Today, as this article is written, several families are just learning the unbearable news that they have lost a loved one from the bridge collapse at FIU. It goes without saying that this is yet another needless tragedy that could have been avoided. As the families grieve, they will also want answers. Most will want justice to be served by taking legal action to hold those at fault accountable for their actions as this type of collapse does not happen without negligence. Experienced civil trial lawyers will be the vehicle through which this wrong will be righted. No, lawsuits will not bring a loved one back to life, or reverse the life long injuries and damage this bridge collapse caused, but someone will be made to pay. Financial settlements and verdicts, while never restoring what was lost as no amount of money can ever replace a life, are the only way the at fault party can compensate a victim and their family in our legal system. The money will not just be handed over either. The at fault companies and entities involved hear will want to reduce and fight their exposure to a big verdict or settlement. They will try to tie up and delay the litigation and will want to point the finger elsewhere, anything not to pay.

Negligent Construction of roads, bridges, and buildings can lead to accelerated deterioration, collapse, and other failures causing serious injury and death. We often think of our aging infrastructure as the most vulnerable to catastrophic engineering failures. But we see today and in the past few year in Miami during the construction boom, a string of major structural collapses leading to gruesome fatalities of innocent bystanders and construction workers involved with the building. Some negligent causes have been attributed to cost saving cuts, defective materials, and sometimes just carelessness of architects, engineers, and construction workers. The accidents tend to happen on major projects like cement parking garages, overpasses, skyscrapers, and roadway projects. Several factors can occur with sub contractors, suppliers, material men, and executives to create a perfect storm of danger on these projects.Lawsuits for such injuries will be the end result of these tragedies. Attorney Alexander Perkins, a Miami personal and wrongful death lawyer has handled catastrophic injury and death cases from faulty construction against construction companies, government entities and owners of land achieving justice for his clients including a 10.5 million dollar recovery in a highway construction defect case. If you have been seriously injured due to a construction site or work zone accident, we can help.  Email us at info@PerkinsLawOffices.com or call at 305-741-LAWS (5297) or 855-741-LAWS, for a free and confidential consultation  from our skilled lawyers at Perkins Law Offices.

Unlike most auto insurance policies in place in Florida, rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft provide up to $1 million in liability coverage while a driver is on a trip with a passenger or en route to a passenger. This is actually great news if someone is seriously injured in an Uber accident because, as any Miami personal injury lawyer will tell you, most drivers in Florida are driving around with little or no liability insurance at all. People think they are fully covered when the buy the minimum policy in Florida, which only requires $10,000 in PIP insurance.

Even better news is that the Uber and Lyft insurance policies include coverage for both BI (Bodily Injury) and UM (Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist). This means the rideshare company’s insurance will cover an injured Uber passenger for up to $1 million if the accident is caused by the negligence over their own Uber driver or if the accident is caused by a driver of another vehicle who does not have enough insurance to cover the damages. In other words, UM coverage from the rideshare company will stand in the shoes of the negligent party and will provide insurance coverage as if that underinsured party had insurance. This UM coverage will also cover the Uber driver if he or she is hurt by an uninsured or underinsured driver. Below is a illustrated chart from Uber explaining what is covered.

THE BAD NEWS

Uber does not perform adequate criminal and driving background checks?

Often Uber customers are lulled into a false sense of security when taking an Uber or sending a loved one in an Uber because they think, “What could happen, all drivers identities are logged into the APP and GPS map is tracking the ride?” Think again!

An Uber driver can be just about anyone off the street, including thieves, rapists and murderers. Unfortunately, almost anyone is qualified to be an Uber driver. You do not even need to own a car. Yep, that’s right, Uber leases cars to driver’s too. There is no special driver’s license endorsement required, nor does Uber perform adequate criminal history background checks.

Uber only performs a minimal criminal background search looking for felony convictions. This check goes back 7 years and only looks at felony convictions. That’s it, nothing else. This means if your driver was convicted more than 7 years ago, it won’t show up on their background check and they can be your driver. It also means your driver could have been arrested 12 times in the past 2 years for drug dealing, car jacking, robbery, assault, etc, but if there has been no conviction, that apparently does not disqualify the driver. The takeaway here is– do not take food or drinks from your Uber driver and always be vigilant.

We have a client who was drugged and robbed when he accepted water from his Uber driver on his ride home from the airport. When they arrived to his home, the Uber driver, a female, asked to be let in to use the bathroom. My client obliged and the Uber driver then pushed the dazed and confused passenger into his home and proceeded to burglarize it as he lay passed out.

My client did not remember what had happened to him when he woke up late the next day until he checked his security cameras. Thankfully the cameras captured part of the burglary. However, he does not know if he was sexually assaulted in the home during the incident, and he is fearful the Uber driver or her cohorts might come back and do more harm because the driver stole his personal information and even his handgun.

In our case the Uber driver was a convicted felon for cocaine distribution 12 years prior and had recent arrests for grand theft and possession of drugs in 2012. The Uber driver also had her license suspended in 2014. Yet that did not stop Uber from not only hiring her as a driver, but also leasing her a vehicle through its leasing program!

Adding insult to injury, Uber’s lawyers want to silence me and my client from ever publicly mentioning this incident. Before Uber will agree to mediate the case, Uber is demanding for us to sign an onerous confidentiality agreement that says we cannot talk about the case or incident in the public domain, like social media. We will see if they relent or if we just have to litigate.

TIPS IF YOU ARE IN AN UBER ACCIDENT

-Our Miami Uber accident injury lawyers will explain everything. Case reviews and consultations are always free and there are no attorney fees if our Uber accident injury lawyers do not make a recovery for you.

-Whether you are an Uber passenger who was injured due to an accident caused by your own Uber driver, or were in your own car and hit by an Uber, or if you are an Uber driver and were injured while on a ride by another vehicle, there will likely be more insurance coverage than usual in order to make a claim.

Here are a few tips from a Miami Uber accident injury lawyer about what you need to know maximize your claim if you have a personal injury from an Uber accident.

• Get medical help. Before worrying about claims and lawsuits, if you are seriously hurt, call 911 or go to the hospital, urgent care, or your doctor. If you need a referral to a doctor, our personal injury lawyers at Perkins Law Offices can assist you with finding one.
• If you are an Uber passenger or driver, take screen shots and save all emails and data from the trip. Take photos of damaged vehicles, the scene, and any visible injuries. Get all drivers and witness names and contact info. Do not depend on the police report or the app.
• Do not sign any documents or make any recorded statements to Uber about the accident and injuries. Often times Uber or Lyft may offer a small amount of money or try to get you to sign a release. Do not do it! Only Uber driver’s have a duty to cooperate with Uber if they want to be covered by their insurance, but injured passengers and occupants of other vehicles and pedestrians do not.
• Call the Uber accident injury lawyers at Perkins Law Offices 855-741-5297

You cannot go it alone. You need an experienced Miami Uber accident injury lawyer to guide you through the process and get the best result. Perkins Law Offices’ Uber accident lawyers will get you the money you deserve. Call 855-741-5297 or email Perkins@perkinslawoffices.com for free case review with a Miami Uber accident injury lawyer.