Rideshare Accident Attorneys in Summerville

A rideshare driver who has not logged on drives under the same rules as any other motorist. The TNC Act's coverage rules reach only log-on time and prearranged rides. Outside those windows, the driver's personal auto policy answers for a crash. Section 38-77-140 sets that policy's floor at 25/50/25. Read aloud, 25/50/25 means $25,000 for any one injured person, $50,000 as the total for everyone hurt in a single crash, and $25,000 toward damaged property.

Suppose the driver is heading home on Jedburg Road with the app closed and rear-ends your car at a light. That claim works like any other two-car collision, and Frost Law Group handles those car wreck claims as well. If the driver later says the app was on, the company's log-in record can confirm or contradict that account.

The first rideshare tier starts when a driver logs on and becomes available for requests. Section 58-23-1630(B) calls for primary liability coverage with a $50,000 minimum for each injured person. The minimum for everyone hurt in one incident is $100,000. Property damage coverage must reach $50,000, twice the personal-policy floor. Primary means the policy pays first rather than waiting behind another insurer.

Uninsured motorist coverage must also be in place, in the amount Section 38-77-150 demands. A driver circling near Nexton Parkway between requests sits in this tier the whole time. So does a driver parked in a lot with the app open, even though the app has not matched a rider yet.

Coverage rises at acceptance, before the rider ever climbs in. Under Section 58-23-1630(C), a prearranged ride requires at least $1 million in primary liability coverage. That figure covers death, bodily injury and property damage. So a driver crossing town to a pickup with an empty back seat already has the higher tier behind him or her. A motorist or pedestrian hit during that stretch may claim against it. Think of a driver who accepts a request near I-26 Exit 199 and rear-ends a car on North Main Street on the way to the rider.

The $1 million minimum is one combined limit for every injury and all property damage in the crash. It is not $1 million per person. When one crash hurts several people and wrecks two cars, a policy written at the minimum makes all of those claims share that single limit. That is why the full list of claimants matters early.

The same $1 million tier continues while the rider is in the car. It ends when the last requesting rider departs. On a trip with two requesting riders headed to different stops, the tier runs until the second rider leaves. After that drop-off, a driver who stays logged on and available falls back into the 50/100/50 tier. A driver who logs off returns to the personal policy alone.

Crashes during the exit itself raise a timing question. The statute does not say whether a rider halfway out the door has departed. The log data and the trip record fix the time of the drop-off, and Frost Law Group compares that time with the crash report.

A rider in an Uber that crashes mid-trip falls within the statute's prearranged ride. If the Uber driver caused the wreck, the $1 million minimum stands behind that driver. If another motorist caused it, the rider's claim runs first against that motorist's liability policy. The Uber tier may still matter when both drivers share fault. Section 58-23-1660 also requires the driver to display an ID badge. It shows the driver's photo, first name, car make and model and plate number, and the app may display it instead. Frost Law Group handles Uber passenger injury claims where that trip information helps show who was aboard.

Lyft passengers rely on the same statute. The TNC Act requires every rideshare company operating in South Carolina to hold a permit from the Office of Regulatory Staff. A passenger may have claims against both drivers when each made a mistake. Think of a Lyft driver who pulls out of a shopping center lot on Dorchester Road while another car speeds through the lane. Frost Law Group represents people in Lyft passenger claims under those same coverage tiers.

If a rideshare car hits you while you drive your own car, the app status sets the minimum liability coverage behind that driver. The $1 million tier stands behind a driver on a trip. At least 50/100/50 stands behind an idle driver who has logged on. A driver with the app off may carry only 25/50/25. When the applicable limit falls short, your own underinsured motorist coverage, called UIM, may pay the difference if you bought it. Tara and Jack Frost line up both policies before any settlement talk begins.

Pickups and drop-offs bring rideshare cars to curbs, driveways and crosswalks, where people walk and ride bikes. In 2024, Dorchester County reports listed 36 pedestrian victims and 18 bicyclist victims, according to the Traffic Collision Fact Book. Four of those pedestrians and one bicyclist died. Statewide, 158 pedestrians died in 2024. The Fact Book places 131 of the 158 fatal pedestrian collisions in the dark, 8 of them in rain. A person hit by a rideshare driver claims against the same app-status coverage a motorist would. Frost Law Group also handles the catastrophic injuries these crashes can cause, including brain and spinal cord damage.

