One of the most overlooked groups in rideshare accident law is the people who were never inside the Uber or Lyft at all. Pedestrians crossing Collins Avenue, cyclists riding through Coral Gables, delivery drivers navigating Brickell and ordinary motorists on I-95 are involved in rideshare collisions every week across Miami. When you are the person hit by a rideshare vehicle, your rights and the insurance available to you depend on details most accident victims do not know to ask about.
The single most important fact to understand is that Uber and Lyft’s insurance coverage shifts dramatically based on what the driver was doing at the exact moment of the crash. The same driver behind the wheel of the same vehicle may be backed by $1 million in commercial coverage, a smaller contingent policy or nothing beyond their personal auto insurance. Getting that answer right is often the difference between full compensation and a claim that falls far short of your losses.
If you were hit by an Uber or Lyft driver in Miami or anywhere in South Florida, call Mausner Group Injury Lawyers today for a free case review. This guide explains how the three rideshare insurance phases work, what pedestrians and other drivers should do after a crash and how Florida law shapes your path to recovery.
A collision involving an Uber or Lyft driver looks like a standard car accident on the surface, but the insurance landscape behind it is entirely different. In a regular two-car crash, liability traces back to the at-fault driver’s personal auto policy. In a rideshare crash, the at-fault driver may be operating under one of three insurance phases established by Florida Statute 627.748, and each phase triggers a different level of coverage.
This matters because personal auto policies in Florida are often capped at the state minimum of $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection and $10,000 in property damage liability. If you were seriously injured by a rideshare driver, the personal policy alone rarely covers the full cost of your medical care, lost wages and long-term recovery. The rideshare company’s commercial coverage, when it applies, is where meaningful compensation lives.
Insurance carriers know this, too. The first goal of every rideshare insurer is to push your claim into the lowest possible phase so the smallest policy applies. That is why determining the driver’s app status at the moment of the crash is one of the first things an experienced attorney investigates.
The Three Insurance Phases That Determine Your Claim
Under Florida Statute 627.748, Uber and Lyft are required to carry commercial insurance that activates in three tiers depending on what the driver is doing inside the app. Understanding these phases is essential if you were hit by a rideshare vehicle.
Phase 1: App Off
When the Uber or Lyft driver has the app turned off, they are considered off duty and Florida treats them like any other motorist. The rideshare company provides no coverage during this phase. If the driver hits you while the app is off, your claim runs entirely through their personal auto insurance policy.
This is often the worst-case scenario for injured pedestrians and other drivers. Personal policies in Florida frequently carry low liability limits, and many Miami drivers carry no bodily injury liability coverage at all because Florida does not require it. When the at-fault driver is underinsured or uninsured, your recovery often depends on your own uninsured motorist coverage, if you carry it.
Phase 2: App On, Waiting for a Ride
Once the driver turns the app on and becomes available for rides, contingent liability coverage from Uber or Lyft kicks in. During Phase 2, the rideshare companies provide $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident in bodily injury liability coverage, plus $25,000 in property damage liability. This coverage typically applies after the driver’s personal policy is exhausted or denies the claim, which is a common outcome because most personal policies exclude commercial ridesharing activity.
Phase 2 coverage is a meaningful step up from Phase 1, but $50,000 per person is rarely enough to cover serious injuries. Emergency care, surgery, physical therapy and lost income can push the cost of a single injury well above this limit.
Phase 3: En Route to a Rider or With a Passenger
The moment the driver accepts a ride request, they enter Phase 3. From that point until the passenger is dropped off, Uber and Lyft are required to carry $1 million in third-party liability coverage and $1 million in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. This is the highest tier of protection available under Florida’s rideshare insurance framework.
For pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers hit during Phase 3, this coverage is often the primary path to full compensation. An attorney’s job is to document the driver’s app status through trip data, dashcam footage, eyewitness accounts and, when necessary, formal preservation demands sent to Uber or Lyft.
You can read a deeper breakdown of all three phases in our guide to how Uber and Lyft insurance policies work in Florida.
If You Were Hit as a Pedestrian or Cyclist
Pedestrians and cyclists are the most vulnerable people involved in any rideshare collision. You have no vehicle around you, no airbags, no crumple zone and nothing between your body and several thousand pounds of moving steel. Even a low-speed impact in a downtown Miami intersection can cause catastrophic injuries.
Miami has become one of the most dangerous cities in the country for pedestrians and cyclists, and rideshare activity is a significant part of the picture. Uber and Lyft drivers are often navigating unfamiliar neighborhoods, watching their phones for the next turn and making sudden pickups and drop-offs in busy pedestrian areas. High-risk corridors include Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Brickell Avenue and the streets around Brickell City Centre, Coral Way and Miracle Mile in Coral Gables and the heavily trafficked blocks of Wynwood and the Design District on weekend nights.
