Chicago Rideshare Accident Lawyer

In 2021, the Chicago Sun-Times released a report that claimed there were only 703 taxi medallions (the licenses that cab drivers need to legally operate) in Chicago compared to more than 227,000 registered transportation network provider vehicles, also known as transportation network companies or TNCs but more commonly known as “ridesharing” companies.

The emergence of Uber, Lyft, and similar rideshare providers in Chicago has created intense pressure on the City Council to balance how these competing services are regulated, but it has also given many residents additional options to get to and from destinations in and around the city.

The competition, however, has also created additional pressure on drivers to not only find more passengers, but to get them to destinations as quickly as possible. As a result, taxis and ridesharing vehicles can frequently cause crashes that leave innocent people with very serious injuries.

Rideshare Accident Victims in Illinois

When a taxi or ride sharing vehicle is involved in any kind of crash, numerous parties can sustain injuries. The City of Chicago requires taxis to carry automobile liability insurance policies with a minimum limit of $350,000 per incident, but insurance can be much more complicated with ridesharing vehicles.

Uber and Lyft, for example, both provide $1 million in liability coverage per incident—but such coverage only applies when a rideshare driver is at fault and was carrying passengers. When such drivers are “off duty,” meaning they have no passengers and have not accepted any new ride requests, the liability limits are much lower.

Some of the possible victims include:

• Passengers

  Taxis are generally considered “common carriers,” which means that the bus operator “owes a duty to exercise the highest degree of care consistent with the practical operation of its conveyances to protect the safety of the passenger and such duty is continuous throughout this relationship and extends to passengers who are given a transfer for continuous passage upon another conveyance of the carrier.” [Rotheli v. Chicago Transit Authority, 7 Ill.2d 172, 130 N.E.2d 172 (1955)] Under the Transportation Network Providers Act (625 Illinois Compiled Statute 57/), “TNCs or TNC drivers are not common carriers, contract carriers or motor carriers, as defined by applicable state law, nor do they provide taxicab or for-hire vehicle service.” Passengers are always at risk of serious injuries in any taxi or ridesharing vehicle crash.

• Occupants of Other Vehicles

  When a taxi or ridesharing vehicle is involved in an accident, the crash often involves another automobile—possibly several. Depending on the type of collision, the drivers and passengers of such vehicles can sustain severe injuries.

• Pedestrians

  Inattentive taxi or rideshare drivers may strike people attempting to lawfully cross city streets. People on foot are more likely to suffer catastrophic injuries in taxi or rideshare accidents.

• Bicyclists

  People ride bikes all over Chicago, and many streets in the city even have specific lanes carved out for bicyclists. The rights of bicyclists to share roads can be ignored by some cab or rideshare drivers, and victims on bicycles are often seriously harmed when the operators of taxis or ridesharing vehicles act negligently.