Rideshare drivers get hurt too, sometimes by a motorist who ran a light or followed too closely. Their own claim runs first against the at-fault motorist's liability policy. The complication comes from the driver's personal insurer. Section 58-23-1625(A) lets that insurer exclude coverage for any loss while the app is on or a prearranged ride is underway. The exclusion can even reach the driver's own uninsured motorist coverage.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage in the Rideshare Tiers

Both rideshare tiers call for uninsured motorist coverage, but only in the basic amount Section 38-77-150 sets for every auto policy. A driver hit by an uninsured motorist while carrying a rider, or while waiting with the app open, may be able to claim under that coverage. The answer turns on the policy's definition of an insured. It also turns on whether the personal policy contains the exclusion the statute allows.

The Written Coverage Notice Drivers Receive

Before a driver may accept a first request, Section 58-23-1635 requires the company to disclose its coverage in writing. The notice lists the types and limits of coverage the company provides during app use. It must also warn that the driver's personal policy may not cover app time or prearranged rides. Frost Law Group can ask an injured driver for that notice, along with the personal declarations page.

The checklist in Section 58-23-1650(B) starts with a valid driver's license and proof the driver is at least 21. The company must obtain a 10-year driving record from SCDMV. It also needs the record from the state where the driver lived during that decade. A local and national criminal background check must include a national sex offender registry search. Proof of the driver's own liability policy at the Section 38-77-140 minimum completes the list.

Convictions That Keep a Driver off the App

Under Section 58-23-1650(F), a company may not let anyone registered, or required to register, as a sex offender provide rides. The bar also covers a conviction within the past ten years for DUI, driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration, fraud or theft. Violent crimes as Section 16-1-60 defines them, felonies involving property damage and using a vehicle to commit a felony disqualify a driver for that same ten-year stretch.

No Drug Testing Requirement in the Statute

The same subsection bars a driver who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol from providing rides. It also states that nothing in the section requires a company to drug test its drivers. Proof of impairment after a rideshare crash therefore comes from the usual sources, such as the officer's observations and any chemical test.

Section 58-23-1640 requires a safety inspection within 30 days of a car's first rideshare trip, then at least once a year. A mechanic licensed in South Carolina performs it. The inspection covers 19 items, among them foot and emergency brakes, steering, stop lights, tire tread depth, mirrors and safety belts. The company must keep inspection records for three years and produce them to state regulators on request. After a crash involving bald tires or dead stop lights, those records show what a mechanic checked and when.

A rideshare car must display the company's approved emblem, which the statute calls trade dress, whenever the driver is active on the app. The emblem must be readable at 50 feet in daylight and visible after dark. A 2019 amendment added a second rule. At pickup, the car must show its license plate number on the front in characters at least two inches tall.

These rules help a rider confirm the right car before getting in. Posing as an authorized rideshare driver is a misdemeanor, and the penalty can reach a $500 fine and 30 days in jail, together or separately. A rider hurt in an impostor's car may face a different coverage picture, since the company's records may show no trip at all. Frost Law Group can check the trip record against the plate and the driver named in the police report.

Section 58-23-1630(H) also requires the driver to answer one question when asked. Was the app logged on, or was a prearranged ride underway, when the crash happened? The duty runs to directly interested parties, auto insurers and the investigating officers. Ask at the scene if you can do so safely, and write down the answer with the time. A shaky or missing answer from the driver does not erase the log record the company keeps.

Section 58-23-1625(D) goes further once a claims coverage investigation begins. The company and any insurer that may owe coverage must cooperate in sharing relevant information with directly involved parties. That includes the precise times the driver logged on and off during the 12 hours before the crash and the 12 hours after it. A log-off one minute before impact could move a claim into a different tier. Frost Law Group compares that window with the crash time on the report.

The same subsection requires the company and the insurers to give one another a clear description of each policy's coverage, exclusions and limits. That exchange happens inside a coverage investigation. It is not a public records right.

Section 58-23-1625(A) allows personal auto insurers to exclude any and all coverage for a loss during app time or a prearranged ride. Liability coverage can fall under that exclusion. So can uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, medical payments coverage and the physical damage coverages that repair the driver's own car. An insurer that excludes a claim this way owes no duty to defend or pay it. If a personal insurer pays an excluded claim anyway, it can seek contribution from the insurers providing the rideshare coverage.