Common Pedestrian and Cyclist Injuries
The injuries pedestrians and cyclists suffer in rideshare collisions are often severe and life-changing. The most common include traumatic brain injuries caused when the victim’s head strikes the hood, windshield or pavement, spinal cord injuries that can result in partial or complete paralysis, multiple fractures of the legs, hips, arms and ribs, internal organ damage from blunt force trauma and severe road rash and lacerations that may require surgical repair.
Because pedestrians and cyclists absorb the full force of the collision, medical costs routinely climb into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Long recoveries, permanent impairment and the inability to return to work are common outcomes. These are exactly the kinds of cases where pushing the claim into the proper insurance phase matters most.
Evidence That Strengthens a Pedestrian or Cyclist Claim
Pedestrian and cyclist cases live and die on evidence. The faster you or your attorney can capture it, the stronger your claim. Critical evidence includes the rideshare trip data and driver app status at the moment of the crash, surveillance footage from nearby businesses and traffic cameras, dashcam video from the rideshare vehicle or other nearby cars, eyewitness statements from people on the sidewalk, photos of the scene, vehicle damage and your injuries and the responding officer’s traffic crash report.
Because rideshare companies can overwrite or delete trip data over time, preservation demands need to go out quickly. This is one of the practical reasons to contact an attorney early, not after weeks have passed.
Florida’s Crosswalk and Right-of-Way Laws
Florida Statute 316.130 governs the rights and responsibilities of pedestrians. At marked crosswalks and at unmarked crosswalks at intersections, pedestrians generally have the right of way, and drivers are required to yield. Cyclists operating on roadways have the same rights and duties as drivers of vehicles under Florida Statute 316.2065, which means a rideshare driver who fails to yield or passes too closely can be found negligent under state law.
Even if the rideshare driver or insurer argues that you were partly at fault, Florida’s modified comparative negligence rule (discussed below) means you can still recover compensation as long as you are not found more than 51 percent responsible.
If You Were Hit While Driving Another Vehicle
Drivers hit by a rideshare vehicle face a different set of questions, but many of the same insurance principles apply. The main differences are that Florida’s no-fault Personal Injury Protection system applies to your claim first, and fault allocation is usually more contested than it is in a pedestrian case.
Your own PIP coverage pays up to $10,000 in initial medical expenses and lost wages regardless of who caused the crash, as long as you seek medical treatment within 14 days of the accident. Only after PIP is exhausted and your injuries meet Florida’s serious injury threshold under Florida Statute 627.737 can you pursue a bodily injury claim against the rideshare driver and the applicable commercial policy.
The serious injury threshold requires significant and permanent loss of a bodily function, permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement or death. For many victims with whiplash, herniated discs, concussions or orthopedic injuries, meeting this threshold requires careful medical documentation and, often, expert medical opinion.
Property damage to your vehicle is handled separately from your injury claim. If the rideshare driver was in Phase 2 or Phase 3, the rideshare company’s property damage coverage or liability policy may apply. If the driver was in Phase 1, your property damage claim runs through the driver’s personal policy or your own collision coverage.
Comparative negligence is also more likely to come into play when another driver is involved. Insurance adjusters may argue that you were speeding, following too closely or distracted. Preserving your evidence and avoiding recorded statements before consulting an attorney are especially important in driver-on-driver cases.
Steps to Take Immediately After Being Hit by an Uber or Lyft
The first hours after the crash are the most important for protecting your claim. Whether you were hit as a pedestrian, a cyclist or another driver, take the following actions as soon as you are physically able.
Call 911 and request police and medical response at the scene. A formal traffic crash report creates an official record of the collision, the positions of the vehicles and the officer’s initial determination of fault. Get checked out by paramedics even if you feel fine. Adrenaline masks serious injuries in the minutes after a crash, and Florida’s PIP system requires medical treatment within 14 days to preserve benefits.
Identify the rideshare driver and the rideshare company. Ask to see the driver’s app and take photos of the screen showing the driver’s profile, the trip in progress and the app status. If the driver is evasive or refuses, note the license plate, vehicle make and model and the rideshare decal in the windshield. The police report should capture this information, as well.
Photograph everything. The position of the vehicles, skid marks, damage, the surrounding intersection, traffic signals, weather conditions and your own injuries. If you were hit as a pedestrian, photograph the crosswalk, any signal indicators and the full scene from multiple angles.
Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance adjuster before talking to an attorney. Both the rideshare company’s insurer and the driver’s personal insurer will contact you quickly. Their goal is to secure a statement that can be used to reduce or deny your claim.
