Albany Uber Accident Attorney
1707 Central Avenue
Albany, NY 12205
518-452-2813
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Finkelstein & Partners, LLP – Winning Serious Injury Lawsuits Since 1959
When Your Ride Turns Tragic
Using Uber to travel in and around Albany is convenient—until your ride turns tragic. A rideshare accident can change your life due to serious injuries and an inability to work. At Finkelstein & Partners, we understand how to approach complex civil cases involving Uber accident injuries. If you or a close loved one suffered significant harm due to a careless Uber driver, call Finkelstein & Partners’ Albany Uber accident lawyers today.
Your Albany Uber Accident Attorneys
The pursuit of compensation for your Albany Uber accident injuries is a complex process. Leaving your case in our qualified hands allows you more time to focus on your recovery.
Painful injuries require rest, and stressing over your case can prevent you from relaxing. A dedicated focus on your medical treatment and procedures is important for your health.
Our team will ensure that we keep the lines of communication open. From updates to the information you need to know, we are on your side. Insurance companies want to protect their best interests; by securing our services, you have someone protecting yours.
Using Uber is beneficial if your driver is responsible behind the wheel. One reckless Uber driver can forever change your life. Let us help you fight by holding the driver responsible for your injuries accountable for your damages.
Uber Drivers and Liability
Rideshare drivers work as independent contractors. As such, Uber requires that its drivers carry a certain amount of liability insurance.
If you suffer serious injuries in an Uber accident, the liable party and how to pursue compensation depends on whether:
- The app is off, and the driver is not in service.
- The app is on, and the driver is waiting for a ride request.
- The driver is en route to pick up a rider, or the accident occurs during a trip.
While Uber also carries liability insurance, the details of your accident play a significant role in whether the driver’s insurance pays, Uber insurance pays, or it is a combination of the two.
This can make your Albany Uber accident claim and lawsuit confusing if you are unfamiliar with the civil process. A lawyer from our team can review your accident, investigate, and determine the best path forward.
Your pursuit of justice and possible compensation is too important to leave to chance. Get help from our team as soon as possible. Do not speak with the driver, their insurance company, or Uber before speaking with us. Our free case evaluation provides you with important information regarding whether you have a case and, if so, how to proceed with our assistance.
Common Causes of Uber Accidents
A serious or catastrophic injury can forever impact your career, relationships, and your overall quality of life. At the core of Uber use is the ability to arrive safely at your destination.
Uber drivers are not immune to the same dangerous behaviors that cause accidents throughout Albany.
The very reason you hail an Uber for a ride may, in fact, make your Uber driver reckless, such as:
- Drinking and driving: Hailing an Uber after a night on the town with friends—and a few drinks—is a popular choice for avoiding a driving while intoxicated (DWI) charge. An impaired Uber driver may face criminal charges, which does not prevent you from pursuing civil action.
- Drowsy driving: Another reason you may hail an Uber is due to a lack of rest. The driver who transports you may have an undiagnosed sleep disorder, work multiple jobs, or does not rest enough to drive. Nodding off behind the wheel is dangerous and sometimes deadly.
- Road rage: Using Uber to avoid traffic issues is a smart choice—until your driver engages in road rage. Dangerous interactions with other drivers can cause drivers to lose control of their vehicle, causing passengers serious harm.
- Distracted driving: Uber can provide passengers transportation and time to use their smartphones for news or email. Smartphone use should not occupy the Uber driver’s time, especially when using the rideshare app. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that sending or reading a text at 55 mph is similar to driving the length of a football field with eyes closed.
If your Albany Uber accident resulted from your driver’s reckless actions, we can help you fight for compensation. The injuries you experienced were most likely preventable had the driver acted responsibly.
A member of our team can determine if you have a possible case for litigation. Contact Finkelstein & Partners today for a free case evaluation. Should we proceed with your case, we will work hard to secure a fair settlement for your damages.
Types of Uber Accident Injuries
A traumatic Uber accident may involve:
- Passengers
- Another driver
- A motorcyclist
- A bicyclist
- A pedestrian
The impact can produce different results for different victims.
Among the most serious injuries are:
- Traumatic brain injury: The CDC describes a traumatic brain injury as a blow, bump, jolt, or penetrating head injury. A severe brain injury can impact normal brain function, impacting thinking skills, mobility, and more. If a loved one suffered a traumatic brain injury, they may never return to the person you remember before the accident. They may express outbursts of anger or suffer from depression. Your loved one may require more care than you can provide. Placing them in a skilled nursing facility is expensive, with an average monthly cost of more than $8,000.
