If you were injured in a rideshare accident in California during 2026, the insurance landscape looks dramatically different than it did just a year ago. A sweeping legislative change — California Senate Bill 371 — took effect on January 1, 2026, and quietly gutted one of the most critical insurance protections available to rideshare passengers and drivers. Specifically, the law restructured SB 371 rideshare UM/UIM coverage in a way that leaves injured victims holding far less financial protection when an uninsured or underinsured driver causes the crash. And the legal battles did not stop there: a months-long war between Uber and California trial lawyers over competing ballot initiatives ended in a landmark compromise — Senate Bill 623, signed June 25, 2026 — that introduces its own set of new rules for how medical damages are calculated in rideshare cases. Understanding exactly what changed, why it matters, and what you can do to protect yourself is no longer optional — it is essential.
What Is California SB 371 and Why Does It Matter in 2026?
Senate Bill 371 was authored by Senator Christopher Cabaldon, signed into law on October 3, 2025, and became effective January 1, 2026. The bill fundamentally restructured the insurance obligations that transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft must carry for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. While the legislation was framed as a regulatory update, the practical impact on injury victims is enormous.
Before SB 371, California required rideshare companies to carry $1,000,000 in uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage during active ride periods — the same $1 million figure that applied to liability coverage. That parity gave passengers and drivers a robust safety net when a third-party uninsured driver caused an accident. SB 371 broke that parity completely. The law slashed SB 371 rideshare UM/UIM coverage from $1,000,000 down to just $60,000 per person and $300,000 per accident — a reduction of approximately 94 percent.
The timing could not be worse for California riders. According to the Insurance Research Council’s 2025 report covering 2023 data, 20.4% of California drivers — approximately 1 in 5 — were uninsured, making California one of the highest-risk states in the nation for encounters with uninsured motorists. When you factor in underinsured drivers, the exposure is even greater: nationally, 1 in 3 drivers (33.4%) was either uninsured or underinsured in 2023, a 10 percentage point increase from 2017. SB 371’s coverage cut arrives precisely as the uninsured driver problem is worsening.
To understand the full scope of this change, it helps to review the text of California’s Transportation Network Company statutes directly. The California Legislative Information portal hosts the full text of SB 371 and its amendments to the Public Utilities Code, which governs TNC insurance requirements statewide.
The 94% Reduction: Breaking Down the Numbers
The raw numbers tell a stark story. A single percentage can feel abstract, but when you translate a 94 percent coverage reduction into real dollars after a catastrophic rideshare accident, the consequences become impossible to ignore. Consider that the average medical cost per rideshare injury accident is $17,000, and total rideshare accident costs top $12 billion annually in the United States. For serious injuries requiring surgery or long-term rehabilitation, settlements average $450,000 — an amount that dwarfs the new $60,000 UM/UIM ceiling many times over.
| Coverage Type | Before SB 371 (Pre-2026) | After SB 371 (2026 and Beyond) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liability Coverage (driver at fault) | $1,000,000 per incident | $1,000,000 per incident | No change |
| UM/UIM Coverage — Per Person | $1,000,000 | $60,000 | −94% |
| UM/UIM Coverage — Per Accident | $1,000,000 | $300,000 | −70% |
Under SB 371, the TNC itself — not the driver — must provide this UM/UIM coverage, and it must serve as primary insurance during a trip. For serious injuries — spinal damage, traumatic brain injuries, burns, or prolonged hospital stays — the $60,000 limit can be exhausted before recovery truly begins. A single emergency room visit for a severe injury can easily exceed that figure.
Rideshare companies argued that the previous $1 million UM/UIM requirement was excessive compared to other vehicles on the road — no personal vehicle in California is required to carry any UM/UIM coverage at all — and that high costs were being passed along to riders through inflated fares. SB 371 was part of a negotiated compromise: in exchange for the insurance reduction, Assembly Bill 1340 granted rideshare drivers the right to unionize and collectively bargain, a historic expansion of labor rights for gig workers. For passengers, however, the trade-off delivered a painful reduction in financial protection at a time when California’s uninsured driver rate remains stubbornly high.
Liability Coverage vs. UM/UIM Coverage: A Critical Distinction
One of the most important clarifications for anyone injured in a rideshare crash is understanding which type of coverage applies to their situation. Many victims mistakenly assume that all rideshare insurance works the same way. It does not. The coverage that kicks in — and the limit available — depends entirely on who caused the accident.
