Somerville Man Paralyzed After Violent Crash Suing Uber For $63 Million
BOSTON (CBS) – An Uber passenger paralyzed in a crash last year is now suing the company hoping his experience will also lead to more oversight of ride-hailing companies.
"It's not in the moment you notice anything, it's a progressive discovery of new battles to come," said 31-year-old Will Good, who has spent the last nine months adjusting to life as a quadriplegic.
In the early morning of April 30, 2021 he remembers the speed his car was traveling.
"We were moving, I was going to get home quick," Good said.
Good was taking an Uber to his Somerville home after coming off a 14-hour shift as a chef at a Boston restaurant. Just blocks from his destination the Uber driver slammed into a parked car on Highland Ave.
Good was thrown against a headrest and broke his neck.
"There was a swerve, an accident and I couldn't move so I thought I was crushed," Good said.
He's now suing Uber in a $63 million lawsuit saying the company doesn't appropriately screen or supervise drivers. In this case, Jonas Yohou, with a lengthy record of moving violations, he says, should never have been behind the wheel in the first place.
"I use the app, I got a ride through Uber. I didn't get a ride through Jonas, I got a ride through Uber," Good said.
The company wouldn't comment on the lawsuit but has maintained the drivers are independent contractors and it can't be held responsible for their actions.
"Uber wants to entice passengers into the car and charge them when they get out of the car, but it doesn't want to take responsibility for the safety of passengers who are in the car," said Good's attorney, Victoria Santoro Mair.
What Will Good wants is accountability, and to use his voice as he struggles each day barely able to move his arms and not his legs.
"Every little thing from getting an eyelash out of my, scratching my ear, little things you take for granted," Good said.
He's hoping for a jury trial to decide his case.