- Spinal cord injury: A pedestrian, bicyclist, or other Uber accident victim may suffer a spinal cord injury. This devastating type of injury results in a lifetime of medical costs of millions.
- Broken bones: An Uber accident can result in broken bones that require a lengthy recovery. The type of break can impact how you manage daily tasks, entail future surgeries, and involve extensive therapy.
- Internal injuries: The injuries you cannot see are most serious and why you should always seek immediate medical attention. Internal bleeding—if left unchecked—can lead to organ damage and death.
Your medical costs begin with medical transport to a hospital. Fees associated with your care, combined with an inability to work, can stress you and cause you anxiety.
Payment for your medical care is something you should not worry about but rather fight for. Let us fight for you—our team will put our experience to work by fighting insurance companies for the compensation you deserve.
How Our Albany Uber Accident Lawyers Can Help You
An insurance company may use a variety of tactics designed to confuse you when you are most vulnerable. Hiring Finkelstein & Partners can protect you from accepting a settlement that is less than you deserve.
Referring insurance adjusters to your attorney removes unnecessary stress from your situation. No one needs nor deserves to feel pressure during such a challenging time. Accepting their offer can impact your ability to access future medical care if you experience complications.
Our team understands how insurance adjusters approach Albany Uber accident claims. We apply our knowledge to each case by fighting for fair compensation and based upon your damages. At Finkelstein & Partners, we will not stop until we reach the best outcome of your case. If we must proceed to trial, we are always prepared to do so.
Accident victims can feel overwhelmed by growing medical expenses and reduced or no income. The pressure is unfair when the accident you experienced is due to negligence. The driver owed you a duty of care, and their failure to provide such care affected your life in numerous ways.
You do not have to feel alone during this time. Let a member of our team stand beside you by fighting your Albany Uber accident claim and lawsuit. We care for our clients and take great pride in our customer service. Do not give in to pressure from insurance adjusters. Get help from Finkelstein & Partners by contacting us today for a free case evaluation.
Uber Accident Damages and Compensation
Compensation in civil cases is never guaranteed. Each case is different in details and outcomes. Pursuing compensation is your right and fighting for it essential for your current and future needs.
Securing compensation can also serve as a message to other Uber drivers who dare to take risks behind the wheel.
- Possible compensation may include one or more of these damages:
- Reimbursement for your medical expenses
- Compensation for your lost wages due to time recovering
- Future earnings if your injuries prohibit you from returning to your job
- Pain and suffering
If an Uber accident results in a loved one’s tragic death, you may qualify for a wrongful death claim and lawsuit.
While money can ever replace your loved one, it can help ease the financial stress you experience with your sudden loss.
- Wrongful death compensation typically includes these types of damages:
- Funeral and burial costs or cremation
- Final medical expenses for your loved one
- Loss of income from a spouse and their potential future earnings
The time allowed by state law for Albany Uber accident lawsuits is short. An Uber accident can turn your world upside down, leaving you confused about what to do next. Before you realize it, days, weeks, and months may pass.
There are no further legal options should you miss the statute of limitations for filing your lawsuit. An additional danger is accepting an insurance settlement offer without legal representation—something that can prohibit you from seeking more compensation should your condition worsen.
Finkelstein & Partners protect accident victims from these legal consequences and other potentially harmful decisions. What happened to you or a loved one was tragic, and your damages are not fair.
Take the first important step of contacting us for a free case evaluation for your Albany Uber accident today.
Albany Uber Accident FAQs
Collecting compensation for your injuries and other losses is not always easy when an Uber driver causes your injuries. Is the rideshare company responsible? Is the driver responsible?
Rideshare companies classify their drivers as independent contractors, which means that the company is most likely not responsible. However, rideshare drivers are often quick to deny liability because they are independent contractors, even when the driver is at fault.
The courts cannot agree on whether a rideshare driver is an employee or an independent contractor. The laws surrounding these cases could change. However, our firm continuously monitors current cases to see how the courts rule.
As it stands now, the person or entity responsible for your injuries depends on whether the driver is logged into the app.
