Los Angeles Rideshare Accident Attorneys
Los Angeles Uber & Lyft Accident Lawyer
A rideshare collision in Los Angeles is rarely a simple two-car claim. Whether you were a passenger, driving for Uber or Lyft yourself, or in the vehicle the rideshare driver hit, the coverage available to you turns on what the driver’s app was doing at the moment of impact.
Burg & Brock handles rideshare injury claims across Los Angeles. We establish app status, identify every policy that may respond, and document what the collision actually cost you.
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UberLawyer.com is the dedicated rideshare injury practice of the Law Offices of Burg & Brock, A Professional Law Corporation. Free consultation.
The attorney behind this practice
Cameron Yadidi Brock
Founding Attorney, Law Offices of Burg & Brock · California State Bar No. 183112 · Admitted June 1996
Can I Make a Claim After an Uber or Lyft Accident in Los Angeles?
Potentially, and the answer depends less on where the crash happened than on four things: who caused it, which seat you were in, what the driver’s app was doing, and what your injuries turn out to require.
A passenger, a rideshare driver and a person struck by a rideshare vehicle hold three different claims against three different coverage positions, even in the same collision. App status can move the available insurance by a factor of twenty. And in Los Angeles one further question arises often: whether any part of the claim touches a public entity, which carries a six-month deadline rather than two years.
Which Situation Describes You?
Uber & Lyft Accidents in Los Angeles
Los Angeles rideshare collisions do not concentrate downtown. The largest study of ridehail travel here, built on 6.3 million Lyft trips across the county, found service was “remarkably ubiquitous”, reaching neighborhoods home to 99.8 percent of the population. Trips also run short, around three miles against roughly 8.5 for a typical car trip. A claim is as likely to come from a residential street in the Valley as from a nightlife district.
LAX is the exception worth knowing. Rideshare pickup there does not happen at the terminal curb; passengers are directed to a designated area reached by shuttle, on airport property operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a department of the City of Los Angeles. If any part of your claim touches that property, you are dealing with a public entity and a much shorter deadline. The arrangement is also changing: a new fee structure approved in March 2026 takes effect when the SkyLink people mover activates and pickups move to a new Ground Transport Center.
Why the Driver’s Uber or Lyft Status Matters
California sets rideshare insurance requirements by app status, in Public Utilities Code section 5433.
App off
Personal policy
Not working. The driver’s personal auto policy is generally the starting point.
App on, no ride accepted
Reduced commercial coverage
Waiting for a request. $50,000 per person, $100,000 per incident, $30,000 property damage, plus $200,000 excess.
Ride accepted onward
$1 million primary
$1,000,000 primary liability from acceptance to drop-off. Once a passenger is in the car, uninsured motorist cover of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident also applies (crashes on or after January 1, 2026).
One timing detail matters. The $1 million coverage attaches from the moment the driver accepts the request, not from the moment a passenger gets in. Someone struck by a driver still on the way to collect a passenger is in the higher band, even though the car was empty.
A policy limit is the ceiling on what one policy can pay, not what a claim is worth. Learn more about Uber and Lyft accident insurance →
Who Can Be Responsible for a Los Angeles Rideshare Accident?
Not every party below is involved in any given case. Each may need investigating depending on the facts.
The Uber or Lyft driver
Their conduct, and what the app was doing when it happened.
Another motorist
Often the party actually at fault, particularly where the rideshare vehicle was struck.
The vehicle owner
Rideshare vehicles are not always owned by the person driving them.
An employer or business
Where another driver involved was working at the time.
A vehicle or component manufacturer
Where a part failed rather than simply wore out.
A public entity
Only where the roadway or public property facts support it. The city, the county and the airport authority are three separate entities with three separate claim offices.
This page will not tell you Uber or Lyft is automatically responsible. Their coverage may respond, which is a different thing from the company being directly liable.
What Compensation May Be Available?