When the Rideshare Driver Is at Fault
If your Uber or Lyft driver caused the crash — by running a red light, rear-ending another vehicle, or driving negligently — you are dealing with a liability claim, not a UM/UIM claim. SB 371 did not touch liability coverage. Uber and Lyft continue to maintain $1,000,000 in third-party liability coverage when the rideshare driver is at fault and is actively transporting a passenger. That $1 million wall remains intact and unchanged.
When a Third-Party Uninsured or Underinsured Driver Is at Fault
This is where SB 371 does its damage. If a third-party driver — someone with no insurance or inadequate insurance — causes the crash while you are a passenger, you are in UM/UIM territory. Before 2026, you could access up to $1,000,000 through the rideshare company’s UM/UIM policy. Starting January 1, 2026, that maximum dropped to $60,000 per person. Given that distracted driving accounts for 32% of rideshare accidents, with drivers frequently checking phones for ride requests and navigation, and that third-party drivers — rather than rideshare operators — cause 95% of fatal crashes involving Uber vehicles, UM/UIM claims are not uncommon at all. Statistically, the majority of serious rideshare crashes are caused by third parties, which means the majority of catastrophic rideshare injury scenarios are now subject to the reduced $60,000 ceiling.
The Comparative Negligence Factor
California follows a pure comparative negligence rule, meaning you can recover damages even if you were partly at fault for an accident, though your recovery will be reduced proportionally by your percentage of fault. If you are a passenger in a rideshare and the crash was caused by a third-party driver, you typically bear zero fault — which means the full available UM/UIM limit applies to your claim. The comparative fault issue becomes more complex when drivers, cyclists, or pedestrians are involved, but passengers are almost always in the best legal position.
Excess and Umbrella Policies
Some rideshare drivers carry personal excess or umbrella liability policies that may provide additional coverage in certain circumstances. These policies are not required and are relatively rare among gig-economy drivers. However, if the at-fault third-party driver carries an umbrella policy, that coverage may be available to supplement their underlying auto liability limits — an avenue worth investigating with an attorney in high-value cases.
Alternative Coverage Layers: Finding Recovery Beyond the SB 371 Limits
Because the new $60,000 UM/UIM limit falls far short of what serious rideshare injuries typically cost, injured victims and their attorneys must be aggressive about identifying every possible coverage layer. The $60,000 TNC policy is often just a starting point, not an ending point.
Personal Auto Insurance UM/UIM Coverage
If you own a vehicle and carry your own auto insurance policy with UM/UIM coverage, that policy may stack on top of what the rideshare company provides. California law permits stacking in certain circumstances, and your own personal UM/UIM coverage could be the single most important source of additional compensation available to you after a rideshare accident. Because the TNC’s reduced UM/UIM coverage may now be insufficient, both passengers and drivers may need to depend more on their own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to recover the full cost of their injuries and losses. Review your own policy limits immediately — $100,000 or $300,000 in personal UM/UIM coverage could be the difference between full compensation and a catastrophic financial shortfall.
Health Insurance and Medical Payments Coverage
Your health insurance remains available to pay medical expenses regardless of how the accident occurred or who was at fault. Medical payments (MedPay) coverage, if you carry it on your own auto policy, can also help cover immediate medical costs without regard to fault. These sources do not replace UM/UIM coverage — they are collateral — but they can relieve immediate financial pressure while your injury claim works through the system.
Third-Party Driver’s Own Insurance
If the at-fault uninsured or underinsured driver carries any personal auto insurance, that policy is the first target for recovery before UM/UIM coverage is triggered. California’s new minimum liability requirements, which took effect January 1, 2025, increased the floor from the ancient $15,000/$30,000 limits to significantly higher amounts — meaning third-party drivers who do maintain insurance now carry somewhat better minimum coverage than before. However, minimum-limits policies still fall far short in catastrophic injury cases, which is precisely why UM/UIM coverage exists. When the third party has no insurance at all — a scenario affecting roughly 1 in 5 California drivers — UM/UIM is the only available source of compensation outside of a judgment against an individual with no assets to satisfy it.
How to Preserve Your Rideshare Accident Claim: An Action Roadmap
The steps you take in the minutes, hours, and days after a rideshare accident in California will directly shape the strength and value of your injury claim. With the new SB 371 limits, every dollar of available coverage matters, and careless handling of evidence or documentation can cost you dearly. Follow this sequence precisely.
