Rideshare and Delivery Vehicle Crashes in Harrisburg, PA App Status and Which Limits Apply

The statute that governs the coverage

Transportation network companies operating in Pennsylvania are regulated under Title 66, and the financial responsibility requirements sit at 66 Pa.C.S. 2603.1. The section requires that a driver, or the company on the driver's behalf, maintain primary automobile insurance that recognizes the driver as a transportation network company driver, or otherwise uses a vehicle to carry passengers for compensation, and that covers the driver both while logged on to the digital network and while engaged in a prearranged ride. Those two states are treated differently, and the difference is substantial.

Logged on but not carrying a passenger

While a participating driver is logged on to the network and available to receive requests but is not engaged in a prearranged ride, the statute requires primary automobile liability insurance of at least fifty thousand dollars for death and bodily injury per person, one hundred thousand dollars for death and bodily injury per incident, and twenty-five thousand dollars for property damage. It also requires first-party medical benefits including twenty-five thousand dollars for pedestrians and five thousand dollars for the driver. The requirement may be satisfied by insurance maintained by the driver, by the company, or by a combination of the two.

Engaged in a prearranged ride

While the driver is engaged in a prearranged ride, the required primary automobile liability insurance rises to at least five hundred thousand dollars for death, bodily injury, and property damage. First-party medical benefits at that stage are required as provided by 75 Pa.C.S. 1711 on a per-incident basis for incidents involving the driver's operation of a personal vehicle during a prearranged ride, including twenty-five thousand dollars for passengers and pedestrians and five thousand dollars for the driver. As with the lower tier, the coverage may come from the driver's policy, the company's policy, or both together.

Coverage that does not wait for a denial

Two provisions in the same section remove common obstacles. Coverage under a policy maintained under the section is primary, and the statute states that it is not dependent on a personal automobile insurer first denying a claim, nor is a personal policy required to deny a claim first. And where the insurance a driver was supposed to maintain has lapsed or does not provide the required coverage, insurance maintained by the transportation network company must provide the required coverage beginning with the first dollar of a claim, with the company's insurer owing a duty to defend. Together these provisions are meant to prevent an injured passenger or pedestrian from being passed between carriers.

Drivers who do more than one thing

The section includes a provision for dual motor carrier drivers using personal vehicles to provide transportation network services, requiring the same insurance coverage as taxis, and it allows the Public Utility Commission to increase the requirements for dual motor carriers and taxis in the public interest. Insurance required for a company must be evidenced by a certificate of insurance filed with the commission by the carrier, in the form the commission specifies. That filing requirement is useful, because it means a coverage question has a documentary answer somewhere other than in the driver's glove box.

Establishing which state the app was in

Because the limits turn on app status at the moment of the crash, the decisive evidence is electronic and held by a company that was not present at the scene. Trip records, the timestamp when a request was accepted, the pickup and dropoff times, and the driver's log-on history all sit in company systems. A written notice to the company identifying the date, time, location, and driver, sent as early as possible, is the practical step that puts the question on record while the data still exists.

Delivery drivers, and where the analysis differs

Food and package delivery using personal vehicles does not necessarily fall under the transportation network service provisions, which are written around prearranged rides for passengers. Coverage for a delivery crash may instead depend on the driver's own policy and its business-use provisions, on any commercial policy carried by the platform, and on whether the driver was performing work at the time. The analysis is contract driven and fact specific, and it should not be assumed to mirror the rideshare limits above.

Reading this page

Statutory limits are minimums rather than the amount available in a given case, and actual coverage depends on the policies in force. This page describes Pennsylvania statutory provisions in general terms for readers in the Harrisburg area and does not evaluate any incident or policy. Questions about a specific crash belong with the attorney whose office advertises on this site, or with another licensed Pennsylvania attorney.