Lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County against defendants based upon company ride share app. See Florida Suit Accuses Lyft of Defective App Design Following Crash That Injured Pedestrian, by Zach Schlein, Law.com, April 12, 2019; The suit seeks to hold the ride-hailing company liable for a crash that allegedly occurred because a Lyft driver was looking at the Lyft app.
This certainly may impact Ride Share in Florida, if not nationally. The current anti-distracted driving bills may also impact either operation of these services or liability in cases of accidents I recommend that Palmetto Bay and other communities that use or plan to implement on-demand ride sharing monitor this and similar lawsuits when they partner with any Ride Share company/service. Insurance, partnering agreements and indemnification will be some of the important considerations.
This lawsuit was filed in Palm beach County last week. The Plaintiff is suing Lyft for her injuries suffered when struck by the Lyft driver while crossing the street. This liability is based upon the argument that Lyft operates an “unreasonably dangerous” app that puts the public at risk. An argument for this theory of liability is that its drivers are distracted while driving as they are required to constantly monitor the app in order to obtain rides and generate revenue for the company.
This theory of liability could apply to any similar business model. Is this theory going after new markets or are the apps significantly different from the traditional taxi cab radio model which does not provide the same specifics where there is no screen to take a driver’s eye/attention away from the road?
We shall see where this case leads. It certainly also pierces and claim of independent contractor status for the Ride Share services as well as the liability is based upon the company app and the alleged distraction of the driver.
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