After a crash involving Uber, Lyft, or another transportation network company, one early question is what the driver was doing in the app at the time. A passenger receipt, an accepted request, and a logged-on status describe different parts of that record. They should not be treated as interchangeable.

Start with immediate safety and medical needs, then keep the trip and insurance information together. The purpose of this guide is to identify coverage questions; it cannot determine which insurer owes payment or who caused a particular collision.

An accepted ride can begin the service period before pickup

G.S. 20-280.1 defines TNC service as beginning when the driver accepts a ride request. It ends at the later of completion of the app transaction or all passengers exiting and finishing unloading. Therefore, an empty passenger seat does not establish that the driver was outside the service period.

For example, if a driver accepts a request and crashes while traveling to the pickup location, the accepted-request timestamp matters even though the passenger has not entered the vehicle. Preserve the original app information rather than estimating that time from memory.

Compare the activity period with the policy

G.S. 20-280.4 distinguishes these situations:

  • Logged on, but not providing TNC service: required primary liability limits are at least $50,000 for injury or death to one person, $100,000 for two or more people subject to the per-person limit, and $25,000 for others’ property damage.
  • Providing TNC service: required primary liability insurance is at least $1 million per accident for the combined categories specified in the statute.
  • Not logged on: identify the actual activity and applicable personal or other policy; do not assume coverage solely from the absence of a passenger.

The statute permits the required coverage to come from the driver, company, or a combination. It separately requires uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage complying with G.S. 20-279.21. Personal policies may exclude rideshare activity. The section excludes brokering TNCs. Minimum insurance requirements are not settlement promises, and an individual coverage review needs the policy, dates, facts, exclusions, and written insurer position.

Keep coverage and fault as separate questions

If another motorist caused the crash, the inquiry does not end with the rideshare driver’s conduct. Identify that motorist and the potentially relevant policies, including any uninsured or underinsured motorist issue. Keep the collision evidence separate from the app-status evidence: one concerns what happened on the road; the other can help establish the insurance period.

What driver screening does—and does not—establish

G.S. 20-280.6 requires specified application information, background checks, and a driving-history review before a company permits a person to act as a TNC driver. Among its disqualifications are more than three moving violations in the preceding three years or one major violation in that period. The statute also requires continued eligibility confirmation every five years.

That screening requirement does not establish employment status, company fault, or collision causation. If screening is relevant, distinguish the rule, the information actually available, the date of review, and the specific conduct alleged to have contributed to the crash.

Build a short list of records and unanswered questions

  • Driver, vehicle, plate, platform, trip identifier, crash time and location.
  • Original receipt, app screens, messages, accepted-request and completion records.
  • Policy declarations, endorsements, claim numbers, insurer contacts and written coverage explanations.
  • Crash report, photographs, witnesses, vehicle records and medical documentation kept with their original sources.

The related guide to the 24-hour rideshare app-status record explains the broader time window and company-record questions. It helps distinguish the passenger-facing receipt from the underlying activity history.

For help understanding the legal issues raised by these records, see the firm’s information about rideshare-accident representation.

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