Uber hit big failure! The court declared the driver to be responsible for safety if this happened
An Uber and California driver faces negligence lawsuits after a garbage truck employee was injured when a passenger opened the door to the truck, a state appeals court said Friday.
Uber Technologies Inc. and a California driver faces negligence lawsuits after a garbage truck worker was injured when a passenger opened the door to the truck, a state appeals court said Friday.
William Mason said he was standing on the back of a garbage truck in downtown San Francisco in 2017 when a passenger opened the door of a parked Uber and hit him, causing him to fall and injure himself.
Uber drivers parked on the street in front of the passenger’s destination, a hotel, rather than in the hotel driveway, Mason said. He sued Uber and its driver for negligence.
A trial court issued a summary judgment against Mason, arguing that the driver had no legal obligation to control the behavior of his passengers or warn her that a garbage truck was approaching. And Uber has no duty of extreme care like a regular carrier, because any such obligation rests with the passenger and not a third party like Mason, the court said.
The California Court of Appeals, 1st District, reinstated Mason’s case, finding that carpool drivers owe other vehicles a duty of normal interest in choosing where and how to offload passengers. guest.
Justice Sandra L. Margulies wrote in an unpublished opinion that it is reasonably foreseeable that passengers leaving a parked car along a street in the city could open a door. to join traffic.
Passengers stepping out of a shared car may be unfamiliar with the location where they got off, have impaired function, or are simply not paying attention, she writes.
With the heavy traffic on city roads, it’s no surprise that such accidents can happen and Uber drivers, who make a living transporting passengers, will be aware of the risks. this ro.
Margulies says the burden of asking Uber drivers to pick a reasonably safe place to offload or warn traveling passengers of oncoming traffic is not an unreasonable expectation on busy streets.
And there is a practical solvable problem of where the driver in this case breached his obligation to take reasonable care in unloading passengers. How reasonable a driver is in choosing a location to drop off passengers or not look in the mirror or warn passengers to get off is a question of fact that is reasonable for the jury.
Judge Kathleen M. Banke and Judge Rochelle C. East, appointed by the San Francisco Superior Court, commented.
The case is Mason suing Uber Techs. Inc., Cal. CT. App., 1st Dist., No. A161000, 3/25/22