When a driver is not in driving mode or logged into the app, they are responsible for their actions. Thus, if you accept a ride and the driver is not logged in, the driver and his insurance company are usually responsible for your injuries.
All drivers must carry minimum liability coverage under New York law.
The minimum coverage is:
- $10,000 for property damage for each separate accident.
- $25,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for death for one person involved in a wreck.
- $50,000 for bodily injury and $100,000 for death for two or more people injured in the accident.
Often, the minimum requirements are not enough to cover all of the damages you deserve. If not, you can file a personal injury lawsuit to recover the compensation you deserve.
While Uber and other rideshare drivers help prevent drunk driving accidents, they can still get into wrecks.
Many factors could cause an Uber driver to crash, including:
- The Uber app distracts the driver.
- Anyone can be an Uber driver—even those with minimal driving experience. An inexperienced driver is more likely to crash than someone who has been driving for several years.
- Other driver’s actions, including excessive speeding, speeding, driving under the influence, and driving while distracted
- Inclement weather. However, the driver often contributes to this type of accident if they do not slow down for conditions.
- Poorly maintained roads. Again, the driver could share liability for your injuries and other losses if he drives too fast for conditions.
- Vehicle malfunction, whether because of aftermarket parts or a vehicle defect from the manufacturer
Uber accidents are complex. If possible, you can help by taking specific actions immediately after an Uber accident that begin documenting your case.
If you can move around without causing additional injury to yourself:
- Call first responders and check on others involved if your driver has not done it.
- Take photos of the accident scene. Be sure to take pictures from all angles, and include any damage to the road and nearby property.
- Obtain contact information from witnesses. You can also ask the witnesses what they saw.
- Obtain the following information from all drivers, including your Uber driver: Contact information, license information, registration information, and insurance information. If possible, take photos of licenses, registrations, and insurance cards.
- Give a statement to the police.
- Allow emergency medical technicians to check you over, even if your injuries seem minor.
- Do not discuss the accident with anyone on the scene other than the police officer.
- Do not discuss the accident with any insurance company, even your own. Refer insurance companies to your Uber accident lawyer. You can tell them that you were a passenger in an accident and the date and location of the accident. Otherwise, the only information you should give any insurance company is your Uber accident lawyer’s contact information.
- Do not post anything about the accident on social media.
- Do not post on social media—even a seemingly innocent night out to dinner with your spouse. Insurance companies troll social media accounts to see if you “really suffered injuries.”
- Seek medical attention immediately after the police release you from the scene.
- Contact an Uber accident lawyer as soon as possible.
Your legal team will also collect evidence, including Uber’s GPS and other electronic records that tell the company what the driver did. At the same time, they drove medical records and other documents and evidence to help your case.
After the Uber Accident
Ensure you keep all doctor’s appointments, including follow-up visits therapy appointments, and fill all prescription medications. If you do not, the at-fault driver’s insurance company will argue that you are not injured.
Keep and make copies of all out-of-pocket costs—the at-fault driver or his insurance company will reimburse you for them. Additionally, keep track of all mileage you drive for doctor’s appointments and other trips related to the accident.
Any car accident, including an Uber accident, could cause several injuries, from minor cuts to catastrophic injuries or even death.
Injuries include:
- Cuts, scrapes, bruises, scratches, and bumps
- Strains and sprains
- Pulled and torn muscles and other soft tissue injuries
- Face and eye injuries
- Ear injuries if the accident causes an explosion
- Simple and compound fractures
- Crushed bones
- Crush injuries
- Internal injuries
- Thermal and chemical burns
- Head, neck, and shoulder injuries
- Back and spinal cord injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Amputation of a digit or limb
- Road rash
You could also suffer from secondary injuries, such as an infection of an open wound, whether the damage is from the accident or from surgery to repair an accident injury. The at-fault driver is also responsible for these injuries.
If the accident caused pre-existing conditions to worsen, the at-fault driver is also responsible for any extra medical expenses and pain and suffering for the worsening conditions.
You do not have to have any money upfront for an Uber accident attorney, and your initial case evaluation is free. Most Albany Uber attorneys work on a contingency basis, which means that we do not get paid unless you secure a settlement award or trial award.
During your initial case evaluation, we will review our contingency contact with you, including the percentage of your winnings that we take for our fees. During settlement negotiations, we negotiated that percentage into your award so as not to take money from what you need for medical and living expenses.
