Hit by a DoorDash Driver in Queens: How We Forced DoorDash to Pay $500,000 After Insurance Said “No”
⏱️ Too busy to read? Here is a fast summary:
A distracted DoorDash driver T-boned our clients in Queens. Had they handled the claim alone or with a settlement mill, they would have gotten $25,000. But our car accident lawyers stepped in, and secured a massive $500,000 out-of-court settlement.
What happens if you get hit by a DoorDash driver?
➤ Dashers and many other delivery drivers and under a lot of pressure to deliver on time, beat traffic, check or operate many apps. Juggle busy store shopping times and restaurants. They are more likely to be distracted when driving. Hence, more likely to get into an accident.
So, what do you do when a Doordash driver hits you? When it’s a regular fender bender, you make sure nobody’s hurt, you call 911 or the police for the report, you exchange insurance information. You may even go call your doctor or go to an ER the next day to make sure you are ok.
- But what if the insurance does not cover this accident because it’s a Doordash accident?
- Or what if they were delivering for several apps?
➤ Will you raise a claim against Doordash directly? Imagine if a restaurant employee contributed to the crash. Who do you go after?
Find Your Answers – Faster:
(We’ll dive into the real-life car crash on Horace Harding in Long Island and its devastating injuries later in this article).
The DoorDash Coverage Gap: What was the Dasher doing at the moment of the crash? 📲
✅ DoorDash offers up to $1,000,000 in 3rd party liability coverage to drivers, but only under certain circumstances. And most drivers don’t realize where the gaps are until it’s too late – as it may not kick if the driver has commercial driving insurance or their insurance does not deny it first.
- Offline
- Available for Orders
- On Active delivery
And even if the Dasher was clearly and actively delivering, DoorDash will try to deny or reduce your claim. Unless there’s a top-rated NY or Long Island car attorney present that knows how to build a rock-solid case. ⚖️
How to Spot a Dasher & What to Do
How do you even know you were hit by a Doordash driver? Here are a few hints that may give you a clue about having a car accident case with a dasher. No matter what, follow these steps after a NY or Long Island auto accident.
- Delivery drivers don’t usually get their cars wrapped with logos, or signs. And rarely will the person tell you they were making a GrubHub, UberEats, or a DoorDash delivery.
- But you may notice bags inside of their car with their logo, or branded t-shirts, caps, outfits.
- Maybe you overhear them telling the police they were dashing at the scene of the accident. Or you may notice the information on the police report.
- If the delivery driver reported it, claiming it was your fault, the DoorDash legal team itself could call you.
- Anyway, if you suspect this could be a delivery driver, call an experienced Doordash car accident attorney. You could be entitled to more money than you thought.
➤ And, of course, the first thing you have to do after a Long Island car accident is to call 911 or get a police report, get checked by a physician – even if you feel ok. Some things are not evident right away and only show up on imaging hours after the accident – to make sure you are safe.
And if a DoorDash reps call you, SAY NOTHING.
✅ If you must speak to them, limit yourself strictly to providing your basic contact information. Tell them: “I am represented by counsel, please speak to my attorney at Liga De Justicia Injury Lawyers.”
⚠️ Do not answer any questions about how you feel, how the accident happened, or what hurts. Corporate reps are trained to use your own words against you to deny your claim. Let your legal team do the talking. A motor vehicle attorney consultation is always free and you don’t pay unless we win for you.
We’ll take care of the rest, just like we did with this client of Liga De Justicia Injury Lawyers. 👈
🚨 T-Boned in Queens by a Dasher at a Green Light on Horace Harding
It was a cool, clear evening at 7:40 p.m. in Queens, New York. Santiago and his fiancée, Betty, were driving straight down the Horace Harding Expressway — a busy stretch of road running right alongside the Long Island Expressway (I-495) heavily interrupted by traffic lights.
🚦 As Betty proceeded straight through the intersection with a steady green light, another vehicle blew right through a solid red light.
The defendant’s car slammed directly into the driver’s side rear quarter panel. It t-boned them with enough force to leave extensive property damage across both cars. Neither vehicle could be driven; their car had to be towed straight from the scene. They called 911, EMS arrived and a police report was filed as well.
Of course, both drivers blamed each other. 👈
Like many New Yorkers, Santiago didn’t take an ambulance to the emergency room that night. Unless an injury is visibly life-threatening, locals often try to avoid the hours of waiting in a chaotic city ER, thinking they “feel fine enough” to go home. Besides, he preferred to be at Betty’s side.
➤ In the following days, he did visit his physicians. But there was a massive detail Santiago and Betty didn’t know: the person who hit them was actively delivering for DoorDash.
Let’s look at the insurance process and the numbers and see exactly how much money was on the line.
How Easy is it to Get a DoorDash Accident Settlement?
✅ Most people go home or visit a doctor a few days later, thinking, “The other guy ran a red light, it’s an open-and-shut case. His insurance will cover my medical bills and car.“
The Sudden “No” 📉
Then, the victim calls the other driver’s insurance company, only to hear the worst words possible: “No, we aren’t paying.” ⛔️
DoorDash is a corporate giant that fights hard to protect their bottom line. It takes the “magic wand” of an aggressive, experienced law firm like ours to pierce their armor, bypass the $25k/$50k personal insurance limit, and secure a payout of half a million dollars out of court.
