The question that decides an Uber or Lyft claim is not who hit whom. It is what the driver’s app was doing at the moment of the crash, because that determines which insurance policy responds, and the difference between the answers is very large.
Almost nobody explains this to an injured passenger, and it is the first thing we establish.
Culver Legal, LLP represents people injured in rideshare collisions across the Central Valley from an office at 1690 W Shaw Avenue, Suite 220 in Fresno. We work on contingency and advance the costs of the case, so there is nothing to pay up front and no fee unless we win. Call (310) 600-7881 at any hour.
Which Policy Actually Responds?
California treats rideshare driving in stages, and the coverage available steps up as the driver moves through them.
The app is off. The driver is a private motorist. Only their personal auto policy is in play, and the rideshare company’s coverage does not apply at all.
The app is on and the driver is waiting for a request. A contingent policy from the rideshare company applies, and it is substantially smaller than the coverage available once a ride is underway. It typically sits behind the driver’s own insurance rather than in front of it.
A ride has been accepted, or a passenger is in the car. This is where the rideshare company’s full commercial coverage applies, and it is far larger than either of the above.
So two identical collisions can produce very different outcomes, depending on a fact the injured person cannot see: whether the driver had accepted a ride yet. That fact lives in the company’s records rather than at the scene, and getting to it is part of the case rather than a preliminary to it.
If you were the passenger, you are almost always in the best of those positions, because a passenger in the car means a ride was in progress by definition.
Were you a passenger when it happened?
That usually puts you in the strongest coverage position. It is worth confirming before you accept anything.
What If the Other Driver Caused It?
Then the ordinary rules apply first: the at-fault driver’s liability policy is the primary source, and the rideshare coverage may respond on top where that policy runs out.
This is where these claims most often go wrong quietly. California’s minimum liability coverage is $30,000 for injury to one person and $60,000 per accident, raised on 1 January 2025. A single serious injury exhausts a minimum policy, and at that point the question is what else responds: uninsured or underinsured coverage under the rideshare policy, your own policy, or both.
Being a passenger does not mean you have no coverage of your own. Many people are covered under their own auto policy for injuries sustained as a passenger in someone else’s vehicle, and never think to check.
What Should You Do in the First Days?
- Screenshot the trip in the app before anything else. The receipt, the driver’s name, the vehicle, the route and the times. That record is the cleanest proof the ride was in progress.
- Report it through the app, which creates a record on the company’s side.
- Get medical attention the same day.
- Photograph the vehicles and the scene.
- Do not accept a quick settlement offered through the app before you know the medical picture.
- Do not give a recorded statement to any insurer before taking advice.
The trip record is the single most useful thing you can preserve, and it is the one thing that disappears if an account is closed or a phone is replaced.
Who Investigated It, and How Do You Get the Report?
For a collision on a city street inside Fresno, the report comes from the Fresno Police Department Records section, 2323 Mariposa Street, on (559) 621-2534, open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., for a $12 convenience fee charged by the service that fulfills it. A collision on Highway 99, Interstate 5 or State Route 41 is normally the California Highway Patrol’s instead.
Where Will You Be Treated, and Where Would the Case Be Heard?
Community Regional Medical Center, 2823 Fresno Street, describes itself as the only Level I trauma center between Los Angeles and Sacramento, verified at that level by the American College of Surgeons.
A rideshare claim seeking more than $35,000 is an unlimited civil case, filed at the B. F. Sisk Courthouse, 1130 O Street, and heard in Fresno County before a Fresno County jury.
How Long Do You Have?
Two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1.
Six months to present a written claim if a public entity is involved, under Government Code 911.2, which can happen where a city or county vehicle, a FAX bus, or the road itself contributed. For the City of Fresno that goes to Risk Management, 2600 Fresno Street, Room 1030, in duplicate.
Has the app already offered you a settlement?
An early offer is made before your treatment is finished. Get it checked before you accept.
Why Do Fresno Clients Choose Culver Legal?
We are in Fresno, at 1690 W Shaw Avenue, Suite 220, and where you cannot travel we come to you.
Our team speaks Spanish, Farsi, Filipino, Hindi, Mandarin and Korean.
The economics are simple. Contingency, costs advanced, nothing up front and no fee unless we win. Culver Legal has recovered $200 Million and counting, and the phone is answered 24 hours a day.
Fresno Rideshare Accident FAQs
I was a passenger in an Uber. Who do I claim against?
It depends on who caused the collision, and you are in a strong position either way. If the rideshare driver was at fault, the company’s commercial coverage applies, because a passenger in the car means a ride was in progress. If another driver caused it, their liability policy is primary and the rideshare coverage may respond on top where that runs out. As the passenger you are almost never the one at fault, so the argument is about which policy pays rather than about whether you have a claim.
What should I not say after a rideshare accident?
Avoid guessing. Do not estimate speeds, do not say you are fine before you have been examined, and do not accept a characterization of what happened just because an adjuster describes it confidently. Report the facts you actually know: where you were going, what you saw, what hurts. And do not give a recorded statement to any insurer before taking advice, because it will be quoted back later against symptoms that had not appeared yet.
Uber says the driver was not on a trip. Can I check that?
It is checkable, and it matters enormously because it determines which policy applies. The evidence lives in the company’s own records, and your own app history is the fastest place to start, which is why screenshotting the trip early is worth doing.
Does my own insurance matter if I was just a passenger?
Often yes, and people rarely check. Many auto policies cover the holder for injuries sustained as a passenger in someone else’s vehicle, including uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Where the at-fault driver carried a minimum policy that a serious injury exhausts, your own coverage can be what closes the gap.
How much does a rideshare accident lawyer cost?
Nothing up front. These are handled on contingency, so the fee is a percentage of what is recovered and there is no fee if there is no recovery, and we advance the costs of running the case. What we will not do is put a value on your claim before we know what happened and how the injury settles.
I am undocumented. Can I bring a claim without putting myself at risk?
Yes, and the protection is stronger than most people expect. Under Evidence Code 351.2, added by AB 2159, evidence of a person’s immigration status is not admissible in a civil action for personal injury or wrongful death, and discovery into it is not permitted either. It cannot be raised at trial and it cannot be asked about beforehand. It is not a question we ask you, and it is not a question the other side gets to ask.
Contact a Culver Legal Fresno Rideshare Accident Lawyer
The trip record is the best evidence in a rideshare claim and it lives on a phone and in a company’s systems. If you were hurt in an Uber or Lyft collision anywhere in Fresno or the surrounding Central Valley, reach us at (310) 600-7881 at any hour, or at 1690 W Shaw Avenue, Suite 220. The review costs nothing.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Culver Legal, LLP is a California law firm. The information on this page is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
