Hit by an Uber or Lyft While Biking in Cambridge, MA: How Rideshare Insurance Really Works

Rideshare traffic is a fixture of Cambridge streets. According to the state Department of Public Utilities, more than 5.5 million Uber and Lyft trips began inside Cambridge city limits in 2024 alone, out of roughly 90.9 million statewide. That is a constant stream of drivers watching a phone for the next request, pulling to the curb on Massachusetts Avenue, and cutting across bike lanes in Harvard Square and Central Square to reach a pickup pin.

When one of those drivers hits a cyclist, the first question is usually about fault. In a rideshare crash, though, an equally important question comes before it: what was the app doing at the moment of impact. Massachusetts law ties the available insurance to the driver’s app status, and the difference between one status and another can be twenty times the coverage.

Why the App Status Controls the Insurance

Massachusetts General Laws chapter 175, section 228 sets out three tiers of coverage for transportation network drivers, which is the statute’s term for Uber and Lyft drivers. If the app is off, the driver is an ordinary private motorist and only the personal auto policy applies, with compulsory minimums of 25,000 dollars per person and 50,000 dollars per accident for bodily injury under the limits that took effect July 1, 2025.

If the driver is logged into the app and available for requests but has not accepted a ride, section 228(c) requires liability coverage of at least 50,000 dollars per person and 100,000 dollars per crash for bodily injury, plus 30,000 dollars for property damage, along with uninsured motorist coverage and personal injury protection.

Once the driver is engaged in a pre-arranged ride, section 228(d) requires at least 1,000,000 dollars in per occurrence coverage for death, bodily injury and property damage. And the statute defines that window generously for an injured cyclist. Under chapter 159A1/2, section 1, a pre-arranged ride begins when the driver accepts the request, continues while the rider is transported, and ends only when the rider safely departs the vehicle. A driver racing toward a pickup with an empty back seat is already inside the million dollar tier.

The Coverage Gap the Statute Was Written to Fix

Before the 2016 rideshare law, injured people regularly fell into a gap. Personal auto insurers took the position that commercial driving was excluded from a personal policy, and section 228(h) now expressly allows them to exclude any and all coverage while a driver is providing rideshare services. Standing alone, that rule would leave a cyclist hit by a working Uber driver with nowhere to turn.

The statute closes the gap in two ways. Section 228(e) provides that whenever the driver’s own insurance has lapsed, failed to provide the required coverage, or denied the claim, the company’s insurance must step in beginning with the first dollar, and it carries the duty to investigate and defend the claim. Section 228(f) adds that the company’s coverage is not allowed to wait on the personal insurer denying first. For an injured cyclist, that means the coverage tiers above are supposed to be there no matter how the driver handled their own policy.

Hit by a car while biking? Get a free case review from a Cambridge injury attorney. Call 617-683-1983.

What a Cyclist Can Actually Claim

Personal injury protection still comes first. Under chapter 90, section 34M, PIP pays up to 8,000 dollars regardless of fault, covering the first 2,000 dollars of medical bills ahead of health insurance and 75 percent of lost wages, and section 228 requires PIP in every app status. A cyclist struck by a motor vehicle claims PIP through the striking vehicle’s coverage. We walk through how the full insurance stack works after a Cambridge bike crash in a separate post.

Beyond PIP, the liability claim for medical expenses, lost earnings, and pain and suffering runs against whichever tier matches the driver’s app status. Massachusetts comparative negligence rules under chapter 231, section 85 apply as usual, so a cyclist can recover as long as they were not more than 50 percent at fault, with any award reduced by their share. The limitations period for a negligence claim is three years under chapter 260, section 2A, though the practical work of pinning down app status should start far sooner.

Doorings at Pickups and Dropoffs

Not every rideshare injury comes from the front bumper. Pickups and dropoffs happen in and beside bike lanes all over Cambridge, and a passenger who swings a door open into a passing cyclist can cause a crash every bit as serious as a collision. Chapter 90, section 14 places the duty not to open a door into oncoming traffic on anyone in the vehicle, passengers included. The timing definition above matters here too, since the ride does not end until the rider has safely departed, which is exactly when dooring happens. We cover dooring crashes in Cambridge, MA in detail separately.

What to Do After a Rideshare Crash

• Call 911 and make sure a police report is made, and tell the officer the driver was working for a rideshare company so it appears in the report.
• Get the driver’s name, license plate, and personal insurance details, and note which company the driver was working for.
• Ask any passenger for contact information. The rider is both a witness and, in a dooring, potentially a responsible party.
• Photograph the scene, the vehicle, your bike, and the phone mount if the app is visible on the driver’s screen.
• Get medical care promptly, and keep records of every visit and expense.

The companies keep detailed trip and GPS records that establish app status to the second, but they do not hand them over on request. Preserving that evidence early, through a preservation letter and if necessary discovery, is often what separates a 50,000 dollar policy from a 1,000,000 dollar one. And if the driver takes off before you get their information, Massachusetts treats it like any other fleeing driver case, which is where uninsured motorist coverage after a hit and run comes in.

Talk to a Cambridge Bike Accident Lawyer

Rideshare cases reward early, careful work. The app status has to be established, the right insurer identified, and the claim presented before evidence goes stale. If an Uber or Lyft driver hit you while you were biking in Cambridge or anywhere in Massachusetts, a Cambridge bicycle accident lawyer at Melanson Law Group will review your case for free and explain exactly which coverage applies. Call 617-683-1983. There is no fee unless we recover for you.