California’s SB 371 changes one part of rideshare insurance, not the whole insurance bill. The enacted law lowers the required uninsured- and underinsured-motorist coverage during a passenger’s ride from $1 million to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. It makes the transportation network company responsible for that coverage.
The separate $1 million primary liability requirement from ride acceptance through trip completion remains. Saying California cut rideshare insurance by 95% confuses one coverage limit with total premiums. It also hides the tradeoff: a passenger injured by an uninsured or underinsured driver has a lower required coverage limit.
A saving is not yet a fare cut
Uber and Lyft sponsored the bill, and Senator Cabaldon’s signing statement framed it as an affordability measure. Lower required coverage may reduce premiums, but the statute does not set ride prices or prove that savings reached drivers and riders. Its intent section calls for reinvestment; it does not specify a per-ride pass-through.
The law instead creates a way to check one outcome. It directs the California Public Utilities Commission to report aggregate average TNC fares for the second half of 2025 and both halves of 2026 in its February 2027 annual report. The commission and Department of Insurance must also study whether the revised coverage matches the risk, with findings due by the end of 2030.
That is a useful test. Compare fares before and after the change, then account for fuel, demand, wages, and platform pricing. Even that comparison will not isolate the insurance effect perfectly. A press release promising cheaper rides is a forecast, not a measured result.
The labor deal is separate
SB 371 became operative only because AB 1340 was enacted. That companion law gives covered drivers a path to organize and bargain. SB 371 itself does not certify a union or guarantee higher pay. The two bills reflect a political bargain: platforms sought insurance relief while labor secured bargaining rights.
I would watch two numbers: the actual change in premiums per trip and the fare series the state publishes. If neither moves for riders, the main near-term beneficiary was the platform’s cost line. If drivers win better terms through bargaining, that outcome belongs to AB 1340’s process, not to an automatic dividend from this insurance bill.