A rideshare crash looks like any other collision until the insurance question comes up. Then there can be three or four policies in play, each pointing at another. Nebraska answered most of those questions by statute in 2015, and Iowa did the same in 2016 with different numbers. This page walks through what each law requires, what it leaves open, and what a passenger, another driver, a pedestrian or the rideshare driver should do after a crash.
Who Pays After an Uber or Lyft Accident in Nebraska?
Nebraska law calls these companies “transportation network companies” and divides a driver’s time into named stages. The coverage that must be in place is different in each.
| What the driver was doing | Required liability coverage | Uninsured / underinsured coverage | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| App off | The driver’s personal policy; Nebraska’s minimum is $25,000 / $50,000 / $25,000 | Under the personal policy | § 60-310 |
| App on, no ride accepted (“application open stage”) | Primary, at least $25,000 per person, $50,000 per incident, $25,000 property damage | Uninsured motorist coverage | § 75-334 |
| Ride accepted, on the way to pick up (“engaged stage”) | Primary, at least $1,000,000 | Uninsured and underinsured, for the driver and passengers, in the amounts state law requires | § 75-333 |
| Passenger in the car (“passengers on board stage”) | Primary, at least $1,000,000 | Same | § 75-333 |
The statute’s words for the top tier: “Primary liability coverage in the amount of at least one million dollars for death, personal injury, and property damage” (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 75-333). For the middle tier: coverage “shall be primary and in the amount of at least twenty-five thousand dollars for death and personal injury per person, fifty thousand dollars for death and personal injury per incident, and twenty-five thousand dollars for property damage” (§ 75-334).
Two details in those sections matter more than they appear to.
- The million dollars is liability coverage. It pays people the rideshare driver injures. The uninsured and underinsured coverage the statute requires is only “in the amounts required by” Nebraska’s uninsured motorist law, which is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. A company’s actual policy may provide more than the statute requires, which is why the policy itself has to be obtained and read.
- The coverage can come from the driver, the company or both. The requirement “may be satisfied by” insurance “maintained by a participating driver,” insurance “maintained by a transportation network company,” or “any combination.” Either way, the insurer “shall have the duty to defend and indemnify.”
When Does Each Stage Start and Stop?
Since the difference between tiers is $975,000, the exact moment matters, and the statute defines each one (§ 75-323).
- Application open stage runs “from the moment a participating driver logs on … until the driver accepts a request to transport a passenger,” and resumes after a ride ends until the driver “either accepts another ride request … or logs off.”
- Engaged stage runs “from the moment a participating driver accepts a ride request … until the driver completes the transaction … or until the passenger exits the vehicle, whichever is later.”
- Passengers on board stage is “the time period when there are passengers in the vehicle.”
So the higher coverage attaches at the tap that accepts the ride, not when the passenger gets in. A driver who rear-ends someone on the way to a pickup is in the million-dollar tier. A driver circling downtown waiting for a request is not.
Does the Driver’s Personal Insurance Cover a Rideshare Crash?
Usually not, and Nebraska law anticipates that. The rideshare statutes say nothing in them “shall be construed to require a private passenger automobile insurance policy to provide primary or excess coverage” from log-on to log-off, and a personal policy covers app-on driving “only if the policy expressly provides for the coverage.” The company must warn each driver in writing “that in many personal automobile insurance policies, the driver’s policy does not provide coverage” while the app is on.
What protects the injured person is the next section. Rideshare coverage “shall not be dependent on a personal automobile insurance policy first denying a claim” (§ 75-335). You are not required to chase the driver’s personal insurer for a denial letter before the rideshare coverage responds. And if insurance the driver was supposed to maintain “has lapsed or ceased to exist, the transportation network company shall provide the coverage required … beginning with the first dollar of a claim.”
Results for people injured as passengers. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome; every case is different.
If You Were a Passenger in the Rideshare
A passenger is almost never at fault, which makes the question who is. There are three possibilities.
- The rideshare driver caused it. You were on board, so the $1,000,000 tier applies.
- Another driver caused it. The claim is against that driver’s insurance first. If that driver has no insurance or too little, the uninsured and underinsured coverage required during your ride applies, and so may the coverage on your own auto policy even though you were not in your own car. I explain how those layers stack in underinsured motorist coverage.
- Both did. Nebraska apportions fault, and a passenger can claim against each driver. See passenger injury claims.
One caution on the second situation. Settling with an at-fault driver for the policy limits without first giving your underinsured carrier written notice can cost you the underinsured claim. That step has to be done in order.
If a Rideshare Driver Hit You
If you were in another car, on a motorcycle, on a bicycle or on foot, everything turns on the stage the driver was in, and you will not know it at the scene. Nebraska requires a rideshare driver to “carry proof of transportation network company insurance coverage” and, “in the event of an accident,” to “provide this insurance coverage information to any other party involved in the accident and to a law enforcement officer” upon request (§ 75-341). Ask for it, and tell the officer you believe the driver was working. A phone mounted on the dash showing a trip screen, a company decal in the window, or a passenger in the back seat are all worth photographing.
If You Are the Rideshare Driver
- Hit by someone else: your injury claim is against that driver. If that driver is uninsured, the rideshare coverage must include uninsured motorist coverage in every app-on stage, and underinsured coverage once a ride is accepted.
