How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit After a Rideshare Accident?

Being involved in a car accident can be a disorienting experience. Being in an accident is difficult, and being out of control of any part of the situation by being a passenger can make it more challenging. Many people may need clarification on when or if retaining an attorney is appropriate. 

Uncertainty of your rights in the situation or the severity of your injuries may cause a delay in taking legal action. Sometimes, financial concerns may also prevent you from reaching out right away. Don’t let timing concerns discourage you from contacting an experienced Sacramento car accident lawyer with Triumph Law.

There Are Many Parts to a Rideshare Accident Case

Rideshare accidents can introduce an extra layer of complexity based on the additional parties. Rideshare drivers are often independent contractors, making them their own legal business entity. This adds a layer to the case that an attorney might need to consider: yourself, the rideshare driver, and the rideshare company.

You have a little bit of time to file a lawsuit. California law has a statute of limitations that lasts two years. While this gives you two years to file the lawsuit in court, your attorney needs time to learn and investigate the case, gather evidence, and negotiate with the other parties and insurance companies to reach an agreeable settlement offer before they can file the lawsuit with the court.

This means that while you have two years to file your lawsuit officially, your attorney may need to use that time to gather evidence and attempt to settle before going to court. The generally preferred outcome of a case is to settle outside of court and avoid the time, money, and drama of taking a case to court. This process alone may take several months to build your case to settle.

Building a Lawsuit Worthy Ride Share Case Takes Time

There are many steps to building a solid case in your ride-share accident that may take time against the two-year statute of limitations. These are things like gathering evidence and negotiating with the insurance company. Insurance companies and lawyers will frequently try to settle out of court at any cost unless they are incredibly confident that the incident was your fault or that you are making your injuries out to be worse than they are.

When gathering evidence for your case, our experienced rideshare accident attorney may have you attend certain specialist appointments to get more insight into your injuries. These evaluations can take time to make, attend, and obtain results. This is an essential step in assessing the cost of your injuries and anticipating and estimating any future costs of your injuries.

Once you and your attorney have thoroughly evaluated your injuries and determined what is needed for you to get back to ‘normal’ or as close to normal as you can, they can start negotiating a settlement offer with the insurance company. The first offer from the insurance company may be low because its priority is protecting its assets, just like your priority is protecting yours.  Taking this time to build and show the strength of your case can improve your bargaining power and ideally result in a larger settlement offer so you can get back to your life.

Rideshare Accident Liability

You want to consider liability when considering whether to retain a lawyer or file a lawsuit for a rideshare accident. If the other driver were responsible for the accident, you wouldn’t want to file a lawsuit against them or the rideshare company. However, if your driver was negligent in following driving laws, that might change the situation.

Some of the actions that might indicate negligence on the driver’s part are:

• Failure to Yield
• Improper Left Turn
• Running a Red Light
• Speeding
• Driving While Intoxicated
• Looking at Phone While Driving

If these are things you experienced causing or contributing to an accident, you should speak to your rideshare accident attorney.

An experienced rideshare accident attorney can consider these facts and work with you to provide documentation proving that this negligence is the reason for your injuries. This proof can come in the form of the documentation discussed above. 

Proving Accident Liability in California 

Though we know that most collisions are just accidents, proving the responsible party is vital for many reasons. The primary reason is to determine who is responsible for paying for damages. There are a few main pieces that a rideshare accident attorney may want to look at to present a well-rounded case. 

The first step will be to prove that the driver had a duty to follow traffic laws and drive with the responsibility of keeping others safe. Further, it must be established that this duty was somehow abandoned or the driver demonstrated negligence, like running a stop sign or texting while driving. Providing this evidence can set you up for the following stages.

Some other pieces that an attorney may look at are proving that you not only have injuries but that the driver’s negligent actions caused them. You may then move to damages. That is determining the total costs of your injuries. This can include invoices and receipts for medical services rendered, proof of time missed from work, and overall costs acquired due to the injury.

Reach Out to a Rideshare Accident Lawyer Sooner Rather than Later

While California law does allow up to two years to file a lawsuit, it can take quite a while for an attorney to gather the appropriate information to bring to trial. This means that you should contact an attorney as soon as you can. In some areas, it can even take up to a month to get an accident report, so reaching out to a lawyer 18 months after an accident does not leave them much time to build your case, much less to negotiate and decide if filing a lawsuit is the appropriate course of action. 

You are better off contacting an attorney to see what they can do for you, even if it is a few months after your case. Many law firms, like Triumph Law, will offer free consultations to discuss your case and help you make an informed decision. Further, Triumph Law can work on a contingency fee-based payment system to ensure you are not paying for an expensive legal battle until you receive your due compensation.