Step 1: Screenshot Your Active Ride Status
Before you do anything else, if you are physically able, screenshot your Uber or Lyft app showing that your ride is active. The “period” of coverage — whether Period 1 (app on, no accepted ride), Period 2 (en route to pickup), or Period 3 (passenger in vehicle) — determines which insurance tier applies and in what amounts. The $1,000,000 liability policy and the $60,000 UM/UIM policy both apply only during Periods 2 and 3. Documenting your exact ride status at the moment of the crash is critical.
Under the June 2026 Uber-CAOC agreement that produced SB 623, Uber committed to new protocols for access to rideshare app data, including trip logs and driver status, to bolster attorneys’ ability to prove liability and damages. That data access is now more formalized — but your own in-app screenshot provides independent, immediately preserved proof that no corporate data-sharing protocol can retroactively change.
Step 2: Call Police and Obtain a Report
Always call 911. A police report creates an official government record of the accident, identifies all drivers and vehicles involved, documents the scene, and — crucially — typically notes whether the at-fault driver was uninsured. An official finding that the third-party driver carried no insurance is powerful evidence supporting a UM/UIM claim against Uber or Lyft’s policy. Do not let the other driver talk you out of calling police, no matter how minor the crash appears at the scene.
Step 3: Document the Scene Thoroughly
Photograph and video everything: the vehicles, their positions, the damage, skid marks, traffic signals, road conditions, visible injuries, and the license plates of all vehicles involved. If witnesses are present, collect their names and contact information immediately, before they leave the scene. Navigation errors cause 25% of sudden lane changes in rideshare vehicles — visual documentation of road markings and signage can directly support a distracted-driving theory if the crash occurred near a pickup or drop-off point.
Step 4: Seek Immediate Medical Attention
Go to the emergency room or urgent care immediately, even if you feel only minor pain. Many serious injuries — whiplash, traumatic brain injury, internal bleeding, spinal damage — have delayed onset symptoms that are not apparent at the scene. A gap between the accident and your first medical visit creates an opening for insurance adjusters to argue that your injuries were not caused by the crash. The average medical cost per rideshare injury accident is $17,000, and serious injuries requiring surgery or long-term care generate far larger bills. Beginning treatment immediately establishes the medical record that forms the foundation of your damages claim.
Step 5: Preserve All Digital Evidence
Do not delete your Uber or Lyft app, your ride history, or any messages exchanged with the driver. Do not post about the accident on social media. Insurance company investigators and defense attorneys routinely monitor the social media accounts of claimants for contradictory statements about injuries or activities. Request a copy of your ride receipt and confirmation email, which will document the trip ID, timestamps, driver information, and route — all of which are important for establishing coverage period and identity of the parties.
The SB 623 Development: What the 2026 Uber–Trial Lawyer Compromise Means for You
The legal battles of 2026 did not end with SB 371. In the months that followed, Uber backed a sweeping ballot initiative — officially titled the “Protecting Automobile Accident Victims from Attorney Self-Dealing Act” — that would have amended the California Constitution to cap contingency attorney fees at 25% in nearly all motor vehicle accident cases, restrict how medical expenses are calculated and recovered, and prohibit certain lien-based medical arrangements that allow injured individuals to obtain treatment while their case is pending. The Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) simultaneously qualified a counter-initiative focused on rideshare safety accountability and expanded corporate liability. By some accounts, both sides collectively committed more than $150 million to campaigns for and against their respective measures.
The ballot war ended before voters ever cast a vote. On June 25, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 623 — formally titled the Fair Medical Billing & Rideshare Safety Act — into law as a negotiated legislative compromise that prompted both Uber and CAOC to withdraw their ballot initiatives. Here is what SB 623 means for rideshare accident victims:
- Medical lien caps: For covered rideshare accident claims arising from crashes occurring on or after January 1, 2027, SB 623 limits recoverable past medical expenses asserted by lien-based providers. Specifically, recoverable lien charges are benchmarked to the FAIR Health database, capped at the 70th percentile of billed charges, and further capped to the price actually paid when a lien has been sold to a third party. This does not eliminate recovery for medical expenses — it changes the formula for lien-based recovery only. Medical expenses paid through health insurance or directly by the patient are not affected by the cap.
- Enhanced safety requirements: SB 623 strengthens background check requirements for rideshare drivers and expands safety options for passengers. The new safety measures represent Uber’s concession to CAOC in exchange for CAOC’s agreement to the lien billing reforms.
- Increased data transparency: The Uber-CAOC framework introduces new protocols for access to rideshare app data — including trip logs and driver status — that bolster attorneys’ ability to prove liability and damages in rideshare crash cases. Uber also agreed to enhanced restrictions on how it contests personal injury claims.
