Rideshare Accident Head Injuries in Florida: Next Steps

Rideshare crashes add insurance questions, but the head injury steps are the same as any crash.

Right after

Get medical evaluation, report the crash, and save the trip details in the app.

In the following weeks

Watch for headaches, focus problems, and sleep changes, and tell your treating provider about them.

Standardized testing

Your provider can refer you for mobile testing. Questions about insurance belong with your attorney or insurer.

When it's an emergency

Go to the ER right away for a worsening headache, repeated vomiting, a seizure, weakness, slurred speech, or increasing confusion. Mobile testing is not emergency care.

Braintree Health Partners provides diagnostics only. We diagnose. You treat.

Ask your provider to refer you: providers use /referral or call 813-709-3771.

Why rideshare crashes raise particular head-injury concerns

Rideshare passengers usually sit in the back seat, often looking at a phone, and sometimes without a seatbelt fastened on a short trip. When a collision happens, an unprepared passenger can be thrown forward or sideways and strike the seat back, window, or door frame. Drivers spend long hours on the road and may be involved in more than one incident. Either way, head injuries in these crashes can be easy to overlook in the confusion of multiple vehicles, apps, and insurance questions.

What passengers should do after the crash

Take care of safety first. Then note the details: the trip time and route from the app, which seat you were in, whether you were belted, and whether your head hit anything. Photograph the vehicle interior if it's safe to do so. Get checked medically, even if you feel fine, and tell the provider exactly how the impact happened. Save the trip receipt and any messages from the app.

Symptoms worth reporting in the following weeks

Headaches, dizziness, nausea, light sensitivity, trouble concentrating, memory lapses, irritability, and sleep changes should all go to your treating provider. Riders who get headaches or nausea in moving vehicles, or who feel anxious when riding again, should mention that as well. Write down when each symptom started.

Drivers have their own considerations

Rideshare and delivery drivers depend on driving for their income, which creates pressure to get back on the road quickly. Driving with untreated concussion symptoms, such as slowed reactions, visual problems, or poor concentration, can be risky. Drivers should discuss return to driving with their treating provider and be honest about their symptoms.

How Braintree fits in

If symptoms continue, the treating provider can refer for standardized testing at their office. A physician reviews the results and sends a report to the provider. Insurance and coverage questions in rideshare crashes can be complicated. Braintree doesn't advise on them. Patients should consult their insurer or attorney. We diagnose. You treat.

Go to the ER for red flags

A worsening headache, repeated vomiting, seizures, weakness, slurred speech, unusual drowsiness, or confusion means emergency care now. Call 911.

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