- Medical expenses
- Future medical care
- Lost income
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Property damage
- Other supported losses
What a claim is worth depends on what can be proved about the injury and the loss, not on the policy behind the defendant. There is no calculator here and no average figure, because neither exists in a form worth relying on.
What Should I Do After an Uber or Lyft Crash in Los Angeles?
01
Get appropriate medical care
Adrenaline hides a great deal at the scene.
02
Contact police when appropriate
The LAPD handles city streets; the CHP has primary jurisdiction on freeways.
03
Photograph the vehicles and scene
Positions, damage, and the road itself, if you are able and safe.
04
Save the trip in the app
Screenshot the receipt, driver and trip detail. This is your app status evidence.
05
Identify drivers and witnesses
Names, plates, insurance and a number for anyone who saw it.
06
Keep medical, wage and vehicle records
Bills, treatment notes, lost time and repair documents.
07
Take advice before any final settlement
A release signed before the medical picture is clear is difficult to undo.
How Burg & Brock Investigates a Rideshare Accident
01
Identify claimant type
Passenger, driver or third party. It changes everything that follows.
02
Determine app status
From trip records and company data, not the driver’s account at the scene.
03
Preserve evidence
Trip data, vehicle data and footage, before retention periods run out.
04
Determine liability
Which driver, and which other parties, actually contributed.
05
Identify insurance
Every policy that may respond, including your own.
06
Document losses and pursue the claim
Injuries, earnings and future care, then negotiation or suit.
2 years*
Many California personal injury lawsuits generally have a two-year limitation period from the date of injury.
*Not a universal deadline. Government-related claims may involve shorter or different requirements: a claim against the City of Los Angeles, the County or the airport authority generally must be presented within six months, and each is a separate office.
Talk With Burg & Brock About a Los Angeles Rideshare Accident
The firm’s office of record is in Sherman Oaks, within the City of Los Angeles, and Burg & Brock represents people injured in rideshare collisions across Los Angeles and throughout California.
A first conversation costs nothing. It is usually enough to establish which of the three claimant positions you are in, what the app status is likely to have been, and whether a deadline shorter than two years applies.
Los Angeles Rideshare Accident FAQs
What insurance applies after an Uber accident in Los Angeles?
It depends on app status. App off, the personal policy applies. App on with no ride accepted, $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for injuries, $30,000 for property damage, and $200,000 in excess coverage. From acceptance onward, $1,000,000 primary.
Does the $1 million policy mean my case is worth $1 million?
No. A policy limit is a ceiling on what that policy can pay, not a valuation. Value depends on the injuries, treatment still needed, lost earnings and what the evidence supports.
What if an Uber or Lyft driver hit my car?
Your claim turns on the driver’s app status, established from company records rather than what the driver says. The coverage band starts at ride acceptance, so an empty car can still sit in the $1 million tier. More on third-party claims.
My crash was at LAX. Does that change anything?
It can. Rideshare pickup at LAX happens in a designated area on airport property operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a department of the City of Los Angeles. If any part of your claim involves that property, it generally must be presented within six months rather than two years.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Many California injury lawsuits carry a two-year period, but it is not universal. Claims involving the City of Los Angeles, the County or the airport authority generally require presentation within six months, at three separate offices.
Injured in a rideshare crash somewhere else in California? See all the cities we cover.
Talk to a Los Angeles Uber & Lyft Accident Lawyer
Tell us whether you were a passenger, a rideshare driver or someone hit by an Uber or Lyft vehicle. Burg & Brock can evaluate who may be responsible, which insurance may apply and the losses the collision caused.
Free consultation. Ask us how fees and case costs are handled before you decide anything.
Attorney Advertising. UberLawyer.com is the dedicated rideshare injury practice of the Law Offices of Burg & Brock, A Professional Law Corporation, with an office of record in Sherman Oaks, California. Cameron Yadidi Brock, California State Bar No. 183112, is responsible for its content.
The information here is general, describes California law as of September 2026, and is not legal advice for any particular situation. Contacting the firm through this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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