In this episode of This Week in Rideshare, host Jared Hoffa and LegalRideshare co-founder Bryant Greening are joined by a special guest: Torsten, aka "The Rideshare Professor" (@AskTorsten). Together, they dive into the critical mistakes drivers make immediately after an accident and how to avoid them.
The trio discusses the reality of road safety for gig workers, emphasizing that no matter how good a driver you are, you cannot control the negligence of others. Torsten shares insights from his community of drivers, while Bryant explains the legal pitfalls of "trying to be a hero" and not seeking medical attention. They also touch on the importance of proper insurance, warning drivers about new platforms that may leave them liable.
Key Takeaways:
- The "I'm Fine" Mistake: Adrenaline often masks injuries. Failing to see a doctor immediately can ruin your health and your potential injury claim.
- Take Control of the Scene: As a business owner, you must lead the situation. Check on passengers, call 911, and document everything. This prevents passengers from changing the narrative later.
- Dashcams are Non-Negotiable: A $200 dashcam can save you from thousands in liability. It is your only unbiased witness in a "he said, she said" situation.
- The Insurance Trap: Torsten warns about new rideshare startups (like Empower and Fare Co-op) that may not have adequate insurance, leaving drivers exposed to massive financial risk.
Video Transcript
(00:00) Jared: Ladies and gentlemen, drivers, gig workers, and everyone in between, welcome to This Week in Rideshare podcast. I am your host Jared Hoffa. It is Friday, January 23rd, and this week we are talking accidents, injuries, passengers, and robotaxis. And as always, LegalRideshare breaks it down.
And from LegalRideshare, I'm joined by the co-founder and lead attorney Bryant Greening and special guest today, Torsten, the Rideshare Professor, joining in to help us out with these topics. Gentlemen, happy Friday.
(00:39) Bryant Greening: Happy Friday. You know, we just talked before we started recording this—we got to start doing this more often. There's so much to talk about all the time.
(00:48) Torsten: You know, Bryant, I couldn't agree more with you on that subject. As I was saying to Bryant—sorry to jump in there—but you know, it's changing so fast, the industry right now, and there are so many topics. So by all means, let's make this a monthly or two-monthly thing. We have a lot to cover. And you know, your channel is great; it informs the drivers when it comes to the legal side, and then I talk a lot about the news. So I'm all for that.
(01:20) Jared: Excellent. And actually, this is a good segue. I know a lot of people know who you are, but I think it's great in the beginning of these just to refresh everyone on Torsten: what you do, who you help, and how the channels work. So if you don't mind just kind of introducing yourself again.
(01:37) Torsten: So the channel is called Rideshare Professor. I've been in the social media field for many, many years and have built a good following, being one of the largest recruiters for Uber and Lyft back in the day. And today I work more closely with law firms, obviously covering your arena—accidents—but also wage issues, a lot of sexual abuse cases right now. So it's an informative channel; it's a business channel. I run a big fleet of cars, so what I try to teach the drivers is how to climb this ladder. If they're frustrated with that 70/30 split—70% for Uber and Lyft and 30% for them—it might be time to get out and actually fly solo and start your own company.
(04:04) Bryant Greening: For those of you who don't know who I am, I am Bryant Greening. I am the head attorney and co-founder of LegalRideshare. We are a law firm that helps drivers, passengers, anybody who's injured in a car accident related to Uber, Lyft, or any other gig activity. So we help people who are injured collect things like medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering. We help put money in your pocket from the insurance companies to compensate you for those things.
(04:38) Jared: Excellent. So we're going to get started here on our first topic. The first thing here out of the gate is: What are some of the most basic rideshare accidents? Bryant, I'll start with you.
(04:53) Bryant Greening: Yeah, so I mean, rideshare accidents in a lot of ways are like car accidents. They happen in a variety of ways: rear-ends, somebody running a red light, disregarding the right of way. We see everything. But at the end of the day, what we're concerned about is: who caused the accident? Who was injured? And how can we make these injured persons whole? And what's crazy is it's not all car accidents. When you're in the rideshare world, we handle dog bites, we handle slips and falls.
(06:27) Jared: And Torsten, I know a lot of people have reached out to you about accidents as well.
(06:37) Torsten: Yeah, absolutely. If you think that you are immune from accidents and this is never going to affect you... it can happen tomorrow morning. The bottom line is, when you're out there and we are being pushed as drivers more and more than ever before, fatigue is real. You see more and more people fall asleep behind the wheel. You drive around, you see people texting. Take a trip as a passenger... quickly you will see that the driving behavior is not the same. Some love speeding, some love tailgating. I've seen people text while I'm in the back. And that's your life on the line.
(11:03) Bryant Greening: We tell people that preparation is the key... Dash cameras are of the utmost importance. That's going to be the evidence in your insurance claim. If both drivers say they had the green light, the dash camera is not going to lie. And the other thing is just knowing the steps to take after a crash. We have a driver checklist that we encourage drivers to download... "Okay, I'm going to call the cops... I'm going to check on my passenger... I'm going to take photos of the scene."
(12:50) Torsten: It pays to spend $200 or more on a good dash cam. When things go south, this thing's going to save the day. It'll save you from deactivation, it'll save you if somebody hits your car in a hit-and-run. Also, drivers need to take a break. You need to go over your car regularly—tire pressure, ball joints. It may cost you a little bit more per year, but that could be the difference between life and death.
(26:14) Torsten: There's another topic I really want to touch on briefly, and that is the insurance. There are some companies—for example, one in October 2025 called Empower—they classified themselves as a software company and said, "We don't need the insurance." Drivers are trusting a CEO of a company that is facing $10 million in fines. I helped bring thousands of drivers into Fare Co-op, only to find out two weeks ago the insurance had lapsed in July. So there were drivers on the road for 90 days under a suspended license because the insurance wasn't paid.
(29:56) Bryant Greening: I could not agree more. If you don't have the rideshare endorsement, you're not adequately protected, period.
(32:11) Bryant Greening: Before we head into the weekend, I always remind everybody to contact LegalRideshare immediately if anything happens where you're injured on the roadway. Time is of the essence on these cases. Do not wait to call us. Consultations are always free. It's better to call sooner and get that solid foundation rather than later and find out that you fell through a trap door and messed up your case.
Bryant Greening is the co-founder and managing partner of LegalRideshare LLC, the first law firm in the United States focused on Uber, Lyft and other app-based accident and injury claims.