Uber & Lyft Accidents matters in Hanford
Rideshare Travel in Kings County
Uber and Lyft have become a common way to get around Hanford, whether running between downtown and the Courthouse Square area, traveling along State Route 198, or making the commuter trip toward Naval Air Station Lemoore. Riders use these services as passengers, while other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists share the road with rideshare vehicles. When a crash involves an app-based driver, the path to compensation runs through a layered insurance system that differs from an ordinary collision, and understanding how it works is essential to protecting your claim.
The Coverage Phases That Decide Your Claim
Rideshare insurance depends on what the driver was doing at the moment of the crash. When the app is off, only the driver's personal auto policy applies. When the app is on and the driver is waiting for a ride request, Uber and Lyft provide limited contingent liability coverage. Once a driver has accepted a trip or is carrying a passenger, a far larger commercial policy, commonly up to one million dollars in liability coverage, generally applies. Identifying which phase was active when your crash occurred often determines how much coverage is available, and we work to pin down that detail precisely.
When You Are the Passenger
As a rideshare passenger, you are almost never at fault for a crash, yet you may still face a tangle of insurers pointing at one another. Your injuries might be covered by the rideshare company's commercial policy, by another at-fault driver's insurance, or by uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage available through the rideshare platform. We sort through these overlapping sources so you are not left chasing reimbursement on your own, and we make sure the right policy responds to your medical bills, lost income, and other losses.
Documenting a Rideshare Crash
Strong evidence makes a rideshare claim. We help preserve the trip record from the app, which confirms the driver's status and the route, along with the police report, dash or surveillance footage, and witness statements. Injured riders and others around Hanford are often treated at Adventist Health Hanford, and those records anchor the medical side of the case. Because the app data and trip records are controlled by the companies, acting promptly to preserve them is important, and we move quickly to secure the proof your claim needs.
Pursuing Your Case in Kings County
When the rideshare company, a driver's insurer, or another party refuses to deal fairly, a lawsuit may be filed in the Kings County Superior Court in Hanford. These cases can pit multiple insurers against one another, and having an advocate who understands the coverage phases helps prevent your claim from falling through the cracks. MMG Law Firm represents people injured in rideshare crashes on a contingency basis, with no fee unless we recover, and we pursue the full compensation California law allows.
Our attorney
How Mihran M. Ghazaryan helps with uber & lyft accidents
Uber and Lyft cases come down to which policy applies at the exact moment of the crash, and Mihran M. Ghazaryan maps that timeline precisely. He pulls the trip data, pinpoints the driver's app status, and pursues the up-to-$1M coverage that applies during an active ride — coverage adjusters won't volunteer. You work with the attorney untangling those layered policies, start to finish.
Types of rideshare accidents we handle
Passenger injury during an active ride
Uber's or Lyft's $1M policy is in force. The driver's personal policy is irrelevant to your recovery in most cases.
Driver as plaintiff (rideshare driver injured)
Uninsured/underinsured-motorist coverage from the platform applies during active periods. We make sure rideshare drivers know what they have.
Pedestrians and other vehicles struck by rideshare drivers
App-status windows determine which policy responds. Trip data is the central piece.
Damages
What compensation can cover
Every rideshare accident claim is different, but California law allows injured plaintiffs to seek several categories of damages. We build each one with documentation — medical records, wage statements, expert opinions — so nothing is left on the table.
Medical expenses
Emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, and the future treatment your providers say you'll need.
Lost wages
Income you lost while recovering — and, where the injury affects your ability to work, diminished future earning capacity.
Pain and suffering
Compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, and the ways the injury has changed how you live day to day.
Property damage
Repair or replacement of your vehicle and other property damaged in the incident.
Out-of-pocket costs
Transportation to appointments, medical equipment, household help, and the other expenses an injury forces on you.
How we work
- 1
Free, no-pressure consultation
We listen first. We answer your questions. There is no fee for the initial conversation — and you decide whether to engage us at the end of it.
- 2
Investigation and evidence preservation
Police reports, scene photos, witness statements, vehicle data, surveillance video, medical records. The earlier we collect, the harder it is for the other side to reshape the story later.
- 3
Treatment, demand, and negotiation
We coordinate with your providers, document the full extent of damages — medical, lost income, pain — and present a demand backed by evidence. We push back firmly when an insurer lowballs.
- 4
Litigation when necessary
Most matters settle. When an insurer refuses to be reasonable, we file. Preparing every case as if it will be tried is what makes the settlement number move.
What to do right away
- Get medical attention immediately.
- Screenshot your trip — both the receipt and the driver profile.
- Save the in-app trip details before the app updates them.
- Photograph the scene, the vehicle, and the rideshare placards.
- Do not give a recorded statement to either insurer before contacting us.
The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.
Deadlines that matter
Most California personal-injury claims must be filed within two years of the injury (Code of Civil Procedure §335.1). Miss the window and the court will almost always dismiss the case, no matter how strong it is.
Claims against government entities are much shorter — generally a written claim within six months (Government Code §911.2). Crashes involving city vehicles, public buses, or dangerous public-road conditions can fall under this rule.
Exceptions exist in both directions — discovery rules, minors, continuing violations, out-of-state defendants — so don't assume your deadline has passed or that you have time to spare. Call (818) 539-7969 and we'll tell you exactly where you stand.