Section 58-23-1630(D) fills the gap an exclusion could leave. Suppose the driver's own insurance has lapsed or does not provide the required coverage. The company's insurance must then pay from the first dollar of the claim and defend it. Subsection (E) adds that company coverage cannot depend on a personal insurer denying the claim first. An adjuster who asks you to wait for the driver's insurer to decide is describing a step the statute does not require.

Section 38-77-250 gives a claimant's lawyer a way to learn an auto insurer's limits. The lawyer sends a sworn written request with the incident report, using a delivery method the statute names. Within 30 days, the insurer owes a statement under oath naming its insureds and their limits, or it may send the declarations page instead. The section reaches non-fleet private passenger policies and exempts fleet, umbrella and excess coverage. A commercial policy bought by the company may fall outside it, which makes the TNC Act's own disclosure duties more useful.

A rider's own auto policy may add money when the at-fault coverage falls short. Underinsured motorist coverage is optional in South Carolina. Even so, Section 38-77-160 makes each auto insurer offer UIM up to the buyer's own liability limits. A rideshare trip puts you in someone else's car. When none of your vehicles is involved, that section caps UIM at the amount on any one of your vehicles that carries it. Frost Law Group checks the declarations page for that limit before the claim relies on it.

South Carolina follows modified comparative negligence. A jury assigns each party a percentage of fault and cuts an injured person's award by that person's own share. Once a claimant's share tops 50%, the claimant takes nothing. A rider who simply sat in the back seat gives a jury little to weigh against him or her. Rideshare drivers who sue for their own injuries may face a fault argument, though. How a jury would divide fault in a particular crash is not something any lawyer can promise.

A rider's seat belt raises a separate question. Section 56-5-6520 requires every occupant, back seat included, to wear a fastened belt. Under Section 56-5-6540(C), though, skipping it does not count as negligence per se or contributory negligence in a civil case, and the violation is inadmissible there. Negligence per se is fault the law infers from breaking a safety statute. Contributory negligence means fault on the injured person's own part.

Say an Uber driver pulls away from a curb on College Park Road without checking the mirror. At the same moment, a speeding pickup comes up in the next lane. A passenger hurt in that collision may have claims against both drivers. Each insurer may point at the other driver, and the Uber driver's tier still depends on the app status at impact.

Across South Carolina in 2024, officers named On Cell Phone as the primary contributing factor in 92 collisions and Texting in 60. Those figures capture only the single primary factor an officer chose, and a report can list up to four more. For a driver who works through an app, phone records can say more about distraction than the coded factor does.

How Summerville Rideshare Lawyers Explain Payment Among Several At-Fault Defendants

A defendant whose fault a jury puts below 50% pays just its own percentage of the damages. Section 15-38-15 has worked that way since July 1, 2005, in both its older and amended versions. For a rider, the split can matter more than the size of any one policy. A rideshare driver found less than half at fault may answer only for that portion, even with the $1 million tier behind the driver.

Reaching 50% changes the picture, and a driver at that level or higher can owe the entire award. The same goes for a defendant who acted willfully, wantonly, recklessly or intentionally, or whose conduct involved illegal drugs. Claims under the older version add two more groups, grossly negligent conduct and conduct involving alcohol. Act No. 42 of 2025 removed those two, but only for claims that arose or accrued after its January 1, 2026, start. SCDOT estimated 89,700 vehicles a day in 2024 on the I-26 segment from US 17A to College Park Road. On a road that busy, one crash can involve several drivers and several shares of fault.

Fault Assigned to Someone Outside the Lawsuit

Act No. 42 also changed whose fault the jury counts. For those newer claims, a defendant may ask the jury to place part of the fault on a nonparty, sometimes called the empty chair. One example is a third driver who braked hard in front of the rideshare car and whom no one sued. The defendant must name that nonparty within 180 days of the start of the suit, absent good cause for more time. The injured person can respond by adding that driver to the lawsuit. Frost Law Group can look for every driver involved early, since a late nonparty argument can change how fault divides.

