Uber and Lyft Arbitration Clauses: Can You Still Sue After an Accident?

What Uber’s clause covers

Uber’s U.S. Terms of Use, last modified June 9, 2026, include an arbitration agreement that covers:

• personal injury or death claims connected to your use of the service
• injuries to you or anyone else, including people riding at your invitation
• claims from before or after you accepted the current terms
• your relationship with Uber generally

Claims have to be brought one person at a time. The terms waive class actions and jury trials, and they set special procedures for large numbers of similar claims filed together. The main exception is small claims court, if the case stays individual and within that court’s limits.

Lyft’s terms also contain an arbitration agreement. Read the version in effect on the date of your accident.

What courts have done with it

New York’s highest court enforced it, even on a pending lawsuit. Emily Wu was hurt by another car right after her Uber driver dropped her off in traffic. She sued Uber in November 2020. Two months later she clicked to accept updated terms, which reached personal injury claims already filed in court. In Wu v. Uber (2024), the Court of Appeals ruled 5–2 that she had to arbitrate.

Massachusetts’s highest court enforced it against a paralyzed rider. In a 5–1 decision in 2024, the Supreme Judicial Court held that Uber’s in-app process created a binding agreement to arbitrate injury claims.

New Jersey enforced it, too. An in-app agreement sent a New Jersey couple’s injury claims against Uber to arbitration. See our McGinty v. Uber brief.

But a Virginia court said no when the rider never agreed. In Feng v. Uber, decided February 4, 2026, a woman’s son booked her ride through his account. She never requested the ride, agreed to the terms or used the app. The Fairfax County Circuit Court denied Uber’s motion to compel arbitration. It held that her son wasn’t her agent and that she wasn’t bound as a third-party beneficiary.

Your own case turns on who agreed to what, and when.

Who usually isn’t bound

• Pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers who never used the app for that trip
• Riders whose ride someone else booked, in some courts, as Feng shows. Uber’s newer terms try to reach people riding at the account holder’s invitation, so this is contested.
• Sexual assault survivors. Uber and Lyft both dropped forced arbitration for individual sexual assault claims in 2018. A federal law passed in 2022, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, lets survivors choose court regardless of the clause.

What the clause doesn’t stop

• A claim against the driver personally. The driver isn’t Uber. Many riders can still sue the driver, whose coverage often runs through the rideshare policy anyway.
• A claim against the other driver, if someone else caused the accident.
• Insurance claims. A claim for benefits under an insurance policy, such as UM/UIM or PIP, follows that policy and state law, not Uber’s terms. Some insurance policies have their own arbitration rules.

Arbitration isn’t the end of the road

Arbitration changes the forum, not the damages. Arbitrators can and do award large amounts. In 2026, an arbitrator ordered Uber to pay $40 million to the family of a passenger killed after her driver left her on a freeway: read the brief.

The trade-offs are real:

• No jury. A single arbitrator, or a panel, decides.
• Private. Hearings and awards usually aren’t public.
• Hard to appeal. Courts overturn arbitration awards only in narrow circumstances.
• No binding precedent. An award in one case doesn’t bind the next.

For more on how arbitration has played out in rideshare cases, see Bogguess v. Uber and Geller v. Uber.

Watch for updated terms after an accident

In Wu, the rider accepted new terms after she’d already sued, and those terms reached her pending case. If you’ve been hurt and are thinking about a claim, read any “We’ve updated our terms” screen carefully before you tap “confirm,” and tell your lawyer about it.

Drivers have a separate agreement

Drivers sign a different contract with its own arbitration terms. The rider terms don’t govern driver claims. Minnesota lets drivers opt out of arbitration with a rideshare company.

FAQs

Do I have to arbitrate my injury claim against Uber?

If you have an Uber account and accepted the current terms, Uber will likely argue yes, and courts in New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey have agreed in rider cases. Whether it applies to you depends on your account, who booked the ride and your state’s courts.

Can I still sue the Uber driver in court?

Often, yes. The driver isn’t a party to Uber’s terms with you. Your lawyer will weigh whether to sue the driver, the company or both.

I was hit by an Uber while crossing the street. Does arbitration apply?

Probably not, if you didn’t use the app for that trip. You never agreed to arbitrate this accident. Having your own Uber account can complicate that.

Can I opt out of Uber’s arbitration agreement?

Older versions of Uber’s terms included a general opt-out window. The current terms describe a narrower opt-out tied to mass-arbitration disputes. Check the version you accepted.

Is arbitration worse for injured people?

Not always. Arbitrators have awarded large amounts. But you lose the jury and most appeal rights, and the process is private. A lawyer can explain how it plays out in your state.

Find your state’s rules

Start from the state index, or go straight to New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts or Virginia.

Sources and limits

Terms and decisions are described as published on the date above. Uber and Lyft update their terms often.

• Uber — U.S. Terms of Use (last modified June 9, 2026)
• Wu v. Uber Tech., Inc., 2024 NY Slip Op 05869 (N.Y. Nov. 25, 2024)
• Feng v. Uber Techs., Inc., No. CL-2024-10120 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. Feb. 4, 2026) (PDF)
• Insurance Journal — Massachusetts allows Uber to force paralyzed rider to arbitrate (July 2024)
• ABA Journal — Uber and Lyft end mandatory arbitration for sexual assault claims (2018)
• Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, Pub. L. 117-90

This is general information, not legal advice, and RideClaim.co is not a law firm.