Rideshare Accident Lawyer in Kentucky

Kentucky's motor vehicle accident statute of limitations is two years from the date of the crash under KRS 304.39-230(6), which governs rideshare motor vehicle claims. This is longer than the general one-year personal injury statute under KRS 413.140(1)(a), which applies to non-motor-vehicle injuries. Many injured passengers and bystanders incorrectly believe the one-year deadline applies. The two-year window does not extend the evidence preservation deadline. TNC platforms retain digital trip data — GPS coordinates, ride-status logs, driver acceptance timestamps — on proprietary schedules that are not governed by federal vehicle data retention rules. A preservation demand to the TNC's legal department must go to the specific trip ID and driver account within days of the crash, before routine data purging protocols apply. Kentucky's Board of Claims one-year filing deadline under KRS 49.120 applies if a road defect maintained by the Commonwealth contributed to the crash — that deadline runs inside the two-year motor vehicle SOL.

Kentucky's higher-than-average TNC insurance minimums under KRS 281.655 — $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident, $50,000 property damage — provide meaningful coverage for serious rideshare injuries. But the structure of period-based coverage still creates the same critical question as in every state: which period was active at the moment of impact? KRS 281.655 does not expressly distinguish coverage tiers in the same three-period structure used by Alabama's and Louisiana's TNC statutes, but the practical period classification — logged in vs. ride accepted vs. passenger in vehicle — governs which insurance applies. Kentucky's choice no-fault system under KRS 304.39-060 creates an additional question for rideshare passengers: if the passenger carries PIP coverage on their own auto policy, PIP pays medical expenses first before the tort claim proceeds. Passengers who rejected no-fault coverage in writing retain full tort rights without a PIP threshold. The two-year motor vehicle SOL under KRS 304.39-230(6) applies regardless of PIP status.

Kentucky's pure comparative fault rule under KRS 411.182 means no fault percentage bars recovery in a rideshare accident. A passenger or bystander found 80% at fault still recovers 20% of damages — but that 20% reflects 80% reduction from the full damage picture. In Louisville and Lexington rideshare crashes, the standard TNC insurer fault arguments target passenger conduct: directing the driver to an unsafe drop-off location, opening a door into traffic, or exiting the vehicle in an unsafe location. For third-party drivers injured in collisions with rideshare vehicles, fault arguments follow standard patterns: following too closely, lane change negligence, or failure to yield. Kentucky courts apply comparative fault strictly — the jury's allocation directly determines the recovery amount. A local Kentucky rideshare attorney who secures the TNC's GPS logs, dashcam footage (where available), and independent witness statements before the insurer's team reaches them establishes the objective fault record that limits the TNC's fault-inflation arguments.

Kentucky's Board of Claims at KRS 49.120 provides the channel for claims against the Commonwealth when a state-maintained road defect contributed to a rideshare crash. The Board imposes a one-year filing deadline and caps recovery at $250,000 per claimant / $400,000 per incident under KRS 49.040. For rideshare crashes on Lexington's legacy road network, Louisville's downtown one-way grid, or the secondary road network near the bourbon trail, government-entity claims may supplement the primary TNC recovery. Kentucky's pure comparative fault rule applies to the government entity's share of fault just as it does to private defendants — the Board allocates the Commonwealth's proportionate fault and caps total recovery at the statutory ceiling. The one-year Board of Claims deadline runs inside the two-year motor vehicle SOL, making early identification of any government road condition a critical first-week task.