This confusion comes just as the demand for volunteer-provided transportation is rapidly increasing.
State legislators and the insurance industry need to get involved to remove barriers to this invaluable form of volunteerism.
We learned that efforts to regulate and insure this industry exacerbated insurance challenges for people who drive as volunteers.
Uber, Lyft, Via) and related terms.
the app is on).
When companies like Uber co-opted the term, confusion ensued among insurance providers.
Nonetheless, customers deal directly with insurance agents, not company CEOs.
Recruitment challenges will continue to exist as long as agents provide inaccurate or ambiguous information to their customers.
But they cannot bear the burden of educating every insurance agent their would-be drivers encounter.
State legislators and the insurance industry need to get involved to remove barriers to this valuable form of volunteerism.
Seven states currently do this and AARPs research found that these laws are effective in protecting volunteer drivers.
