With more than a decade operating in the US, rideshare companies became a convenient reality for all of us. Maybe you do not feel like driving, or you went out with some friends and need a convenient and safe way to move around the town at night. Ridesharing can help with that. However, these cars are not immune to accidents.
A crash involving an Uber or Lyft raises an insurance question that an ordinary car accident does not: which policy applies depends on what the rideshare driver was doing at the moment of the crash. State law gives you the tools to seek compensation after a crash involving a rideshare driver. A South Carolina rideshare accident lawyer can help you build a strong claim.
At the Arndt Law Firm, we represent people injured in rideshare crashes across South Carolina, be them passengers, other drivers, or pedestrians. If you wonder whether you are owed compensation, contact us.
South Carolina regulates transportation network companies, the rideshare services like Uber and Lyft, under Title 58, Chapter 23 of the state code, and the law ties the insurance available after a crash to the phase of the driver's activity.
Under South Carolina Code Title 58, Chapter 23, the coverage that applies depends on what the driver was doing in the app at the moment of the crash, and understanding the phase is the key to identifying the available coverage.
The first phase exists when the app is off. When a rideshare driver is not logged into the app and is simply driving for personal reasons, they are treated like any other driver, and only their personal auto insurance applies.
A crash during this phase is an ordinary car accident, governed by the driver's personal policy, with no rideshare coverage available, because the driver was not engaged in rideshare activity at all.
The second phase exists when the app is on, and the driver is waiting for a ride request but has not yet accepted one. During this phase, the rideshare company's primary coverage applies, providing liability coverage at lower limits than the full rideshare policy: $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for death and bodily injury, and $50,000 for property damage.
Once the driver logs on, the personal auto policy usually stops responding: South Carolina expressly permits personal auto insurers to exclude all coverage while a driver is logged onto the network.
The third phase exists when the driver has accepted a ride and is on the way to the passenger or has the passenger in the car. During this phase, the rideshare company's full commercial coverage applies: a one-million-dollar liability policy, which is the most substantial coverage in the rideshare framework.
A passenger injured during a ride, or another person injured in a crash with a rideshare driver who was carrying or on the way to a passenger, has access to this substantial coverage, which can be critical when injuries are serious.
The phase-based structure means that the same rideshare driver carries dramatically different coverage from one moment to the next, and establishing the phase at the moment of the crash is therefore central to a rideshare claim.
A driver waiting for a request carries the primary coverage, but the instant they accept a ride, the one-million-dollar policy takes effect, and the difference in available coverage between these phases is enormous. For a seriously injured victim, which policy applies can determine whether the coverage is adequate to address the harm.
Establishing the phase depends on the rideshare company's records, which show the driver's status in the app at the moment of the crash. This electronic data, recording when the app was on, when a request was accepted, and when a passenger was in the car, is in the company's control and is the key evidence for determining the phase and the coverage.
Obtaining these records is an essential step in a rideshare claim, because the company's data establishes the phase and therefore the policy that applies. Without these records, the phase, and with it the available coverage, can be uncertain or disputed, which is why securing the company's data is among the priorities in a rideshare case.
Because the coverage depends on the phase and the phase depends on the company's records, a rideshare claim involves an evidentiary step that an ordinary car accident does not.
The company may not volunteer the information, and the precise timing can be contested, particularly near the boundary between phases, such as a crash that occurred just before or just after a ride was accepted.
Securing the company's records and establishing the phase accurately is part of reaching the coverage the victim is entitled to, and it is one of the first tasks in a rideshare case.
Because the available coverage changes so dramatically from one phase to the next, the moments at the boundaries between phases are where rideshare claims are most often contested, and understanding these disputes shows why establishing the precise status of the app matters so much.
The most consequential boundary is between the waiting phase, with its lower primary coverage, and the active-ride phase, with the full one-million-dollar policy. A crash that occurred in the seconds around when a driver accepted a ride request can fall on either side of that line, and the difference in available coverage is enormous, which gives the rideshare company's insurer a strong incentive to place the crash in the lower-coverage phase.
These boundary disputes are resolved by the electronic records, which timestamp the driver's status, but the records can be subject to interpretation, and the precise sequence of when a request was sent, accepted, and registered in the system can be contested.
A victim seeking the higher coverage may need to establish that the ride had been accepted at the moment of the crash, while the insurer may argue the driver was still merely waiting, and the resolution turns on a careful examination of the company's data and the timing it reflects.
Securing the complete records, rather than accepting a summary characterization of the phase, is part of protecting access to the coverage the victim is entitled to.