- What SB 623 does NOT change: The mandatory $1,000,000 commercial liability policy that applies while a driver is on an accepted trip remains unchanged. SB 623 is a separate issue from SB 371’s UM/UIM coverage reduction. Crashes occurring before January 1, 2027 are not subject to SB 623’s lien provisions. Attorney contingency fees in rideshare cases are NOT capped — that provision was negotiated away as part of the compromise.
The bottom line for 2026 victims: SB 623 will matter primarily to those injured in rideshare crashes on or after January 1, 2027. If your accident occurred in 2026, the old medical lien rules still apply to your case. But the legal landscape is evolving rapidly. California’s rideshare laws have changed more in the last two years than in the decade before, and what applies to your specific claim depends heavily on when and how the crash occurred.
Frequently Asked Questions About SB 371 Rideshare UM/UIM Coverage
Does SB 371 affect liability coverage for rideshare accidents in California?
No. SB 371 affects only UM/UIM coverage — the coverage that applies when a third-party uninsured or underinsured driver causes the crash. Liability coverage — the $1,000,000 policy that applies when the rideshare driver is at fault — was not changed by SB 371 and remains intact at $1,000,000 per incident for Periods 2 and 3.
What is the new UM/UIM coverage limit under SB 371, and when does it apply?
Effective January 1, 2026, the mandatory UM/UIM coverage that Uber and Lyft must carry dropped from $1,000,000 to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per accident. This reduced limit applies during Periods 2 and 3 — when the driver has accepted a ride and is en route, or when the passenger is in the vehicle. The TNC itself, not the individual driver, must provide this coverage as primary insurance during an active trip.
Can I recover more than $60,000 under SB 371 if my injuries are severe?
Potentially yes — but not from the TNC’s UM/UIM policy. The $60,000 per-person TNC limit is a hard ceiling on that specific policy. However, your own personal auto insurance UM/UIM coverage may stack on top of the TNC policy in certain circumstances. Health insurance, MedPay coverage, and other collateral sources can also supplement the recovery. In cases where the at-fault third-party driver carried some insurance (making them underinsured rather than uninsured), their own policy limits are exhausted first before UM/UIM is triggered. Identifying and pursuing every available coverage layer is the job of an experienced rideshare accident attorney.
Does California’s comparative negligence law still protect me if I was partly at fault in a rideshare accident?
Yes. California’s pure comparative negligence rule was not changed by SB 371 or SB 623. You can still recover damages even if you were partly at fault, reduced by your percentage of responsibility. Passengers in rideshare vehicles are almost never assigned fault, making this a non-issue in most passenger injury cases. For rideshare drivers who are also injured in crashes caused by third parties, comparative fault analysis becomes more relevant, but the right to some recovery is preserved regardless.
What should I do immediately after a rideshare accident involving an uninsured driver in 2026?
Follow the five-step action roadmap described above: screenshot your ride status, call police, document the scene, seek immediate medical attention, and preserve all digital evidence. Then consult a California rideshare accident attorney before speaking with any insurance company — including Uber or Lyft’s insurance adjusters. Insurance companies open UM/UIM claims with a goal of settling for as little as possible, and the new $60,000 limit gives adjusters a fixed ceiling they will try to reach quickly. An attorney can identify additional coverage layers, document your damages properly, and negotiate from a position of legal knowledge rather than financial desperation.
How does SB 623 affect my rideshare accident medical damages claim?
SB 623, signed June 25, 2026, applies only to covered rideshare accident claims arising from crashes on or after January 1, 2027. If your accident happened in 2026, SB 623’s medical lien provisions do not apply to your case. For future crashes, SB 623 caps recoverable past medical expenses from lien-based providers at the 70th percentile of FAIR Health billed charges — but does not cap recovery for medical expenses paid through health insurance or out-of-pocket. SB 623 does not limit liability coverage, does not cap attorney fees, and does not change the UM/UIM limits established by SB 371. The two laws address different aspects of rideshare injury claims and must be understood together to fully assess your rights after a 2026 or later crash.
Jennifer Torres is a Rideshare Accident Claims Researcher with extensive knowledge of personal injury law and settlement values across the United States. With years of experience analyzing rideshare accident claims only (high value) cases, Jennifer helps injury victims understand their legal rights and the potential value of their claims. Jennifer is not an attorney and the information provided is for educational purposes only.