CommonsCommunities Carpool: What About Insurance?

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What About Insurance?

As you might imagine, as the founder of the online site, I worried about insurance too, especially when friends I talked with insisted on misunderstanding my project as a "rural version of Uber." It is not that, but that's why I had both insurance and legal professionals explore the question closely.

They all agree (often with pertinent case law) that because Drivers do not profit in a Commons Carpool trip (the travel costs are shared by Driver and Passengers), Carpooling 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. The Commons Carpool simply enables local travelers to self-organize and share costs. We're the online church ride board.

All that said, modern society and online culture requires that, as a condition to sign up for the Site, every Member must agree 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., mwmwm, llc., and any Commons website community website (hereafter, "the Commons")

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

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 the Commons shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from the use of the Commons, as a Driver or a Passenger.

The User agrees to release, discharge, and waive any and all claims, actions, or causes of action against the Commons arising from or related to any Trip organized upon the Commons'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 the Commons 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 the Commons.

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 the Commons, and agrees they pay nothing to the Commons 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 the Commons platform.

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