Coverage gaps can also arise from the structure itself. The waiting phase carries only primary coverage at lower limits, which may be inadequate for a serious injury, and a driver who was logged in but had not yet accepted a ride presents exactly this limited-coverage situation.
Where the rideshare coverage falls short, identifying other sources, the at-fault party's coverage if another driver was responsible, or the victim's own uninsured and underinsured coverage, becomes important to reaching an adequate recovery.
The phase-based structure, while it provides substantial coverage during active rides, leaves these narrower windows where the available coverage is more limited, and recognizing which window a crash fell into is essential to understanding what coverage applies.
Several categories of people can be injured in a rideshare crash, and the analysis of the available coverage applies to each. A passenger in the rideshare vehicle is generally in a strong position, because a passenger is rarely at fault for a crash, and when the driver was carrying them, the one-million-dollar coverage applies.
A passenger injured in a rideshare crash can pursue the rideshare driver if that driver was at fault, or another driver if that driver caused the crash, and the rideshare coverage may apply depending on the circumstances.
A passenger who is hurt while a ride is in progress has the advantage of both clear non-fault status, since they had no control over the vehicle, and access to the higher-tier coverage, which together often place an injured passenger in a strong position to recover.
The occupants of another vehicle struck by a rideshare driver can recover based on the rideshare driver's fault, with the available coverage determined by the phase the rideshare driver was in at the time.
If the rideshare driver was carrying or on the way to a passenger, the substantial third-phase coverage applies, while a crash during the waiting phase brings the lower primary coverage. Pedestrians and cyclists struck by a rideshare driver are analyzed the same way, with the phase determining the coverage.
For a victim outside the rideshare vehicle, it may not be obvious that the other driver was working for a rideshare service at all, which is why recognizing the rideshare connection and obtaining the company's records to establish the phase is an important early step that can substantially affect the coverage available.
A rideshare passenger or another victim may also have recourse to additional coverage beyond the rideshare policy. When another driver caused the crash, that driver's liability coverage applies, and the victim's own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may come into play if the at-fault party's coverage is insufficient.
Identifying every applicable policy (the rideshare coverage determined by the phase, any at-fault driver's coverage, and the victim's own coverage) is part of building a rideshare claim that reaches the full coverage available, similarly to a South Carolina car accident claim.
In a serious crash, more than one of these sources may apply, and reaching the full available coverage requires identifying and pursuing each of them rather than settling on the first source identified.
South Carolina's modified comparative negligence rule governs rideshare crashes, allowing recovery as long as the victim was 50 percent or less at fault, reducing the recovery by their percentage, and barring it at 51 percent or more, under Nelson v. Concrete Supply Company (1991).
The fault analysis in a rideshare crash proceeds as in any car accident, establishing who caused the crash through the evidence, with the added question of which driver, the rideshare driver or another, was responsible.
The recovery in a rideshare crash includes the full range of damages, the medical costs from emergency care through future treatment, the lost wages and reduced earning capacity, and the pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life a serious injury causes.
Since the available coverage can be substantial when the third-phase policy applies, a serious injury sustained in a rideshare crash during an active ride may have access to coverage adequate to address it, unlike a crash with a minimally insured private driver.
When a serious rideshare crash occurs anywhere in South Carolina, the most critically injured are taken to the nearest trauma center, and documenting the full extent of the injuries is essential to a recovery that reflects their true cost.
For a serious injury, the future medical care and the lost earning capacity are often the largest part of the claim, and capturing them requires looking beyond the bills incurred to date to the long-term effect of the injury, just as in any serious crash.
The interaction of the phase-based coverage with the fault analysis is what makes a rideshare claim distinctive. Establishing both who was at fault and which phase the rideshare driver was in determines both liability and the coverage available to satisfy it, and getting both right is necessary to reach the recovery the injury requires.
If a rideshare driver was impaired, punitive damages may be available on clear and convincing proof of wilful, wanton, or reckless conduct. South Carolina normally caps them at the greater of three times compensatory damages or $500,000, but the cap does not apply at all where the defendant was under the influence to the degree that judgment was substantially impaired.
A claim that establishes the fault but overlooks the available phase-based coverage, or that misidentifies the phase, can leave the victim short of what they are entitled to recover.
The steps taken after a rideshare crash protect both health and the claim, and a few are particular to these cases because of the phase-based coverage.
The priority is always medical care, both to protect health and to document the injury at its origin, which matters whether you were a passenger, in another vehicle, or a pedestrian. Some injuries are not immediately apparent, so accepting evaluation and following through on treatment is important even when the harm seems limited at first.
