Rideshare Accidents in Georgia: Whose Insurance Covers an Uber or Lyft Crash
Contents: 9 sections
In a collision involving an Uber or Lyft vehicle, the first question is not who was at fault. It is what the driver’s app was doing at the moment of impact. Georgia’s statute on transportation network company insurance, O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24, sets different requirements depending on whether the driver was offline, logged on and waiting for a request, or carrying out an accepted ride. The same crash can fall under very different insurance depending on which of those was true.
The Three Moments That Decide the Coverage
- App off. The driver is an ordinary motorist, and the statute’s rideshare coverage is not triggered.
- Logged on and available, no ride accepted. Georgia requires liability coverage of at least $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $50,000 for property damage.
- From accepting a ride until it is completed. Georgia requires at least $1 million in liability coverage per occurrence, plus uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage with minimum limits of $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage.
Why the App Status Decides So Much
A rideshare driver moves between legal roles over the course of a working day. With the app closed, the driver is a private motorist. With the app open and no passenger, the driver is working but not yet carrying anyone. With a ride accepted, the driver is en route to a passenger or has one on board.
Georgia’s statute tracks those roles. It does not ask whether the driver was “working” in a general sense. It asks, in effect, whether the driver was logged on to the company’s digital network, and whether a prearranged ride had been accepted. Those two facts decide which coverage requirements apply, and they are facts the rideshare company’s own records can establish.
Period by Period: What Georgia Requires
App off
When the driver is not logged on, O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24 does not supply coverage. The driver’s own automobile policy responds as it would for any other motorist, subject to its terms.
Logged on and available, no ride accepted
While the driver is logged on and available but not engaged in a prearranged ride, the statute requires coverage that “provides a minimum of $100,000.00 for bodily injuries to or death of all persons in any one accident with a maximum of $50,000.00 for bodily injuries to or death of one person and $50,000.00 for loss of or damage to property of others.”
That is a small fraction of the $1 million requirement that attaches once a ride is accepted, so which side of that line the crash fell on can change the available coverage many times over.
From acceptance of a ride until completion
From the moment the driver accepts a ride request until the ride is completed, the statute requires coverage that “provides a minimum of $1 million for death, personal injury, and property damage per occurrence.” It also requires uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage “with minimum limits of $300,000.00 for bodily injuries to or death of all persons in any one accident with a maximum of $100,000.00 for bodily injuries to or death of one person and $25,000.00 for loss of or damage to property of others.”
Note that this period begins at acceptance, not at pickup. A driver heading to collect a passenger is already inside it.
A caution about older summaries. Articles written under earlier versions of Georgia’s statute describe $1 million in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage during a trip. The current text sets that coverage at $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage. The $1 million figure in the current statute is the liability requirement.
The Gap in the Driver’s Personal Policy
One provision concerns the driver’s own insurer, and it changes how the claim has to be approached. O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24 allows a personal automobile insurer to “exclude any and all coverage afforded under the owner’s insurance policy for any loss or injury that occurs while a driver is logged on to a transportation network company’s digital network or while a driver provides transportation network company services.”
The consequence is direct. Once the app is on, the driver’s personal policy may pay nothing at all.
The obligation to fill that gap sits with the company. The statute provides that a transportation network company “shall maintain or cause to be maintained a primary motor vehicle insurance policy” meeting the requirements for both the logged-on period and the ride period. The company can satisfy that obligation in more than one way: through a commercial policy purchased by the company or by the driver, or through a rideshare rider, endorsement or express provision within the driver’s personal policy, which may be combined with an excess policy provided by the company. But however it is arranged, the statute places the duty to see that the coverage exists on the rideshare company.
Where the company’s insurer is providing primary coverage, the statute states that it “shall assume the costs of defense and indemnification.”
For anyone injured in the crash, the practical lesson is to identify every policy in play early, and not to assume that a denial from the driver’s personal insurer ends the matter. That denial may be exactly what the statute permits, with the rideshare coverage standing behind it.
Where You Were in the Crash
If you were the rideshare passenger
During an accepted ride, the $1 million liability requirement is available for claims arising from the rideshare driver’s negligence. If another motorist caused the crash, the claim runs against that motorist first, and the uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage the statute requires during a trip is designed for the situation where that motorist’s coverage is missing or too small. Whether a particular person qualifies as an insured under that coverage is a question for the policy’s terms, so ask for them.
If you were in another vehicle
The coverage available for your claim against the rideshare driver depends on the app period at the moment of impact: none from the rideshare framework with the app off, the lower logged-on limits while waiting, and the $1 million requirement once a ride was accepted.
If you were a pedestrian or cyclist
The same three periods apply. What matters is the driver’s app status, not whether a passenger was in the car.
Establishing Which Period Applied
Because everything turns on the app status, establish it early and with records rather than recollection.
- Ask the driver at the scene whether they were logged on or carrying a passenger, and write down the answer.
- Passenger records. A passenger’s trip receipt and in-app trip history show the ride’s timing.
- Company data. The rideshare company’s records of log-on times, ride acceptance and trip completion are the most direct evidence of the app status. Ask in writing, and promptly, for them to be preserved.
- The police report. Check whether the officer recorded the rideshare status, and if not, make sure the information reaches the insurers some other way.
Is the Rideshare Company Itself Liable?
The insurance the statute requires is a separate question from whether Uber or Lyft is legally responsible for the driver’s negligence as an employer would be. The companies classify their drivers as independent contractors. The statute’s insurance requirements apply regardless of how that classification question would be answered, which is why the insurance claim is the starting point. A claim against the company on some other basis, such as its own negligence, is a different and fact-specific matter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the $1 million policy cover every Uber or Lyft crash?
No. The $1 million liability requirement applies from the moment a ride is accepted until it is completed. Before a ride is accepted, the logged-on limits apply, and with the app off the rideshare framework does not apply at all.
The driver’s own insurer denied the claim. Is that the end of it?
Not necessarily. Georgia’s statute allows a personal insurer to exclude coverage while the driver is logged on or providing rideshare services, and it separately requires the rideshare company to maintain, or cause to be maintained, primary coverage for those periods. The denial may simply mean the claim belongs to that coverage instead.
The driver was on the way to pick someone up. Which coverage applies?
The $1 million requirement begins when the driver accepts the ride request, so a driver heading to a pickup is already inside that period.
Do these rules apply to food delivery apps?
The statute addresses transportation network company services, meaning prearranged rides. Delivery services may operate under different arrangements and different policies. Do not assume the rideshare figures apply to a delivery driver without confirming what coverage was in force.
Legal Disclaimer
This article explains Georgia’s rideshare insurance requirements for educational purposes and is not legal advice for any specific accident. This website is not a law firm, and reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutory minimums describe what must be in place; the policies actually issued may provide more, and their terms govern. For advice on a particular crash, consult a Georgia-licensed attorney.
Sources and References
- O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24 (Insurance Requirements for Transportation Network Companies and Their Drivers)
Last reviewed: September 24, 2026
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