Uber Accident Lawyers in Summerville

A crash in the middle of a trip often involves two drivers. One is the Uber driver, and the other is someone else on the road. Section 15-38-15 generally holds a driver under 50% at fault to that driver's own share of the damages. A driver the jury places at 50% or higher can owe the whole award, so the limits on both policies matter. A rider may hold claims against both at once, and Frost Law Group can build each claim on its own terms before comparing the limits.

The Uber Driver Caused the Wreck

Picture an Uber driver on Dorchester Road who looks down at a phone and rolls through a red light. The rider in back has a claim against the $1 million tier. Coverage for that tier can come from the driver, the company or a mix of the two. If the driver's own insurance lapsed or excludes rideshare use, Section 58-23-1630(D) steps in. The company's insurer must then cover the claim starting at the first dollar and take on its defense.

Another Motorist Hit the Uber

Now suppose a different driver runs that light and hits the Uber. The rider's claim starts with that driver's liability policy. South Carolina's liability minimum is 25/50/25, set in Section 38-77-140. In dollars, it is $25,000 for one injured person, $50,000 for all injured people in the crash and $25,000 for property. Several hurt riders can claim more than that $50,000 allows. If the Uber driver also made a mistake, the $1 million tier may answer for that driver's share, or for the whole award once that share reaches 50%.

The driver's answer sets the minimum insurance behind the car that hit you. With the app closed, the personal policy stands alone at a 25/50/25 floor. With the app open and no ride accepted, Section 58-23-1630(B) sets primary minimums of $50,000 for each injured person and $100,000 for each crash. Property damage coverage in that tier must reach $50,000. After the driver accepts a trip, the $1 million combined tier applies, even on the empty drive to the pickup.

Your repair claim does not have to wait for your injury claim. Section 38-77-330 does not let an insurer deny or stall payment for your car just because your injury claim remains open. When fault and the repair amount are undisputed, the payment is due at once. The Director of Insurance, not a court, may add 8% yearly interest when an insurer stalls without need. The car claim can move separately while treatment continues.

Under Section 56-5-3230, drivers owe due care to avoid striking anyone on foot or on a bicycle. It also calls for proper precaution on seeing a child, or a person who is obviously confused, incapacitated or intoxicated. Pedestrians carry duties too. Anyone crossing outside a crosswalk must yield to traffic under Section 56-5-3150. Section 56-5-3130 separately bars darting off a curb in front of a close vehicle. A jury can divide fault between the two, and a walker whose share tops 50% recovers nothing.

Pickups pull cars toward the curb. Section 56-5-3430 generally keeps cyclists near the right side of the road, so the two meet there. A bicycle rider has the rights and duties of any other driver under Section 56-5-3420. Motorists, for their part, must keep a safe operating distance from a bicycle under Section 56-5-3435. Two more rules apply when an Uber stops to load or unload.

A Rear Door Opened Into a Cyclist's Path

Section 56-5-3822 allows a car door to open only when that is reasonably safe and other traffic can keep moving without interference. The duty falls on any person, including a rider climbing out of the back seat. The same section bars leaving a traffic-side door open longer than loading or unloading takes.

Think of a cyclist struck by a swinging rear door at a drop-off along Old Trolley Road. That cyclist may have claims against the rider, the Uber driver who picked the stop, or both. Whether the $1 million tier still stood behind the Uber driver as the rider stepped out is a timing question for the trip record.

Stopping in a Bike Lane or on a Crosswalk

Section 56-5-3425 bars a motor vehicle from blocking a marked bike lane to oncoming bike traffic. A driver must also yield to a cyclist in that lane before entering or crossing it. Section 56-5-2530 separately bars stopping on a crosswalk or double-parking beside a car at the curb. Its exceptions cover avoiding a conflict with other traffic and following an officer or a traffic-control device. An Uber that swerves into a bike lane for a pickup and clips a rider may have broken Section 56-5-3425. Double-parking that pushes a cyclist into the travel lane raises Section 56-5-2530 too. Frost Law Group checks that point against the report and any video.

