Rural Carpool: What About Insurance?

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What About Insurance?

As you might imagine, as the founder of the online Rural Carpool, I worried about this too. That's why I had insurance and legal professionals explore it closely. They all agree (often with pertinent case law) that because Drivers do not profit in a Rural Carpool trip (only a proportion of the travel costs are defrayed), it is the same as driving a neighbor somewhere, or using a church carpool bulletin board to share a trip to a retreat. Every legal driver's existing auto insurance covers anything that might happen in a cost-shared trip. Online Rural Carpool simply enables local travelers to self-organize and share costs. We're the online church bulletin board.

All that said, modern society and online culture required that, as a condition to sign up for the service, every Member agreed to the following Terms & Conditions/Hold Harmless Agreement below:

Terms & Conditions/Hold Harmless Agreement, between you, the Member User (hereafter, "the User") and mwmwm, inc. and Online Rural Carpool (hereafter, "Rural Carpool")

By becoming a member User of Rural Carpool, the User agrees to hold harmless and indemnify Rural Carpool, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, or expenses arising from or related to the use of Rural Carpool.

The User acknowledges that transportation comes with inherent risks, including but not limited to accidents, property damage, personal injury, and delays, and unexpected travel expenses. The User expressly assumes all such risks and agrees that Rural Carpool shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from the use of Rural Carpool, as a Driver or a Rider.

The User agrees to release, discharge, and waive any and all claims, actions, or causes of action against Rural Carpool arising from or related to any Trip organized upon Rural Carpool's information infrastructure, including but not limited to claims for negligence, breach of contract, or any other theory of liability.

The User agrees to indemnify and hold Rural Carpool harmless against any claims or demands made by any third party, including but not limited to passengers, insurers, or other individuals, arising out of or in connection with the use of Rural Carpool.

This hold harmless agreement shall survive the termination or expiration of the agreement and shall be binding upon the User and their heirs, successors, representatives, and assigns.

If the User acts as a Driver, the User confirms that s/he is legally licensed and legally insured with sufficient coverage for casual passengers, as required by law. The User alone is responsible for choosing Trips to create or to join. The User alone is responsible for any financial exchanges agreed to implicitly or explicitly within the context of Rural Carpool, and agrees they pay nothing to Rural Carpool for any specific Trip. The User alone is responsible for his or her tax liabilities, if any, for any cost-sharing transactions made between Travelers on any Trip they arranged upon the Rural Carpool platform.

By becoming a Member of Rural Carpool, the user acknowledges that they have read, understood, and agree to this Hold Harmless Agreement. The frequent reiteration of this Hold Harmless Agreement in Rural Carpool site pages demonstrates that the User is aware of, and continues to agree to, the Hold Harmless Agreement.