Uber or Lyft crash
Hurt in an Uber or Lyft.
The short answer
- Three periods, three sets of coverage. App off: the driver’s personal policy. App on, waiting for a ride: a lower company policy. Ride accepted or passenger aboard: $1,000,000 in all three states.
- Screenshot the trip. The ride receipt, the driver’s name and the time stamps prove which period you were in. Save them before the app history is hard to find.
- Report it in the app and to the police. The company’s report starts its insurance claim; the police report is the independent record.
- Passengers are rarely at fault, so the fight is usually between the rideshare insurer and the other driver’s insurer over who caused it, with you waiting in the middle.
- The deadlines are the ordinary ones: two years in California and Texas, three in Washington, shorter if a public bus or a city vehicle was involved.
The three periods
Rideshare insurance law in all three states is built around the driver’s app. With the app off, the driver is a private person and only the driver’s own personal auto policy applies, and many personal policies exclude commercial driving entirely. From the moment the driver logs in and is waiting for a request, the company must provide coverage, but at a lower level: at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per crash for injuries in California, Texas and Washington, plus property damage, and California adds $200,000 in excess coverage on top.
From the moment a ride is accepted, through the pickup and the trip, until the passenger is out of the car, the company’s $1,000,000 policy applies in all three states. California and Washington also require uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage for the passenger while they are in the car: $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident in California since January 1, 2026, and $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident in Washington. Texas requires uninsured motorist coverage and personal injury protection to the extent its general law does.
The practical point: a passenger hurt in a rideshare crash is usually covered by a large policy. The rideshare driver, waiting for a request and hit by someone else, is covered by a much smaller one plus whatever their own policy and the other driver’s policy provide.
Who you are in the crash
A passenger. You almost never share fault. If the rideshare driver caused it, the company policy pays. If another driver caused it, that driver’s policy is first and the rideshare uninsured or underinsured coverage fills in if it is not enough. Either way, you have a claim, and the two insurers may spend months pointing at each other.
The other driver, a cyclist or a pedestrian hit by a rideshare car. Your claim is against the rideshare driver, and the period the app was in decides whether the company’s large policy, its smaller waiting policy, or only the driver’s personal policy is behind it. The company knows the period to the second. You find out by asking, and the company does not always volunteer it.
The rideshare driver. Hit by someone else while waiting or on a trip, you claim against the other driver, with your own and the company’s uninsured coverage behind that, and the company’s policy for the trip period if you were on one. These statutes exist so that the ride is insured whatever the company calls its drivers.
Fault still matters
The comparative fault rules are the same as for any crash. California and Washington reduce a recovery by the injured person’s share of fault. Texas bars it above 50 percent. For a passenger that rarely matters. For a pedestrian or another driver it can decide the case, and in Texas it is the first thing the insurer will argue.
The car accident page covers the fault and insurance rules in full, and the deadlines page has the limitation periods.
The rules, with their sources
These are the rules of law this page relies on. Each one is a general statement with exceptions that are not shown, and each links to the statute, regulation or court decision it comes from.
| Topic | California | Texas | Washington |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rideshare driver logged in, no ride accepted | At least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for injuries, and $30,000 for property damage, plus $200,000 in excess coverage. [1] | At least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for injuries, and $25,000 for property damage. [2] | At least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for injuries, and $30,000 for property damage, plus underinsured motorist coverage and PIP as state law requires. [3] |
| Rideshare driver heading to a rider or on a trip | From the moment the driver accepts a ride until it ends: $1,000,000 in liability coverage. While a passenger is in the vehicle, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident applies. That figure was $1,000,000 until January 1, 2026. [4] | From the moment the driver accepts a ride until the last rider gets out: $1,000,000 in total liability coverage per incident. Uninsured motorist coverage and PIP also apply where Texas law requires them. [5] | From the moment the driver accepts a ride until the passenger gets out: $1,000,000 in combined liability coverage. Underinsured motorist coverage of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident applies while a passenger is in the vehicle, and PIP applies as state law requires. [3] |
| Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage | Every auto liability policy includes uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage unless the insurer and a named insured removed or reduced it in a signed written agreement. [6] | An auto policy in Texas must include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage unless a named insured rejected it in writing. If you never signed a rejection, you may have this coverage without knowing it. [7] | A new auto policy must include underinsured motorist coverage, which in Washington also covers uninsured, hit and run and phantom vehicles, unless the named insured or spouse rejected it in writing. [8] |
| Deadline to sue for an injury | Generally two years for an injury caused by someone else’s wrongful act or carelessness. [9] | Two years from the day the claim arises. For most crashes and falls that is the day of the injury. [10] | Three years for most injury claims. [11] |
Sources
- Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 5433(c)
- Tex. Ins. Code § 1954.052
- RCW 46.72B.180
- Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 5433(b)
- Tex. Ins. Code § 1954.053
- Cal. Ins. Code § 11580.2(a)
- Tex. Ins. Code § 1952.101
- RCW 48.22.030
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a)
- RCW 4.16.080(2)
The rules on this page were last checked against these sources on October 3, 2026. Laws change, so follow the link before you rely on a rule.
Attorney review in progress. Responsible attorney: Emery Brett Ledger. Page last updated October 26, 2026.