Keep a written log of your symptoms, medical appointments, missed work and daily limitations. This contemporaneous record becomes powerful evidence of how the crash has affected your life.
Florida’s Comparative Negligence and the 51 Percent Bar Rule
Florida follows a modified comparative negligence system under HB 837, which took effect in March 2023. Your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault in the accident, and if you are found more than 51 percent at fault, you are barred from recovering anything at all.
For pedestrians and cyclists, meaningful fault allocation is relatively rare. You were not operating a vehicle, and most collisions occur because the driver failed to yield, was distracted or was driving too fast for conditions. For other drivers, comparative negligence arguments are more common, and how well the evidence is preserved often determines how much fault is assigned to each side.
This is one of the reasons insurance carriers work hard to assign even a small percentage of fault to the injured party. A 20 percent fault finding reduces a $500,000 recovery by $100,000. An experienced attorney builds the evidence and the narrative to keep your fault percentage as low as the facts allow.
The Two-Year Filing Deadline Under Florida Law
Under Florida Statute 95.11, you have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. This deadline was shortened from four years to two years in March 2023 under HB 837. If you miss this window, your claim is permanently barred regardless of how serious your injuries are or how clear the rideshare driver’s liability was.
Two years may feel like plenty of time, but rideshare cases require significant investigation. Obtaining trip data, identifying the correct insurance phase, gathering medical records, negotiating with multiple insurers and preparing for potential litigation all take time. Starting early gives you the strongest possible position.
If you were hurt as a passenger rather than as a pedestrian or other driver, our companion guide on Uber and Lyft passenger injury claims in Florida walks through how the claims process differs when you were inside the rideshare vehicle.
At Mausner Group Injury Lawyers, we represent pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers hit by rideshare vehicles in Uber and Lyft accident claims across Miami, Miami Beach, Brickell, Doral, Coral Gables, Wynwood and throughout South Florida. Attorney Eric Mausner, a former Miami-Dade County prosecutor licensed in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania, leads every rideshare investigation with the same attention to detail he brought to the courtroom. Eric has been recognized by Super Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, Best Lawyers and Avvo Top Attorney.
When you retain our firm, we immediately send preservation demands to Uber or Lyft to lock down trip data and the driver’s app status, identify every applicable insurance policy, handle communications with adjusters on your behalf and build the evidentiary record your case needs. We know how rideshare carriers operate, and we know the tactics they use to push serious injury claims into lower insurance phases.
We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. If you were hit by an Uber or Lyft driver in Miami or South Florida, contact Mausner Group Injury Lawyers today for a free case review. Call our office today to speak with an attorney about your claim.
Does Uber or Lyft’s Insurance Cover Me if I Was Not in the Vehicle?
In most cases, yes. If the rideshare driver had the app on and was either waiting for a ride request (Phase 2) or actively en route to or transporting a passenger (Phase 3), Uber or Lyft’s commercial insurance applies to your claim. Phase 2 provides $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident in bodily injury coverage. Phase 3 provides up to $1 million in liability and uninsured motorist coverage under Florida Statute 627.748. If the app was off (Phase 1), only the driver’s personal auto insurance applies.
How Do I Prove the Uber or Lyft Driver’s App Was On?
Rideshare companies maintain detailed trip data, including app status, pickup and drop-off times, GPS route information and passenger records. An attorney can send a formal preservation demand to Uber or Lyft to secure this data before it is overwritten. Additional evidence may include screenshots of the driver’s phone, dashcam footage, eyewitness statements and the police report. Acting quickly is important because rideshare data can become harder to obtain over time.
If the at-fault rideshare driver’s coverage is insufficient and the crash occurred during Phase 3, Uber or Lyft’s $1 million uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may apply. Your own uninsured motorist policy, if you carry one, can also supplement your recovery. In Phase 1 or Phase 2 cases where coverage is limited, identifying every available source of compensation becomes even more important, which is why early legal investigation matters.
Can I Still Recover Compensation if I Was Partly at Fault?
In most cases, yes. Florida follows a modified comparative negligence rule under HB 837. Your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault, and you are barred from recovery only if you are found more than 51 percent responsible. Pedestrians, cyclists and most other drivers involved in a rideshare collision typically fall well below that threshold, especially when the evidence is preserved and documented properly.
How Long Do I Have to File a Claim After Being Hit by an Uber or Lyft in Miami?
Under Florida Statute 95.11, you have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. This deadline was reduced from four years in March 2023 under HB 837. Because rideshare cases involve multiple insurance layers and require early evidence preservation, waiting to start the process can make your case significantly harder to build. Contacting an attorney soon after the crash gives you the strongest position.
