Fifth Circuit Holds No Uninsured Motorist Coverage for Lyft Driver Following Crash

In Neptune v. Indian Harbor Insurance Co., the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed whether uninsured motorist (UM) coverage applied in an accident where there was no evidence of a ‘hit’ from the uninsured vehicle.

In April 2019, Maria Neptune worked as a driver for Lyft, a rideshare company. She accepted a request to provide a ride from Houston, Texas, to nearby Cypress, Texas.

When Neptune arrived in her SUV at the pick-up location, a young man entered her vehicle. Neptune noticed a second man approaching and asked her passenger if the second man was with him. The passenger said no and asked her to drive away quickly. As Neptune began to pull away, the second man began to shoot at the SUV, shattering the rear window.