Companies like Uber and Lyft brought confusion in the mind of everyone because of their incorrect use of the word ridesharing to define their services. In reality, those are simply taxi-like services with a good technology, but it surely has nothing to do with ridesharing.
What is exactly ridesharing and carpooling?
By definition, carpooling involves a driver using a vehicle on a one-way or round trip where the taking of passengers is incidental to the driver's purpose for the trip and where no fee is charged by or paid to the driver, owner or lessee of the motor vehicle for the passengers' transportation, except an amount to reimburse the expenses of operating the motor vehicle on a non-profit basis.
Do I have to hold a transportation permit?
No, ridesharing does not require a commercial passenger transportation permit. However, it is important to understand that commercial transportation of passengers can't be done under the cover of carpooling.
Is your insurance good enough?
Quite often, members using Ridesharing.com as drivers come to us with this simple question: Should I have a specific insurance coverage to carpool and rideshare with my car? There is surely no easy answer to this question. You should always check with your current insurance to make sure it will be enough in the event of an accident.
Liability insurance
The first thing to look up is your liability coverage. Increasing the number of regular passengers in your vehicle can increase the likelihood of an injury and liability claim in the event of a collision. For this reason it can be a good idea to go for higher liability coverage to protect yourself and your passengers.
In doubt, give a call to your insurance broker to discuss this aspect of your coverage.
