Vehicle and Driver Requirements for Uber and Lyft in Texas

Texas sets one statewide set of vehicle and driver requirements for Uber and Lyft under the Texas Transportation Network Companies Act, so the same rules on background checks, licensing, and vehicle safety apply no matter which city you’re riding in. Every driver must pass a screening process, and every vehicle must meet baseline requirements before either can accept a ride. Local cities cannot add their own separate rules for driver requirements on top of what the state already requires.

What Driver Requirements Does Texas Law Set for Uber and Lyft?

Texas requires every Uber and Lyft driver to meet the same baseline screening rules under Texas Occupations Code § 2402.107 before a company can let them log in to accept rides, regardless of how many other states that driver has worked in.

Before that first login, the company must confirm a short list of basic qualifications:

• at least 18 years of age;
• a valid driver’s license from any state;
• proof of vehicle registration and financial responsibility;
• a local, state, and national criminal background check; and 
• a review of the driver’s full driving record.

That criminal background check has to pull from more than one database to count under the statute. Texas requires companies to run the search through a multistate, multijurisdiction commercial criminal records locator or a similar nationwide commercial database, and to search the national sex offender public website maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice, rather than relying on a single state’s records alone, no matter how thorough a single-state search might look on paper.

A background check that skips this broader search does not satisfy what the law demands. It also has to be run again every year for as long as the driver stays active, and certain results permanently keep someone off the platform even after months of completed rides.

Texas law blocks a person from driving for Uber or Lyft if the background check or driving record turns up:

• more than three moving violations in the three years before the driving record was pulled;
• a conviction in that same three-year window for reckless driving, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, driving without a valid license, or driving with an invalid license;
• a conviction within the past seven years for DWI, using a motor vehicle to commit a felony, a felony involving property damage, fraud, theft, an act of violence, or an act of terrorism; or
• registration on the national sex offender registry, with no time limit.

These checks don’t happen automatically once someone signs up to drive, and a company that cuts corners rarely advertises that fact to riders. Houston car accident lawyers increasingly see cases where a skipped or outdated background check becomes a central issue only after a driver has already caused a crash.

What Vehicle Requirements Must an Uber or Lyft Car Meet?

Every vehicle used for a ride booked through an app, legally called a “digitally prearranged ride,” has to meet the same baseline requirements under Texas Occupations Code § 2402.111, regardless of whether Uber or Lyft operates the app. That statute ties vehicle eligibility to Chapter 548 of the Texas Transportation Code and adds its own specific requirements on top, and a qualifying car needs:

• compliance with the state inspection requirements that still apply to the vehicle under Chapter 548 of the Texas Transportation Code (since January 1, 2025, that means emissions testing in covered counties such as Harris County, because Texas no longer requires an annual safety inspection for personal vehicles);
• four doors; and
• a maximum passenger capacity of no more than eight people, including the driver.
• compliance with the equipment and safety standards that currently apply to the vehicle under Chapter 548 of the Texas Transportation Code; 
• four operable doors; 
• a maximum passenger capacity of no more than eight people, including the driver; and 
• valid registration and liability coverage on file.

A vehicle that fails one of these standards doesn’t automatically get pulled off the road, since nothing stops a driver from continuing to use it unless someone catches the problem. Whether the resulting crash is a minor parking-lot bump or a serious commercial truck accident, an unsafe or ineligible vehicle raises hard questions about who knew about the problem before the driver logged in.

What Insurance Coverage Applies During an Uber or Lyft Ride?

Coverage depends entirely on what the driver’s app was doing at the moment of the crash, and the dollar amounts change sharply depending on where the driver was in the process of accepting a fare. Chapter 1954 of the Texas Insurance Code, which the Act incorporates, sets two tiers of required coverage, and a third situation falls outside the statute entirely:

• app off, using a personal vehicle with no ride pending, where only the driver’s personal auto policy applies;
• app on with no ride matched, covered by minimum liability limits of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per crash for bodily injury or death, plus $25,000 for property damage; and
• a ride matched, in progress, or a passenger on board, covered by a total aggregate limit of at least $1,000,000 per incident for death, bodily injury, and property damage.

Sorting out which policy actually applies once a crash happens is often the hardest part of an Uber and Lyft accident claim, especially when the driver insists the app was off.

Before you file a claim, keep two things in mind when an insurance company reaches out:

• do not give a recorded statement to an insurance company prior to hiring an attorney, since a car accident can happen during any part of a driver’s shift, whether the driver is waiting for a match or already carrying a passenger; and
• do not hand over a full Social Security number, even if an adjuster asks for one to open a claim.

Our Houston car accident lawyers often spend more time sorting out which policy applies than arguing about who caused the wreck in the first place.

These rules only protect a passenger or another driver when a company actually enforces them and an insurer honors the coverage tied to each period. A pattern of skipped inspections or background checks becomes powerful evidence once a case moves toward litigation, because it shows a company ignored requirements it had every ability to follow.

A settlement sometimes resolves the dispute without a trial or jury, but only once the records are pulled together in one place.

Get Help After an Uber or Lyft Accident Tied to These Rules

A driver who never should have been approved, or a car that never should have qualified as roadworthy, changes the entire direction of a rideshare claim. With billions recovered for injured Texans, our team at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner has built a reputation on tracking down exactly that kind of evidence in cases across the state.

We offer a free consultation to walk through what your ride and insurance records actually show, and our team knows how to press an insurer or a rideshare company to honor the coverage tied to your crash. Call 713-222-7211 or contact us online today to get started on your claim.