Unfair rideshare insurance requirements raise costs for riders and affect drivers’ ability to earn
Some states have outsize insurance requirements for ridesharing
State laws around the US require rideshare drivers to have commercial auto insurance. This is necessary because personal auto insurance typically doesn’t cover accidents that occur while earning on platforms like Uber. Each state sets its own commercial auto insurance requirements, which vary dramatically by state. While most states permit the driver, Uber, or a combination of both to satisfy these requirements, Uber buys commercial auto insurance for drivers so they don’t have to pay for expensive annual policies themselves. Learn more about Uber’s insurance coverage here.
Rideshare drivers commonly have higher commercial auto insurance coverage requirements than other vehicles on the road, including taxis, limousines, and commercial livery vehicles. In California, for example, the $1 million liability coverage requirement imposed on Uber and other TNCs (transportation network companies) is currently more than 30 times that of personal vehicles on the road, which is required at just $30,000 per person. It’s also far higher than that required of taxis, at 10 times the LA and San Francisco coverage requirements per person (taxi requirements change from city to city). In 2020, the City of San Francisco temporarily lowered the liability insurance requirements for taxis from $1 million to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident to help with pandemic recovery, and it has not yet reverted to previous levels. In New Jersey, TNC trips are required to have $1.5 million in liability coverage, which is 30 times the $50,000 requirement per incident for personal vehicles. It’s also significantly larger than the $1 million liability coverage requirement for rideshare trips in most other states.
Driving progress: safer roads and successful reforms
Safety and innovation
Over the years, we’ve consistently raised the bar on safety by developing industry-first features, comprehensive education for our users, and close partnerships with experts—including advocates and law enforcement—who help guide our decisions.
Uber has already invested in safety innovations like left-turn reductions, partially controlled intersection alerts, and seat-belt alerts, with the goal of minimizing risk from crashes. Uber has also launched Driving Insights, a dashboard that provides drivers with visibility into their driving habits and tips to improve their driving safety. Research suggests that TNC drivers are safer than the average driver, contributing to safer roads overall. Per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, Uber’s motor vehicle fatality rate is significantly lower than the national average, and 99.9% of Uber trips occur without any safety-related incident at all.
Studies have also shown that Uber’s presence in a city reduces the rate of drinking-and-driving crashes, and because of ridesharing, traffic fatalities on nights and weekends have decreased.
Legislative wins
Across the country, Uber is leading advocacy efforts to pass commonsense legislative changes that keep all trips insured while bringing down costs. Over the past few years, several states—including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New York, Virginia, and Washington—have passed meaningful reforms to either bring down UM/UIM TNC insurance requirements or help curb legal abuse. These reforms are expected to help—or have already helped—stabilize insurance costs. We’ve already seen a more stabilized insurance industry in Florida, for example, where these changes have resulted in $1 billion in refunds from insurers to Florida drivers.
Putting money back in pockets: benefits of fairer insurance policies
Lower fares for riders
When insurance requirements are brought more in line with those for other vehicles, riders pay less per trip. In California, reforms that reduced UM/UIM requirements passed in 2025. As a result, riders saved tens of millions of dollars in Q1 2026 alone and are on track to save hundreds of millions more by year-end.
Tort reforms can help rein in fraud and abuse, stabilize costs for riders, and benefit personal car owners as well. Uber riders in Florida have saved tens of millions of dollars following legal abuse reforms in 2023.
More trips for drivers
In states like California and Florida, where legislative reforms reduced insurance requirements or amended tort law, we’ve seen insurance costs decrease, helping lower prices for riders. This, in turn, has led to more trips, creating more earning opportunities for drivers.
How unfair insurance requirements affect consumers
Riders feel the impact directly through the cost of their trips, and riders in states with very high insurance requirements pay more than riders do in states with more reasonable requirements. In New Jersey, for example, nearly one-third of the rider’s fare goes to pay for state-mandated insurance costs. More than half of that total is due to the UM/UIM requirement alone. In New York State, where the TNC liability requirement matches the UM/UIM requirement at $1.25 million, 28% of the rider’s fare on average goes to mandatory insurance costs. In comparison, in places like Washington, DC, and Massachusetts, less than 5% of a rider's fare goes to mandatory insurance costs.²
What can you do?
Our goal is to ensure that consumers pay only for the protections they need. Get involved and join our efforts in advocating for fairer insurance policies in your state.
¹This requirement for TNCs is only while a passenger is in the vehicle.
²Data for Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, DC, is sourced from Uber internal figures as of September 2025. Data related to these figures will fluctuate and be updated on this page after each quarter.
³MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) data referenced in a 2020 letter from MADD to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
⁴Based on Uber data from September 2025 for rideshare/TNC (transportation network company) trips taken through Uber.
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