Accident case compensation repays you for your expenses, injuries, and losses. The court orders compensatory damages in the form of economic and non-economic damages in an attempt to make you whole again.
While the money does not eliminate injuries or bring back a loved one, it significantly reduces the financial stress you find yourself dealing with when you cannot work.
Economic Damages
Special damages, often referred to as economic damages, have a monetary value and include:
Medical Expenses
After an accident, you will most likely have medical expenses. If your injuries are severe or catastrophic, you could have medical expenses for the rest of your life.
You could receive compensation for:
- Doctor’s appointments
- Surgeries and follow-up appointments
- Occupational therapy
- Cognitive therapy
- Physical therapy
- Psychological therapy
- Prescriptions and prescribed over-the-counter medications
- Ambulatory aids
- Medical equipment, such as an oxygen machine or tanks
- Hand controls for your vehicle
- Updates to your home, including but are not limited to wheelchair ramps, grab bars, handrails, and widened doorways
If an accident is traumatic enough, some people could require psychological therapy for anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress syndrome. Even if a person did not suffer severe injuries, she could have adverse psychological issues.
For example, if a mother’s child was in the vehicle, and the first thought through the mother’s head was that her child suffered severe injuries or death, the mother might require psychological therapy to deal with the situation—even if the child suffered minor injuries.
Wages
Even if you have minor injuries, you can collect lost wages if those injuries keep you out of work. However, if you have severe or catastrophic injuries that keep you out of work for the rest of your life, you could recover compensation for losing future earning income.
Your legal team will determine how much money you would have earned from the time of the accident through the time of your normal retirement age—for most people, 65 or 67 years of age. You could receive a lump-sum amount to replace the future wages you cannot earn.
Personal Property
The defendant is also responsible for replacing any personal property destroyed or damaged in the accident, such as cell phones and computers.
Death-Related Expenses
If you lost a loved one in an Uber accident, you could recover expenses related to the death of your loved one, including any medical expenses they incurred before her death.
Death-related expenses include:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Cremation expenses
- Probate court attorney’s fees
- Certain probate court expenses, such as filing fees
Non-Economic Damages
General damages, or non-economic damages, do not have a monetary value and include:
- Pain and suffering, including emotional distress
- Loss of quality of life if you have to make life-long changes, such as using ambulatory aids or taking prescription medications for the rest of your life
- Loss of companionship if you can no longer enjoy spending time with your family or cannot participate in family activities and events
- Loss of consortium if you can no longer enjoy a physical relationship with your spouse.
- Loss of use of a body part, such as your arm or foot
- Loss of use of a bodily function, such as bladder control or your eyesight
- Amputation of a digit or limb in the accident or during surgery because a doctor could not save the digit or limb
- Excessive scarring and disfigurement, such as from severe burns or broken bones that doctors cannot set correctly
Get Help From Finkelstein & Partners Today
If you or a loved one suffered serious injuries due to an Uber driver’s careless actions, we want to help you. An Albany Uber accident involves a tangled web of possible liable parties. We will investigate to identify all parties liable for your harm. When you retain Finkelstein & Partners, we handle all the legal complexities of your claim, from compiling evidence to negotiating with insurance companies, so that you can focus on your recovery. With our legal knowledge and experience, you can rest assured that your case is in good hands.
To build the best case possible, you must contact us without delay. As soon as we review your case, we get to work fighting for you and with you. During your free consultation, you can discuss the details of your case, ask questions about your legal options, and determine your eligibility to pursue compensation for the full cost of your injuries.
We offer a no-fee promise, making payment necessary only if and when we win your case. If we do not win, you do not pay legal fees. As Albany personal injury lawyers, we understand the financial stress you face due to your injuries.
Removing the burden of upfront legal fees can provide you with much-needed peace of mind. The chaos of your accident and injuries is stressful and frightening. With our team by your side, you are never alone.
Reach out for your free case evaluation today. The easy-to-use online form will reach us immediately, or you may contact us by calling our Albany office at (518) 452-2813 at any time.
You hailed an Uber ride and paid for the service expecting safe transport. If your trip turned tragic due to a negligent Uber driver, take action. We can handle reluctant insurance companies and fight for the compensation you deserve.
The clock for your civil case is ticking now; don’t delay. Our team needs time to examine the details and evidence of your Uber accident carefully. The sooner we hear from you, the faster we can get to work fighting for justice.