The new ride-sharing insurance laws are important, because typical personal car insurance carriers may choose to deny coverage under a policy if the driver was using his or her personal vehicle for commercial purposes—in other words, to make a profit by transporting passengers for Uber or Lyft. Further, Uber and Lyft characterized their drivers as independent contractors, so that the companies themselves were not responsible for their actions while driving (employers are generally responsible for accidents caused by their employees while on duty, but not for accidents caused by independent contractors). Before the new rules were enacted, the laws governing recovery after an Uber or Lyft accident were unclear, and often resulted in situations where injured parties had no choice but to resort to formal lawsuits to protect their rights.