Documenting the rideshare connection is valuable, because the phase determines the coverage. If you were a passenger, your trip record in the app documents that a ride was in progress, placing the driver in the third phase with the full coverage, and preserving that record, including any receipt or trip history, supports the claim.
If you were in another vehicle or a pedestrian, noting that the other driver was a rideshare driver, and any identifying information such as the company and the vehicle, helps establish the rideshare connection and the need to obtain the company's records.
Photographs of the scene, the vehicles, and any visible injuries, along with the names of witnesses, capture the facts of the crash, and making sure law enforcement responds creates an official record.
In the days that follow, preserving evidence and acting promptly protect the claim. Because the company's electronic records establish the phase and the coverage, securing those records before they become harder to obtain is important, and being cautious in dealings with the rideshare company's insurer, which may handle the claim, protects against an early effort to minimize it.
Not accepting an early offer before the full extent of the injuries is known, and identifying every applicable policy, including the phase-based rideshare coverage and any personal coverage, all support the recovery. Seeking advice early from a South Carolina rideshare accident lawyer helps ensure the phase is established, and the coverage is identified.
Rideshare services operate throughout South Carolina, and the crashes they produce occur across the state's communities and roads. In the metropolitan areas, the volume of rideshare activity is highest, with drivers carrying passengers through city traffic, to and from the airports, and across the busy corridors of the state's largest cities, and the crashes in these areas reflect the density of both rideshare and other traffic.
The state's airports generate significant rideshare traffic, with drivers carrying travelers to and from terminals, and crashes can occur on the routes and at the access points these trips follow.
The concentration of rideshare activity in the urban areas, on the airport routes, and around the entertainment and nightlife districts means that crashes are more common in these settings, though they can occur anywhere a rideshare driver operates.
The tourism and events that draw visitors to South Carolina, from the coast to the cities, increase rideshare activity, particularly in the areas and at the times when visitors rely on these services.
A visitor injured as a rideshare passenger, or a resident injured in a crash with a rideshare driver, faces the same phase-based analysis wherever the crash occurred, and the rideshare coverage framework is statewide.
The growth of rideshare as a way for both residents and visitors to get around the state's cities, airports, and entertainment districts has increased the number of these crashes, and a crash can involve a local resident, a visitor, or both, with the same framework applying to each.
Wherever a rideshare crash occurs in South Carolina, the same questions apply: who was at fault, which phase the rideshare driver was in, and what coverage that phase makes available.
The phase-based framework under Title 58 governs statewide, and the company records that establish the phase are the key evidence regardless of where the crash happened. A person injured in a rideshare crash anywhere in the state is entitled to the coverage the framework provides, and reaching it requires establishing both the fault and the phase.
| Phase | Driver status | Coverage that applies |
| App off | Driving for personal reasons | Personal auto insurance only |
| App on, waiting | Logged in, no ride accepted | Primary coverage (about 50k/100k/50k) |
| Ride accepted or passenger aboard | En route to or carrying a passenger | Full $1 million commercial policy |
It depends on the phase of the driver's app. The app being off brings personal insurance, the waiting phase brings primary coverage, and an accepted ride or passenger aboard brings the full one-million-dollar policy.
The rideshare company's electronic records show the driver's status in the app at the moment of the crash, which establishes the phase and the coverage. Obtaining these records is a key step.
Yes. A passenger is rarely at fault, and when the driver was carrying them, the third-phase one-million-dollar coverage applies. The passenger can pursue whichever driver was at fault.
Three years from the date of the crash under South Carolina Code section 15-3-530. A shorter deadline may apply if a government entity is responsible.
Yes, as long as you were 50 percent or less at fault. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage, and barred at 51 percent or more.
At the Arndt Law Firm, we approach every South Carolina rideshare crash by establishing which phase the driver was in to identify the available coverage, obtaining the company records that prove the phase, determining who was at fault, and documenting the full extent of the injuries.
Attorney Arndt previously defended insurers, so we understand how rideshare coverage is evaluated and contested, and we work to reach the coverage the phase makes available, wherever in the state the crash occurred. We serve communities across the state, so you can bring your Charleston rideshare accident claim or your Columbia rideshare accident claim.
If you or a loved one was injured in a rideshare crash anywhere in South Carolina, whether as a passenger, another driver, or a pedestrian, time is of the essence. Contact us or call (843) 493-4590 for a free consultation; we handle these cases on a contingency basis, so there is no fee unless we recover for you.
Last reviewed: June 2026
This page was reviewed by Jonathan S. Arndt, licensed in South Carolina since 2018.
