Most Uber and Lyft riders assume the rideshare company’s insurance will cover whatever happens on the way to their destination. That assumption was already incomplete. Since January 1, 2026, it’s also partially outdated. A California law called Senate Bill 371 quietly cut a key category of rideshare insurance protection by more than 90 percent, and the riders most likely to be hurt by that change are the ones already dealing with the most serious injuries.
We’ve spent over a decade handling personal injury cases throughout California and have watched the rideshare insurance landscape grow more layered with each legislative session. What follows is an honest breakdown of how that coverage actually works, what changed in 2026, and what options remain for injured riders in the Glendale area.
How California Rideshare Insurance Works: The Three Coverage Periods
California Public Utilities Code §5433 divides every rideshare trip into three distinct periods, and the period a driver is in at the exact moment of impact determines which insurance policy applies. This isn’t about fault. A driver can be entirely at fault while sitting in Period 1, and the coverage picture looks completely different than if the same crash happened sixty seconds later in Period 2.
- Period 0 (app off): No Uber or Lyft coverage applies. Only the driver’s personal auto insurance is in play. California’s minimum bodily injury limits, updated to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident as of January 1, 2025 under SB 1107, set the floor for what a victim can recover.
- Period 1 (app on, no ride accepted): Uber and Lyft provide contingent liability coverage of $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident, and $30,000 for property damage. A detail most people miss: §5433(c) also requires an additional $200,000 excess liability layer above those base limits per occurrence during Period 1. That excess layer is rarely discussed and often overlooked by insurers.
- Periods 2 and 3 (ride accepted through trip completion): The platform’s commercial $1 million third-party liability policy applies. This is the coverage period that protects passengers during active rides.
What SB 371 Actually Changed for Injured Riders
SB 371, signed by Governor Newsom on October 3, 2025 and effective January 1, 2026, changed a specific category of coverage: uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, commonly called UM/UIM coverage. This is the protection that pays when the driver who caused the crash either has no insurance or doesn’t carry enough to cover serious injuries. Before SB 371, rideshare companies were required to carry $1 million in UM/UIM coverage during active trips. That figure dropped to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident under the new law. The $1 million third-party liability policy wasn’t touched. It still applies in full when the rideshare driver is the at-fault party. The reduction targets only the scenario where a third-party uninsured or underinsured driver causes the crash while you’re a passenger.
In the greater Los Angeles area, that scenario is far from rare. California consistently ranks among the states with the highest rates of uninsured drivers, and in densely trafficked corridors like Glendale’s Brand Boulevard or the I-5 and SR-2 interchange, rideshare vehicles share the road constantly with drivers carrying little or no insurance. A single emergency room visit after a serious collision can consume a substantial portion of that $60,000 cap before any follow-up care, imaging, or rehabilitation begins.
Who Is Covered & Under Which Policy
Passengers During Active Trips
Passengers in Periods 2 or 3 have the strongest position when the rideshare driver caused the crash: the full $1 million liability policy applies. When an uninsured or underinsured third-party driver caused the crash, passengers are now limited to the reduced $60,000 UM/UIM cap under SB 371. This is the gap that catches most riders off guard.
Other Drivers, Pedestrians & Cyclists
Someone struck by a rideshare vehicle has access to coverage that scales with the driver’s period at the time. Period 0 means only the driver’s personal insurance applies. Period 1 provides the $50,000/$100,000 contingent liability plus the $200,000 excess layer. Periods 2 and 3 bring the $1 million liability policy into play. The difference between a driver who hasn’t yet accepted a ride and one who has can be the difference between adequate compensation and a drawn-out coverage dispute.
Rideshare Drivers
Drivers injured by a third party during an active trip may access the platform’s UM/UIM coverage, now capped at $60,000 per person under SB 371. Uber also maintains Occupational Accident insurance for California drivers under Proposition 22, which provides some medical expense coverage while the app is active, though it operates separately from the liability and UM/UIM structure above.
The SB 371 Coverage Gap (and How to Protect Yourself)
The most actionable information for Glendale-area riders is also the one no one is talking about: your own personal auto insurance UM/UIM policy may protect you even when you’re not behind the wheel. Many California auto policies extend UM/UIM coverage to the policyholder as a passenger in any vehicle. If you’re riding in an Uber and an uninsured driver causes the crash, your personal UM/UIM coverage can stack above the rideshare company’s now-reduced $60,000 limit, giving you a meaningful additional layer of protection. Personal umbrella policies can add further coverage in increments of $1 million or more, sitting above both the rideshare company’s UM/UIM cap and your personal auto policy’s base limits. For frequent rideshare users, reviewing and increasing personal UM/UIM limits is the most direct response to the SB 371 reduction. It is worth a conversation with your auto insurance carrier before you need it.
Why Insurers Dispute the Coverage Period & What Evidence Resolves It
Insurers have a financial incentive to argue that a driver was in Period 1 rather than Period 2 at the moment of impact. The difference in available coverage can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. A police report that says a driver was “working for Uber” at the time of the crash isn’t sufficient to establish the coverage period for claims purposes.
Uber and Lyft maintain internal timestamped logs that record every app login, ride acceptance, trip start, and trip end. These logs are more reliable than screenshots and carry significantly more evidentiary weight. Obtaining them through litigation discovery or a pre-litigation request requires knowing what to ask for and how to authenticate what comes back. App data that places the driver in Period 2 at the moment of impact is the kind of evidence that determines whether the $1 million liability policy applies or the far more limited Period 1 coverage does.
Rideshare accident cases in Glendale that proceed to litigation are filed at the Glendale Courthouse, Los Angeles County Superior Court, North Central District, located at 600 E. Broadway, Glendale, CA 91206. The standard statute of limitations for personal injury claims under CCP §335.1 is two years from the date of the incident. Cases involving a public entity require a government tort claim within six months. That deadline passes quickly and is extremely difficult to extend.
Getting the Analysis Right
Rideshare accident claims involve at minimum two insurance policies and often three or more, each governed by its own conditions, period rules, and exclusions. SB 371 changed part of that structure in a way that directly reduces what injured passengers can recover when an uninsured driver causes the crash. Understanding which policies apply, how they interact, and where your own coverage fits requires working through the specifics of your situation, not assuming the largest policy number you’ve heard applies to you.
Hartounian, APLC handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning there’s no cost to have this analysis done. If you’re dealing with a rideshare accident in Glendale or anywhere in the greater Los Angeles area, reach out to our team at (818) 463-1917.