Emery Ledger

When new technology transforms our lives, it can be difficult to remember what life was like before those technologies existed. For example, it was only 1989 when the first Internet service providers offered the public Internet access for a fixed monthly fee. Today, most homes have rapid Internet download speeds, Netflix access and similar technologies that are taken for granted.…

For most drivers, it likely comes as little surprise that traffic congestion is a frequent contributing cause of car accidents. Now, to be sure, traffic is not nearly as dangerous to public safety as drunk or distracted driving, but this does not mean traffic congestion is a negligible safety risk. Far from it, in fact. Today, there are well over…

It is no great surprise that, in many respects, ride-sharing has transformed how millions of Americans travel. The fact that millions of Americans depend on ride-sharing for transportation is reinforced by Uber's $72 billion valuation in early 2018. And, in the city of San Francisco and surrounding Bay Area alone, Uber drivers made more than $1.07 billion in 2017. To…

In March of 2018, the first fatal accident involving a self-driving car occurred in Tempe, Arizona. The accident involved an Uber self-driving vehicle, and shortly thereafter, the leading ride-sharing company took its self-driving vehicles off the road. Now, approximately four months after that fatal incident, Uber is returning its self-driving cars to public roads. However, there are notable changes meant to…

Time (and time worked) is money for independent contractors such as Uber and Lyft drivers. The more time that is spent on the road, naturally, the more money an Uber or Lyft driver can make in a day of work. As work hours and a long workday accrue, however, the risk of drowsy driving and its inherent dangers increase as well.…

As you might imagine, the legal facts of an Uber accident raise different questions and complexities compared to a more typical auto accident. As such, it is generally a good idea to choose an attorney who has experience representing injured victims of Uber accidents. However, choosing an attorney who has already represented past Uber accident victims is only one of several important…

Victims of car accidents can have their lives turned upside down in an instant, and all too often, acts of negligence or legal wrongdoing are a cause of the victim's injuries. In terms of rideshare accidents, the issue of background checks is one that arises frequently when discussing the harms riders can face. This is true whether the harms are…

In recent months, accidents involving self-driving cars have received plenty of attention and subsequent public outcry. In some respects, this outcry was inevitable following the first self-driving car death in March of 2018. While these dangerous and sometimes deadly accidents are all awful in their own way, the legal liability of self-driving car accidents may soon become a particularly troublesome…

While some may see self-driving cars as both the inevitable future and a necessary innovation for safer roads, it is clear that these ambitions have yet to be realized. Uber, for example, has dealt with blowback from the first self-driving car death involving an autonomous vehicle in March of 2018, and a Tesla driver passed away relying on a self-driving…

It goes without saying that drinking and driving in any amount is generally a bad idea for ridesharing drivers who wish to remain in good standing as an independent contractor for Uber or Lyft. And, while these companies do have strict policies against driving under the influence — Uber permanently deactivates the account of any driver who is caught driving under the…