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How Does Rideshare Accident Liability Work in Georgia and Which Insurance Policy Applies at Each Phase of a Trip?

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The driver’s app status decides the insurance. Under O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24, a transportation network company (TNC) such as Uber or Lyft must “maintain or cause to be maintained a primary motor vehicle insurance policy” with one set of limits while the driver is logged on and waiting, and higher limits from ride acceptance until the ride ends. With the app off, the driver’s own policy is where a claim starts.

The coverage by phase

Section 33-1-24(a)(5) defines two periods of “transportation network company services”: (A) logged on and available to accept a ride request, and (B) from accepting a ride request until the ride is complete.

Driver's status Required coverage Source
App off No TNC requirement; the driver's personal policy, under its own terms § 33-1-24(g)
Logged on, waiting for a request (period A) Primary liability of at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $50,000 for property damage § 33-1-24(b)(2)
Ride accepted until ride complete (period B), including the drive to the pickup Primary liability of at least $1 million per occurrence, plus uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage of at least $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property § 33-1-24(b)(3)

The text settles two points that are easy to get wrong. The property-damage minimum in period A is $50,000, not $25,000. And the coverage in period A is required to be “primary”, not contingent: “Coverage under a motor vehicle insurance policy maintained by the transportation network company shall not be dependent on a personal vehicle insurer first denying a claim”.

The requirements may be met by a policy the TNC buys, a policy the driver buys, or a combination (§ 33-1-24(c)). If insurance a driver keeps to meet them lapses, “the transportation network company shall provide coverage which shall become primary beginning with the first dollar of a claim” (§ 33-1-24(f)).

The 2023 change to uninsured motorist coverage during rides

Before House Bill 529 (2023), period B required uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of at least $1 million. HB 529 replaced that with the limits in the table, $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident for bodily injury and $25,000 for property, for causes of action accruing on or after July 1, 2023. A passenger hurt by an uninsured third driver during a ride may also have their own UM coverage; see uninsured motorist coverage in Georgia.

The personal policy can exclude rideshare time

Personal auto insurers “may exclude any and all coverage afforded under the owner’s insurance policy for any loss or injury that occurs while a driver is logged on to a transportation network company’s digital network or while a driver provides transportation network company services” (§ 33-1-24(g)(2)). The statute also says nothing in it requires a personal policy to provide primary or excess coverage for TNC services (§ 33-1-24(g)(1)). That is why the TNC-side coverage in period A exists, and why it may not wait on a personal insurer’s denial.

Proving which phase applied

Because the phase sets the coverage, the timing is the first fact to secure. For claims investigation, the TNC must give the driver’s personal insurer, within 15 days of its request, the time of the accident and “the precise times in the 12 hours preceding and following the accident that the driver logged on and off” (§ 33-1-24(h)(4)). An injured passenger or other driver can preserve:

  1. screenshots of the trip in the rider’s app, with times;
  2. the driver’s name, the vehicle, and the plate shown in the app;
  3. whether a ride had been accepted and whether a passenger was aboard;
  4. the police report number.

The companies’ regulation

Separate statutes in Title 40, beginning at O.C.G.A. § 40-1-190, regulate ride share network services. The General Assembly “fully occupies and preempts the entire field of administration and regulation” over those services, with an exception allowing airports to regulate them (§ 40-1-191), and each service must register with the state department named in the statute and keep a current list of its drivers (§ 40-1-193). A claim that the company itself was negligent, for example in screening a driver, is a separate question from the insurance minimums and depends on proof of the company’s own conduct.

Who pays when the rideshare driver was not at fault

If another driver caused the crash, that driver’s liability insurance is the first source under Georgia’s fault-based system, whatever the rideshare driver’s app status; see Georgia’s fault-based car insurance system.

Sources

This page describes Georgia law as of October 2026 for general information. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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