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Lyft's First Fatality: Passenger Dies In Crash Near Sacramento
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A Lyft passenger died in a crash on a highway outside of Sacramento, Calif. early Saturday morning, an accident that will test the car-service company’s insurance policies.
The fatal accident occurred at 1:25 a.m. on westbound Interstate 80 in Citrus Heights during heavy rain, said California Highway Patrol Officer Chad Hertzell. An unknown car rear-ended a Kia and drove away, and the Kia spun out into the middle lanes and stalled.
The driver of the Lyft, a Toyota Camry, saw the stalled Kia and swerved off to the right, Hertzell told FORBES. The Lyft, which had two passengers in it, hit a tree, spun some more, and hit a second tree. The back left side of the car collided with the tree, killing the passenger sitting in the back left seat. Hertzell said the Lyft was traveling around 65 miles per hour.
The passenger was 24-year-old Shane Holland of West Sacramento, according to the Sacramento County Coroner. Holland’s father told local television station FOX40 said Holland was riding back from a Halloween party with his boyfriend.
This is the first time a Lyft passenger has died in an accident, the company said. Lyft’s insurance policies are built to protect passengers and other parties in accidents like this, but which policy depends on which party is found to be at fault.
Lyft has a $1 million liability policy, but liability policies only go into effect when the driver is found to be at fault. Otherwise, the insurance of the party that is at fault is responsible for paying.
Determining fault in this accident will be a complicated process. By the time CHP officers arrived at the crash scene, several of the parties had already left for hospitals, Hertzell said. As best they can piece together, after the Lyft swerved off the road, several more cars were involved in the pileup. A Dodge hit the Kia, and a big rig hit the Kia as well and drove off. Local television station KCRA reported that the big rig hit the Camry and drove off. Hertzell disputed that account, but if the death had been caused by a hit-and-run driver, the accident would be covered under Lyft’s $1 million uninsured/underinsured motorist policy. No parties involved in the accident have been charged.
However the accident’s fault is determined, the tragic case will test Lyft’s insurance and safety policies. Uber, a rival car-service app company, has not had a passenger die during an accident, but one of its driver hit and killed 6-year-old Sophia Liu in San Francisco in January. The driver was logged onto the app but did not have a passenger in the car at the time. After the accident, the company was pushed to increase the breadth of its insurance coverage. Uber, however, maintains it was not at fault in the accident, and the Liu family has filed a wrongful death suit against both the driver and the company.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones involved in this tragedy,” said Lyft spokeswoman Erin Simpson. “We are deeply saddened to hear this news and will continue to support those involved as well as authorities in the ongoing investigation.”
Follow me on Twitter at @ellenhuet, find more of my stories onForbes or email me at ehuet at forbes.com.