SCDMV keeps the official copy of each officer's collision report. The agency says its copy includes more detail than anything a driver gets at the roadside. SCDMV's collision report instructions describe three ways to order it. Requests can go through the SCDMV website, any branch, or the mail with two copies of Form FR-50. Each report costs $10, and a copy exists only after SCDMV has received and processed the officer's version.

CrashDocs Requests for Town Police Reports

The town's police department investigated 1,321 Dorchester County collisions in 2024. In the same year it investigated 416 Berkeley County crashes and 21 Charleston County crashes. For those reports, the department points drivers to CrashDocs, a third-party portal. Its Traffic Safety Unit includes officers trained in DUI detection and in at-scene, technical and reconstruction collision investigation. Measurements from that unit can answer questions app data cannot, such as speed and the point of impact.

Sheriff and Highway Patrol Reports Outside Town Limits

Past the town limits, a county sheriff or the Highway Patrol may handle the crash instead. Troopers from Troop Six, whose area takes in all three of Summerville's counties, investigated 9,380 collisions in 2024. Requests for photos, measurements or a supplemental report generally go to the agency that did the work. The agency named at the top of the report tells you where to send them.

Section 58-23-1670 requires a rideshare company to keep a record of every South Carolina trip for three years from the date of service. Each record shows when the driver logged into the app and when and where the trip began. It also lists the drop-off address, the fare and any rider complaint with its resolution. At the end of a trip, Section 58-23-1660 requires an electronic receipt for the rider. The receipt lists origin, destination, duration, distance, fare and the driver's first name.

Keep that receipt, because it helps show you were the passenger on that trip. The company may not release a rider's or driver's personal information to outsiders without consent, a legal obligation or a terms-of-use investigation. Frost Law Group can request trip records through legal process for that reason. An early request reaches the records well inside the retention window.

Your phone may hold strong early proof that the car was working for a rideshare company. Photograph the emblem in the windshield and the plate number shown on the front of the car. The statute requires the emblem while the app is active and the front plate number at pickup. Screenshot the driver's name, photo and vehicle details the app displayed. Pictures of both cars, the intersection and any visible injuries round out the file Frost Law Group builds.

A statute of limitations sets the last day to file suit, and an open insurance claim does not stop it from running. The same deadlines apply whether the crash happened in Summerville or in another of the eight South Carolina counties Frost Law Group serves. Shorter paperwork clocks start right away. After a qualifying crash, each driver receives an FR-10 from the officer who worked it. The driver or owner must return that insurance verification form to SCDMV within 15 days of the handoff. Form FR-309 covers the opposite case, an injury crash no officer investigated. Under Section 56-5-1270, the driver or owner has 15 days from the crash to file it with SCDMV.

Which Filing Clock Governs a Rideshare Lawsuit

Section 15-3-530 sets three years for most injury claims. Under the discovery rule in Section 15-3-535, the three years run from the time the injured person knew of the claim, or should have known through reasonable diligence. Wrongful death suits get three years too, counted from the day the person died. A government defendant brings a shorter clock, as when a county truck runs a red light and hits an Uber. The Tort Claims Act then generally allows two years under Section 15-78-110. That period runs from the day the person hurt learned of the loss, or reasonably should have. A third year becomes available only if a verified claim reaches the agency before suit. Section 15-78-80(d) requires the agency to receive that claim within a year of the same discovery date.

Children Hurt in or by a Rideshare Car

A child can be a passenger riding with a parent, a pedestrian near a pickup spot or a rider in another car. South Carolina gives children's claims two protections that adults do not get. Both affect timing and settlement, so a parent should mention the child's age in the free consultation.

Tolling Until Age 18 and Its One-Year Cap

Under Section 15-3-40, time a child spends under age 18 generally stays off the filing clock. That tolling, or pause, ends at one year after the child's 18th birthday, whatever the child's age at the crash. A 17-year-old hurt in a crash gets no added time from this rule. The normal three years already runs past that cutoff.

Circuit Court Review When a Minor Settles

Section 62-5-433 calls for circuit court approval once a child's net recovery from a settlement tops $25,000. The petitioner must swear that, in his or her opinion, the deal is in the child's best interests. The approved funds then go to a conservator, or the probate court issues a protective order that controls their release. Smaller claims follow simpler rules, and a parent can resolve a claim worth $2,500 or less with no court involvement and no conservator.