Lyft
PITTSBURGH – A drowsy Lyft driver smashed into the back of another car during an early morning ride, a recently filed lawsuit says.
Passenger Chanelle Byrd went to court Aug. 13 to sue Tatiana Rivera and Lyft, alleging in her complaint that the company pressures drivers to accept all ride requests no matter their physical state.
The lawsuit, filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, says the accident happened in September 2023 around 6:30 a.m. in Penn Hills.
Byrd said at no time was she warned that Rivera needed a break to rest.
“During the ride, Defendant Rivera fell asleep and crashed into the rear end of a parked gray Chevrolet Equinox,” the lawsuit says. “Defendant Rivera did not appear to use her vehicle’s braking system.”
Bodily injuries are alleged from the crash, as is a concussion and mental issues like post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety. Lyft’s business model of expecting drivers to accept all ride requests or face possible penalties if they don’t left Rivera unwilling to deny the request from Byrd, the suit says.
And though Lyft does have a policy that drivers are required to take breaks, it did not have sufficiently train its drivers on how to do so, the suit says.
“Lyft did not enforce any protocol for drivers to report to Lyft that they were dispatched for a ride during which they believed they could not complete due to significant fatigue, sleepiness, becoming drowsy or otherwise becoming physically unable,” the suit says.
Rivera was cited for careless driving, driving too fast for conditions and operating a vehicle without financial responsibility as required by law, the lawsuit says.
Chad Shannon of Shannon Law Group represents the plaintiff, who seeks damages for physical and emotional pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment life, medical expenses, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation, lost wages and loss of earning capacity.