Uninsured motorist coverage, or UM, pays for harm caused by a driver with no insurance. In some cases it also pays when no one can identify the driver. South Carolina makes UM mandatory under Section 38-77-150, and both rideshare tiers require it at that basic level. For an Uber driver, the first question is which policy's UM still applies during app time.

Personal Policy Exclusions and Rideshare Endorsements

Section 58-23-1625(A) lets a personal auto insurer exclude any loss that happens while the app is on or a trip is underway. The exclusion can reach the driver's own UM and underinsured motorist coverage. It is permission, not a requirement. Subsection (B) lets an insurer cover rideshare use anyway, by contract or endorsement. Frost Law Group reads the driver's personal policy for that language. It also asks for the written coverage notice the company must give drivers under Section 58-23-1635.

A Hit and Run Driver Under the 2024 Rewrite of Section 38-77-170

South Carolina rewrote its unknown-driver rules in 2024, effective May 20, 2024. To reach UM benefits when the at-fault driver stays unknown, the injured person must meet three conditions. Police must receive a report within a reasonable time, and a qualifying proof route must exist. Finally, the statute bars the claim if the injured person's own negligence explains why no one identified the other driver.

Contact, a Witness or the Uber Driver's Dashcam

The proof can be physical contact with the unknown car. It can also be an eyewitness who is neither the owner nor the driver of the insured car. That witness signs an affidavit carrying the statute's printed warning about false statements. Read literally, that description fits a rider in the back seat. A third route is video or another recording showing the unknown car caused the crash, such as a dashcam clip. The witness and recording routes are less clear in a lawsuit, because Section 38-77-180 still speaks of physical contact.

Calling Police From the Roadside

Section 38-77-170 sets no fixed hour count for the police report, only a reasonable time under all the circumstances. Separately, Section 56-5-1260 requires immediate notice of any injury crash. Inside Summerville that notice goes to the town police. Outside a town, the driver calls the county sheriff or the nearest State Highway Patrol office. A driver who calls police from the scene and asks the rider to note the fleeing car helps satisfy both rules.

If another motorist caused the wreck, the repair claim starts with that motorist's property damage liability. A personal insurer may also exclude the driver's own collision and other physical damage coverages during app time under Section 58-23-1625(A). The rideshare statute requires liability and UM coverage, not coverage for the driver's own car. If the company's insurer does pay a collision or other physical damage claim, Section 58-23-1630(I) controls the check. It goes to the repair shop, or jointly to the owner and the primary lienholder.

Four moments matter in almost every Uber claim. The driver logs on, then accepts a request, then drops off the last rider and later logs off. The crash time on the report has to fit somewhere among those four. Statutory records cover most of them, though no single record holds all four. A lawyer has to assemble them from the company, the insurers and the police.

Log-In and Acceptance Times in the Three-Year Trip Record

Section 58-23-1670 obliges the company to retain its South Carolina trip records for three years after each ride. Each record must list the driver's log-in time and when and where the service started. Section 58-23-1610 defines service as starting at acceptance, when the driver heads toward the passenger. So the retained record should show the moment the $1 million tier began. It also names the delivery address and the fare charged.

Log-Off Times From the 12-Hour Exchange

The statute's list of trip-record items includes log-in times but not log-off times. Those come through Section 58-23-1625(D), which covers 12 hours on each side of the crash during a claims coverage investigation. The exchange runs among the company, the insurers and the people directly involved. It is not a public records right, so Frost Law Group pursues it within the coverage investigation. The receipt's total trip time can help place the drop-off.

Inside the town, the Summerville Police Department at 108 North Cedar Street points drivers to CrashDocs for its collision reports. CrashDocs is a third-party site. The department's Traffic Safety Unit has officers with training in at-scene, technical and reconstruction crash investigation. Their scene measurements can place each car at the moment of impact. Frost Law Group can check each report's times and narrative against the trip data.

The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles sells the official copy for $10 per report. You can order it online, at an SCDMV branch or by mail using Form FR-50. The agency says its copy holds more detail than the papers drivers receive at the scene. SCDMV cannot release that copy until it has received and processed the officer's report.