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A rider gets into a stranger’s car because an app vouched for the stranger. The vouching is the product. When that fails and a rider is assaulted, the question is not only what the driver did. It is what the company knew, what it screened for, and what it did with complaints it had already received.
Against the driver. The assault itself. Under Section 16.0045 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, a claim arising from conduct violating Penal Code Section 22.011(a)(1) or 22.021(a)(1)(A) carries a five-year limitations period, and thirty years where the survivor was a child.
Against the company. These are negligence claims in their own right rather than claims that the company committed the assault. They generally center on:
Negligent screening and background investigation of the driver.
Negligent retention, where the company had prior complaints about the same driver and kept the driver active.
The adequacy of the safety features the company advertised, and whether they worked as represented.
How the company handled the report after the fact, including whether the driver was deactivated and whether other riders were warned.
Rideshare companies contest whether drivers are employees or independent contractors, and that fight shapes which theories are available. It does not eliminate the direct negligence claims, which are about the company’s own conduct rather than the driver’s.
The other evidence is the ordinary evidence of an assault, and it is time-sensitive in the same way. A sexual assault forensic examination in Texas is provided at no cost to the survivor and does not require a report to law enforcement or a decision to press charges. For an adult who arrives within 120 hours of the assault, or later on a referral, a hospital or clinic that treats sexual assault patients must conduct the examination on the survivor’s consent, and the Attorney General pays for it (Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 56A.303 to 56A.305). Preserving clothing matters. Reporting to law enforcement is a choice, and a civil claim does not depend on it. Choosing not to report does not end a civil case.
Rideshare terms of service typically include an arbitration agreement, and companies routinely try to force these claims out of court. Whether that clause applies to a claim of this kind, and whether it is enforceable against a particular rider, is a live and contested question that depends on the version of the terms in force, the specific claims pleaded, and developments in state and federal law. It is one of the first issues a lawyer should look at, and it is not something a website should promise you the answer to.
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
That is the defining feature of a rideshare case and the reason speed matters.
The trip record: pickup and drop-off points, timestamps, the route actually driven, and any deviation from it. In-app messages between rider and driver. The driver’s history on the platform, including prior complaints from other riders and how each was resolved. Background check records and the vendor who performed them. Deactivation records. GPS telemetry.
None of this is in the rider’s possession. A preservation demand should go to the company early, and a rider who reports through the app should screenshot the report and the confirmation before anything is archived.
Schiffer Law Firm represents riders in civil claims arising from rideshare assaults in Houston and across Texas.
There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Call 713-521-0059.
This page is general information about Texas law, not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Claims against the company are usually framed as negligent hiring, retention, supervision and failure to warn. The driver is one defendant and usually the uncollectible one.
It is a real obstacle and it is addressed on this page rather than ignored. Whether it applies depends on the version of the terms you accepted and the claims pleaded.
Trip data and app records sit on company servers and are subject to retention policies. A preservation letter should go out early.
No. A civil claim does not require a report, an arrest, a charge or a conviction. What a civil claim does need is evidence, and most of it is in the platform’s own records, which are on an automatic timer.