- Your own policy may not help. That is the warning the statute requires the company to give you. Ask your insurer in writing whether you have a rideshare endorsement.
- Report it both places: through the app and to your own insurer.
Proving What the App Was Doing
Expect the insurers to disagree about the stage, because one answer costs forty times what the other does. The statute provides the proof. In a claims investigation the company or its insurer “shall cooperate with insurers that are involved,” including providing “the precise times that the participating driver logged on and off” the app “in the twenty-four-hour period preceding the accident.” And all records “showing the time when a driver has logged in as active or logged out as inactive … shall be maintained for a minimum of five years after the date the loss is reported” (§ 75-340).
What you can do yourself:
- Screenshot the trip in your app: driver, vehicle, pickup and drop-off times, route and receipt.
- Report the crash through the app. The five-year clock on the company’s records runs from the date the loss is reported to it.
- Get the police report number and make sure it notes the rideshare.
- Save your own phone’s evidence. More on this in dashcam video, phone records and vehicle data.
Can You Sue Uber or Lyft Itself?
The honest answer is that Nebraska law has not settled it. The statutes say they “shall not limit the liability of a transportation network company arising out of an automobile accident involving a participating driver in any action for damages against a transportation network company for an amount above the required insurance coverage” (§ 75-336). That preserves a claim against the company; it does not create one. The statutes do not say whether a driver is an employee or an independent contractor for purposes of an injury claim, and I have found no Nebraska appellate decision deciding whether the company answers for its driver’s negligence.
In most cases it does not have to be decided, because the required insurance pays the claim regardless. It matters when the injuries are worth more than the coverage. Other rules the company must follow can matter too: drivers must be at least 21, must pass background and driving-record checks, and may not drive “for a period of more than twelve hours during each twenty-four-hour period” (§ 75-327).
What About Food and Package Delivery Drivers?
Nebraska’s rideshare statutes cover passengers only. A transportation network company is one that uses an app “to connect passengers with participating drivers,” and I have found no Nebraska statute setting insurance requirements for app-based delivery. For a crash with a delivery driver, the coverage depends on the driver’s own policy, which often excludes delivery work, and on whatever policy the delivery company carries. Those have to be identified one at a time.
How Iowa’s Rideshare Law Differs
Council Bluffs trips cross the river constantly, and Iowa’s numbers are not Nebraska’s (Iowa Code § 321N.4).
| Nebraska | Iowa | |
|---|---|---|
| Logged on, no ride | $25,000 / $50,000 / $25,000 | $50,000 / $100,000 / $25,000 |
| From acceptance until the rider is out | At least $1,000,000 | At least $1,000,000 |
| Personal policy | Covers app-on driving only if it expressly says so | Insurer “may exclude any and all coverage” while logged on |
| Telling you the app was on | Proof of insurance on request | On request, the driver must also disclose “whether the driver was logged on … or was providing a prearranged ride at the time of the accident” |
| Deadline to sue for injuries | Four years | Two years |
Which state’s law applies depends on where the crash happened. The deadlines are covered in my guides to the Nebraska and Iowa statutes of limitations.
What to Do After a Rideshare Accident
- Call 911 and get checked, even if you feel fine.
- Screenshot the trip before you close the app.
- Get every driver’s information, and ask the rideshare driver for the rideshare insurance information the law requires him or her to provide.
- Report it in the app, briefly and factually.
- Do not give a recorded statement or sign a release for any of the insurers until you know which policies apply. See recorded statements and first settlement offers.
- Tell your own auto insurer. Your policy may be one of the layers.
My earlier article, who pays when an Uber or Lyft crashes in Nebraska, covers the same ground in less detail. The steps for any collision are in what to do after a car accident in Nebraska.
Statutes quoted on this page were read at the Nebraska Legislature and Iowa Legislature websites on October 3, 2026. The coverage amounts are what the statutes require; a particular company’s policy may differ. This page is general information, not legal advice about your situation.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much insurance does Uber or Lyft have to carry in Nebraska?
At least $1,000,000 in primary liability coverage from the moment the driver accepts a ride until the passenger exits, and at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per incident while the driver is logged in without a ride.
Am I covered as a passenger?
Yes. While you are in the vehicle the highest tier applies, including uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage for passengers in the amounts Nebraska law requires.
What if the rideshare driver’s app was off?
Then it is an ordinary car accident, and the driver’s personal auto policy applies.
How do I prove the driver was on the app?
The company must keep log-in and log-out records for at least five years and must share the precise times with the insurers involved in a claim.
Does the driver’s own insurance have to deny the claim first?
No. Rideshare coverage does not depend on a personal auto policy first denying the claim.
Can I sue the rideshare company directly?
Nebraska’s statutes preserve claims against the company above the required coverage, but no Nebraska appellate court has decided when the company is liable for its driver’s negligence.
Is Iowa different?
Yes. Iowa requires $50,000 / $100,000 / $25,000 while logged on, the same $1,000,000 during a ride, and has a two-year deadline for injury claims.
More on Car Accident Claims
Related pages in this series, and the main crash practice page behind them.
Injured in a Rideshare Crash? Find Out Which Coverage Applies.
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