September 2, 2019

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has decided that an Uber driver is not entitled to insurance coverage for injuries that she suffered in a car accident that occurred after she dropped off a passenger. The case is Genzer v. James River Insurance Co., No. 18-6105, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 24732 (10^th Cir. Aug. 20, 2019).

Bonnie Genzer, while acting as an Uber driver, accepted a fare through UberPartner, Uber's smartphone app for drivers, to transport a passenger about 139 miles from Oklahoma City to Woodward Oklahoma. After dropping off her passenger in Woodward, she began heading back to Oklahoma City. On the trip home Genzer was injured when an oncoming semi ejected a semicircular metal object that crashed through the windshield and hit her in the face. The driver of the trailer was not identified. She submitted a claim for uninsured motorist, medical, rental car, and collision coverage to James River Insurance Company (James River).