Rideshare drivers spend their shifts in exactly the places people walk and bike: downtown curbs, train stations, campuses and nightlife districts. Pickups and drop-offs mean sudden stops, U-turns and doors swinging open. If an Uber or Lyft driver hit you on foot or on a bike, here is how coverage and fault work in New Jersey.

Step one: what was the driver doing in the app?

The insurance available depends on the driver's app status (N.J.S.A. 39:5H-10):

  • Carrying a passenger or on the way to a pickup: at least $1,500,000 in liability coverage.
  • Logged on, waiting for a request: at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident.
  • App off: only the driver's personal policy.

Drivers must tell those directly involved, on request, whether they were logged on or on a ride at the time (N.J.S.A. 39:5H-10(h)). How to prove the app status.

Your medical bills

Pedestrians and cyclists in New Jersey usually look first to the PIP coverage on their own auto policy or the policy of a relative they live with. PIP explained.

If you don't have a car or live with anyone who does, a 2026 decision matters. In Boone v. Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund (App. Div. July 24, 2026), a published case of first impression, New Jersey's Appellate Division held that liability policies issued to rideshare companies must provide PIP benefits to uninsured pedestrians struck by a rideshare vehicle. The court ordered the insurer to reform Lyft's policy to include that coverage. The court also held that the state's Unsatisfied Claim and Judgment Fund didn't cover that pedestrian's claim.

Proving fault

New Jersey law gives pedestrians strong protections. Drivers must stop and stay stopped for pedestrians in marked crosswalks and yield to them in unmarked crosswalks at intersections (N.J.S.A. 39:4-36). Pedestrian right-of-way rules. Cyclists have the same rights and duties as drivers on the road (N.J.S.A. 39:4-14.1), and drivers passing a cyclist must follow New Jersey's safe passing rules. New Jersey bicycle laws.

Rideshare-specific patterns we look for:

  • Stopping in bike lanes or crosswalks to pick up or drop off.
  • Passenger doors opened into a cyclist's path. Both the driver and the passenger who opened the door can share responsibility.
  • Distraction. Rideshare drivers interact with navigation and ride requests, and New Jersey bans handheld phone use while driving (N.J.S.A. 39:4-97.3).
  • Sudden U-turns and rolling stops to reach a pickup pin.

Even if you share some blame, you can recover as long as you're not more than 50% at fault (N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1). Comparative negligence explained.

Pain and suffering

Whether you face the verbal threshold depends on your own auto policy. If you have no auto policy, the threshold generally doesn't apply to you. The verbal threshold.

What to do

  1. Call 911 and get checked, even if you feel able to walk away.
  2. Photograph the car, its plate and any rideshare sticker or placard on the windshield.
  3. Ask the driver for their insurance and whether they were on a ride.
  4. Get contact information from any passenger in the car. They're often the best witness to what the driver was doing.
  5. Look for cameras at nearby stores, transit stations and buildings, and ask quickly.

See our pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents pages.