If you’re a part time passenger transportation professional, whether that means driving a taxi on weekend or picking up an Uber passenger when you’re already going in that direction, you probably don’t want to be driving any customers anywhere without getting covered under some form of taxi cab insurance provision.
Okay, maybe you can take that hitch hiker up on his offer to pitch in for gas and not have to worry about it. The chances of something happening that will lead to you being held liable in a professional capacity in that instance are relatively slim. But if you’re driving passengers around on even a semi-regular basis, you’re increasing your risk of paying extensive costs out of pocket with every new customer you pick up. Here’s what you’ll want to do to make sure that your bases are covered:
Make Sure Your Insurer Knows What You’re Up To
Here’s the good news for Uber drivers: For anything that happens while the app is on, Uber provides supplemental insurance. Lyft offers similar coverage for all of their drivers. If you’re driving a taxi, different states legislate the industry in different ways. In some states, you’re not allowed to work as a private taxi driver at all, in others, you might not even need a specialty license to do some part time cab work. The taxi driver insurance requirements from state to state are just as varied. For instance, if you have a history with drug or alcohol problems, if you’ve ever been convicted on weapons or ATF charges, you might not be allowed to buy taxi insurance in the first place. Uber driver insurance requirements are more lenient in some ways, but Uber won’t hire people with certain convictions on their record.
Keep Your Own Tabs
You get mixed up with all sorts of people when driving for a service like Lyft or Uber. Keeping your own personal records can help keep you out of hot water in the future. There are all sorts of recording apps out there that can be used for security against would-be thieves, and even to prove your own innocence should you be implicated in a crime. A Muslim cab driver accused of a knifepoint assault in the UK back in 2013 exonerated himself with a voice recording app that he had been using for security purposes. Your employer’s first concern is protecting their own business. Your own safety is, to some extent, in your own hands.
Hopefully we’re not painting too grim a picture of driving for a living here. The instances where things go wrong are far outnumbered by the instances where things go right, but that’s what insurance is for, isn’t it? To protect you when things do go wrong, no matter how common or uncommon those instances may be.
