In an ordinary crash, the key evidence is at the scene. In a rideshare crash, some of the most important evidence lives on a company server: whether the driver was logged on, whether a ride had been accepted, where the car was, how fast it was going. That data can be the difference between $50,000 of coverage and $1.5 million.

Why app status decides the case

New Jersey sets rideshare insurance by app status (N.J.S.A. 39:5H-10):

  • Logged off: personal policy only.
  • Logged on, no ride accepted: at least $50,000/$100,000 in liability coverage.
  • Ride accepted until the last passenger exits: at least $1,500,000.

A driver who had just accepted a ride, or had just dropped off a passenger and was still logged on, falls into different coverage tiers depending on a matter of seconds. Insurers know this. The three coverage periods.

What New Jersey law requires the companies to disclose and keep

  • Log-on and log-off times. In a claims coverage investigation, the company must immediately provide, on request from a directly involved party or the driver's insurer, the exact times the driver logged on and off in the 12 hours before and after the crash (N.J.S.A. 39:5H-12(c)).
  • Driver disclosure at the scene. On request, the driver must say whether they were logged on or providing a ride (N.J.S.A. 39:5H-10(h)).
  • Trip records for six years. Companies must keep individual ride records for at least six years, and driver records, including background check materials, for at least five years after a driver stops driving (N.J.S.A. 39:5H-25).
  • Rider receipts. Riders must receive an electronic receipt within 48 hours with start and end points, time and distance (N.J.S.A. 39:5H-9).
  • Zero tolerance complaint records for at least two years (N.J.S.A. 39:5H-14(d)).

Evidence that isn't protected by those rules

Retention rules don't cover everything. Other important evidence can disappear quickly:

  • Detailed GPS and speed data, and in-app phone interaction data
  • Messages between the driver and rider, and calls through the app
  • Safety reports and complaints about the driver
  • The driver's dashcam footage and personal phone records
  • Video from nearby businesses, buses and traffic cameras
  • The vehicle's event data recorder, which can be lost when a car is repaired or scrapped

The preservation letter

The first legal step in a serious rideshare case is usually a written demand to preserve evidence, sent to the company, the driver, and anyone else likely to hold relevant data. Once a party is on notice of a likely claim, destroying relevant evidence can lead to court sanctions, including telling a jury it may assume the missing evidence would have hurt the party that lost it.

What you can save yourself

  1. Screenshots of the trip screen, driver profile, car and plate.
  2. Your receipt email and any in-app messages.
  3. Your own phone's location history for that day, if it's on.
  4. Photos of the identifying markers and placards on the car. Under Sami's Law, rideshare cars in New Jersey must display identifying markers, a scannable code and credential placards with the driver's name, photo and plate (P.L. 2019, c. 128).

Getting the data in a lawsuit

If the company won't voluntarily produce what's needed, the data can be obtained through discovery or subpoena once a case is filed. Claims against the companies themselves may be sent to arbitration, which has its own discovery rules. How arbitration works. How a rideshare lawsuit unfolds.

See our Uber and Lyft accidents page.