I am often asked if the parent company, Uber or Lyft, is liable for an accident or assault caused by their driver.
In Texas, the answer to this question does not matter in most accident cases because the legislature has incentivized Uber and its drivers to carry higher amounts of insurance to cover most claims. Most rideshare drivers/companies carry one million dollars in insurance to pay accident claims on a for-hire ride. In exchange for carrying this higher insurance coverage and other requirements, the legislature has made it harder to sue the rideshare company directly for their driver’s negligence. Most lawyers, in most cases, look more toward suing the individual driver directly.
In contrast, assault and sexual assault cases require suing the rideshare company directly for not doing enough to prevent assaults. Negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligent security, and negligent policies and procedure claims are all direct claims against the rideshare company for their own negligence. These claims are often not covered by the accident insurance policies, and the rideshare company must be sued directly to obtain a recovery.
