-1782 or 817-496-3447, or schedule a free consultation. Se habla español.
FAQs: Can You Sue Uber or Lyft After an Accident in Texas?
You may sue the negligent driver and pursue applicable rideshare insurance. Whether Uber itself is a proper direct defendant depends on the company’s own conduct, its legal relationship with the driver, and the facts.
Your primary claim may be against the other driver. Other coverage may apply if that driver is uninsured or underinsured. Lyft is not automatically liable simply because you were riding in a Lyft vehicle.
No. It may affect direct company-liability theories, but it does not eliminate claims against negligent drivers or access to applicable insurance.
Yes. Many claims begin and resolve through insurance negotiations. A lawsuit may be needed if liability, coverage, or damages remain disputed.
No. The limit is not the automatic value of a claim. You must prove recoverable damages, and the limit may be shared among several injured people.
Yes. The driver’s app status determines which insurance period may apply. Coverage may differ depending on whether the driver was offline, waiting for a request, or traveling to a pickup.
Health insurance, PIP, or MedPay may pay some bills before resolution. Liability proceeds typically arrive through a later settlement or judgment. Read Who Pays Medical Bills After an Uber or Lyft Accident in Texas?.
MLF Legal offers free consultations. For accepted personal injury matters handled on a contingency-fee basis, attorney’s fees are paid from a recovery under the written representation agreement.
Injured at work in Texas and your employer doesn’t have workers’ comp?
You may have the right to sue and recover full compensation.
Contact MLF Legal today for a free consultation. You pay nothing unless we win your case.
Call MLF Legal today
214-357-1782
Fill out our online form
for a free consultation.
We only get paid if we win your case.