The hard part isn't fault. It's finding the policy.

In an ordinary two-car crash there's one question — who was at fault — and one policy behind each driver. In a for-hire vehicle crash, fault is usually the easy part. The difficult, and far more consequential, question is which insurance policy was in force at the instant of impact.

Rideshare is the clearest illustration. Uber and Lyft drivers pass through distinct coverage states over the course of a shift, and the available limits swing from a personal auto policy's state minimum to a commercial policy of a million dollars — determined entirely by whether the app was off, on and waiting, en route to a pickup, or carrying a passenger. Two crashes with identical facts, ninety seconds apart, can be worth wildly different amounts.

Traditional taxis work differently again. Requirements are set by local regulation rather than by a national company, medallion owners and drivers are frequently separate entities with separate policies, and a driver classified as an independent contractor may or may not pull the company's coverage into the claim. Airport shuttles, hotel vans, black car services, and non-emergency medical transport each have their own structure.

If you were a passenger, there's one piece of good news worth stating plainly: passengers are almost never at fault for anything. Your claim is about locating and reaching the right coverage, not about defending your own conduct.