(Photo credit: Alexander Torrenegra/Flickr)
Canada’s taxi industry is up in arms with Uber introducing its UberX ride sharing service in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal this fall and expectations that it could launch in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton in the near future.
UberX lets passengers looking for a ride hail a car using an app. Drivers can be anyone over 21 who passes a background check and has an insured car in good working condition with a lifespan of less than ten years old.
While the controversial service offers a cheaper alternative for Canadians looking for rides, one issue that’s being brought up is the company’s insurance coverage.
For anyone who chooses to be an UberX driver, the Insurance Bureau of Canada has warned that drivers must carry commercial insurance. If they hold personal car insurance, if they or a passenger are injured in a collision, they won’t be covered.
“Every ride on the UberX platform in Canada is backed by $5 million of contingent auto liability insurance, so drivers and the community at large can rest assured knowing that ride-sharing partners are covered by our insurance policy in addition to any insurance coverage maintained by the driver,” Lauren Altmin with Uber told CBC News.
The question of insurance coverage came to the forefront recently after the first fatal accident of a passenger using a ride share service, Lyft, which only operates in the US. The incident happened on a highway near Sacramento, California, where the driver swerved to avoid a stalled vehicle in the middle lane. After avoiding the vehicle, it hit two trees, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The vehicle was carrying two passengers and one of them died on impact.
When a Lyft driver is carrying a passenger, the company offers a $1 million liability and uninsured/underinsured policy that will “apply as primary to a driver’s personal automobile insurance policy.” This policy will cover bodily injury/property damage.
But there’s concerns about an insurance gap between when an UberX driver is free to work and hasn’t received a ride request. There was an incident in San Francisco during New Year’s Eve when an UberX driver killed a 6-year-old girl and hurt her brother and mother. At the time, he was logged onto the UberX app, but he only carried a personal insurance policy of $30,000 for injury and death to multiple people, the family’s lawyer told the Chronicle. The family has filed a lawsuit against Uber for wrongful death.
Motor vehicle accidents happen and accident benefits are available to anyone involved in a motor vehicle accident regardless of who caused the accident. The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been dealing with all accident related issues throughout Ontario for over 45 years. We know how to get you the compensation that you deserve and get your life back in order after being in a car accident. Call us at 416-920-4242, set up a free consultation, and come speak with us.
Greg Neinstein
Latest posts by Greg Neinstein (see all)
- Do I have a personal injury case? - April 23, 2019
- Are your insurance premiums high? Check your postal code - April 17, 2019
- This was an unusually harsh winter for slip-and-falls - April 11, 2019