Uber & Lyft Driver Background Checks & Accident Liability

Who’s Really Behind the Wheel of Your Rideshare?

When you step into an Uber or Lyft, you assume the person driving has been thoroughly vetted — someone safe, sober, and responsible. But what if that assumption is wrong? 

What if the driver who just picked you up has a reckless driving history, a prior DUI, or even violent offenses that slipped through the cracks? Suddenly, that “safe ride home” doesn’t feel so safe anymore.

Our personal injury attorneys at Horn Wright, LLP, represent victims of rideshare accidents across New York, and we also serve clients throughout New Jersey, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. 

Our firm has handled cases where companies like Uber and Lyft failed to properly screen their drivers and passengers paid the price. We know how to hold these corporations accountable when their negligence begins long before a crash ever happens.

How Uber and Lyft Background Checks Actually Work

Uber and Lyft promise safety, but their background checks have limits and plenty of loopholes. Both companies use third-party screening services to review applicants’ driving and criminal records. These checks typically go back seven years, focusing on:

• Criminal convictions – They look for serious offenses like violent crimes, sexual assaults, or DUIs. However, older convictions or sealed cases can slip through, leaving dangerous drivers undetected.
• Driving history – Speeding tickets, reckless driving, and prior crashes are red flags. But without direct access to all state DMV systems, many out-of-state violations never make it into the report.
• Identity verification – Ensuring the applicant matches their license and Social Security information. Even so, errors or incomplete data from third-party services can allow applicants to pass with falsified or outdated details.

But rideshare companies often don’t use fingerprints or FBI databases. They rely on name-based searches, which miss offenses tied to aliases or out-of-state records. They also don’t require continuous background monitoring in all states, meaning someone with a clean record today could be dangerous tomorrow.

For passengers, that’s more than an oversight. It’s a risk you never agreed to take.

Why Weak Background Checks Lead to Preventable Crashes

When a company prioritizes hiring speed over safety, it’s not just a business decision. It’s negligence. Many rideshare crashes trace back to red flags that should’ve stopped a driver from ever getting on the road.

• Repeat traffic offenders – Drivers with multiple speeding or reckless driving tickets are statistically more likely to cause accidents. Ignoring those patterns puts passengers directly in danger.
• Unreported DUIs or substance use – Without fingerprinting or regular updates, Uber and Lyft may never learn about recent DUI arrests or drug charges. A single missed record can end in tragedy.
• Criminal records missed across states – Name-only checks can overlook crimes committed in other states, especially if the driver moved recently. That gap puts unsuspecting passengers at risk.
• Lack of mental health or safety training – Unlike licensed taxi services, rideshare platforms don’t require defensive driving courses or mental fitness evaluations, which could prevent fatigue-related or aggressive driving accidents.

The failure isn’t just in the crash. It’s in the hiring process that made it possible.

How Rideshare Companies Try to Dodge Responsibility

Uber and Lyft are experts at distancing themselves from liability. They call drivers “independent contractors” to avoid being held accountable for their mistakes. But when the company’s own screening process is flawed, that argument collapses fast.

They’ll claim:

• “We did a background check.” But they rarely mention how shallow those checks are. We prove it by comparing what they should’ve caught versus what they ignored.
• “The driver passed our standards.” Those standards often fall below what state or local law requires for similar commercial services. We highlight those gaps in every claim.
• “We can’t monitor everything.” Yet they track mileage, earnings, and ratings constantly — just not safety. That selective oversight shows where their priorities really lie.

When background failures contribute to an accident, Uber and Lyft don’t just share liability. They own it.

Proving Corporate Negligence in a Background Check Failure Case

To hold Uber or Lyft accountable, we have to show they could’ve prevented it. That means looking beyond the accident itself and digging into what happened long before the driver ever got behind the wheel. 

It begins with the driver’s application files. We subpoena hiring records to uncover exactly what information the company reviewed and, more importantly, what it ignored. These documents often reveal gaps that show Uber or Lyft didn’t follow their own policies or chose to overlook warning signs to keep their driver numbers high.

Next, we analyze the screening reports. By comparing the rideshare company’s chosen background-check vendor’s data against national and state databases, we expose the red flags that never should’ve been missed. If violent crimes, DUIs, or reckless driving convictions were buried in outdated or incomplete reports, that failure becomes the company’s liability.

We also review prior complaints. Customer feedback, safety reports, and low driver ratings can show a clear pattern of unsafe behavior that went unaddressed. When companies prioritize five-star averages and trip volume over legitimate safety concerns, their negligence becomes unmistakable.

Finally, we dig into corporate policies and internal emails. These communications often paint the clearest picture — one where executives push for “faster onboarding” and “driver retention” at the expense of rigorous safety checks. Those decisions, made far from the accident scene, are what create dangerous conditions for passengers and the public alike.

Uber and Lyft operate billion-dollar platforms. They have the money and the technology to protect riders, but they don’t act until lawyers force them to. Holding them accountable means showing exactly how corporate shortcuts turn into human consequences, one preventable crash at a time.

How New York Law Plays into Rideshare Background Check Standards

New York requires higher standards for rideshare drivers than many other states, particularly in New York City, where the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) oversees licensing. Drivers must pass fingerprint-based background checks and drug screenings before they can operate.

But outside the city, those same standards don’t always apply. Uber and Lyft can hire drivers using only third-party checks, creating inconsistent safety levels across state lines. When a rideshare crash happens in those areas, the absence of rigorous screening often becomes a key piece of liability.

We use these state differences to prove negligence — showing that if Uber or Lyft had applied NYC-level safety rules statewide, the crash might never have happened.

Safety Shouldn’t be Optional and Neither Should Accountability

When you get into a rideshare, you trust that someone made sure your driver was qualified, sober, and safe. But too often, that trust is misplaced because Uber and Lyft treat safety checks like a box to tick, not a duty to uphold.

Our Uber and Lyft car accident attorneys at Horn Wright, LLP, fight to make that trust mean something again. Whether your accident happened in Manhattan, Montpelier, or Manchester, we’ll make sure the truth about background checks and the liability they expose comes to light. 

Because when companies promise safety but deliver shortcuts, it’s negligent. And negligence has consequences. Reach out to our team today to request your complimentary case review.