⚡ From $25K to Half a Million for a DoorDash Car Crash
- The defendant’s personal insurance policy was only $25,000 / $50,000 for bodily injury per person/ total per accident. (the absolute minimum in New York State).
- DoorDash’s policy is $1,000,000.
- The Reality: If the client went at it alone or with a cookie-cutter firm or settlement mill that didn’t do their due diligence, they would have been capped at $25,000 max per person. At our firm, cases are always handled directly by experienced partners – Sin Abogados Pichones. Had a lawyer not gotten witness statements and asked the right questions, the maximum recovery would have been $25,000 per person because that’s all the regular insurance the defendant had.
- Even if the driver had a bigger personal policy, insurance companies value these specific injuries at around $75,000 to $90,000 maximum. That’s what these injuries are usually worth and this case would have probably settled for $75,000 to $90,000 each, tops.
- The Liga De Justicia Injury Lawyers Victory: We walked away with $275,000 for the passenger and $225,000 for the driver — a $500,000 total out-of-court settlement.
➤ We know how to investigate, uncover, ask the right questions, review your medical records to assess the true value of your injuries, craft a winning demand, and negotiate on your behalf.
Don’t let a corporate delivery giant or complex New York insurance laws dictate what your injuries are worth. If you go at it alone, you may not be able to prove your injuries passed the state’s strict “serious injury threshold” – Insurance Law §5102(d). You will get stuck at the tiny $25,000 personal limit and never even get to touch DoorDash’s million-dollar policy.
➤ Consultations are always 100% free, and you don’t pay a single dime unless we win your case.
⚠️ Don’t let a junior attorney “practice” with your case. You are much more than a case number. Let our top-rated and experienced partners recover the money you deserve while keeping you safe and protected.
Real Pain, Real Limits: What a “Serious Injury Threshold” Actually Looks Like 🚑
✅ Betty’s Physical Injuries
Betty was transported to North Shore University Hospital. Her injuries were severe, so much so, that it satisfied the serious injury threshold under Insurance Law §5102(d). We won’t go into the medical details but the following can give you an idea of her pain and suffering.
How did this car crash affect her daily life?
Besides the obvious pain walking and limp, she would not find a pain free position to sleep in, she had severe stabbing pain the moment she stepped out of bed each morning because of her plantar fasciitis, she could not drive a car at all without excruciating pain or without aggravating her spine injuries and thoracic herniations.
The tears would make it extremely hard for her to even get dressed, run errands, carry groceries, or even open a pickle jar, thus having to rely on daily assistance and help to perform the most basics of tasks.
Pain relief? None for her. Because of her health conditions (comorbidities/bleeding disorders) no good options were available.
She could bleed at surgery or suffer permanent paralysis. She could not take NSAIDs, epidural or cortisone injections and was limited to Tylenol – this would never be able to relieve her back pain – or she had to undergo extremely delicate and risky surgeries and procedures.
➤ These cases happen more often than you think, and most people are not even aware of how their current health conditions (diagnosed or not) might affect being able to receive the simplest of pain relieving treatments.
✅ Santiago Severe Back Pain and Injuries
➤ His main complaint was back pain. In short, Santiago suffered structural damage to his spine and a severe right shoulder injury, requiring multiple spinal injections and a major shoulder surgery.
His pain management treatment lasted several months and he may even have to consider RFA – A procedure where a doctor uses heat to temporarily “burn” or turn off the nerves causing his chronic back pain to provide longer-term relief.
His right shoulder injuries were much more serious as conservative treatment failed and had to undergo arthroscopic surgery and because the surgery did not fully alleviate his pain, over a year later, he still required a targeted steroid injection into his shoulder to manage ongoing inflammation.
How did these injuries affect his daily life?
The pinched spinal nerves, bulging discs, torn shoulder cartilage, and torn rotator cuff would heavily disrupt his normal daily routines.
He will experience a sharp stabbing pain when reaching behind his back to put on a belt, or overhead to put on a shirt, or raising his arm to brush his teeth or hair. He will have difficulty sleeping on his right side, reaching up to a steering wheel, looking around to check blind spots, and he won’t be able to stay in any position for more than 15 to 30 minutes without needing to shift or lie down. Everyday independence has been compromised.
Whether you were hit by a DoorDash driver, an Uber, or any vehicle, don’t let the insurance company dictate what your injuries are worth.
📍Serving: Clients across New York City and Long Island, including neighborhoods and towns such as Islip, Hempstead, Brentwood, Hauppauge, Riverhead, Sag Harbor, Hampton Bays, Jackson Heights, Jamaica, and the counties of Suffolk, Nassau, Kings, Queens, Bronx, and New York (Manhattan).
🌎 ¿Conoces a alguien que habla español y prefieres compartir Choque con un Doordash en Long Island en su idioma?
