Kelly Bensimon hospitalized after serious Uber crash in Sarasota

Kelly Bensimon was hospitalized after a head-on Uber crash in Sarasota that she described as terrifying, saying she was “lucky to have walked away alive.” The former “Real Housewives of New York” star, 58, said she briefly lost consciousness in the wreck and suffered injuries to her head and right arm.

The collision also involved celebrity chef Andrew Molen, who was riding in the same Uber and was recovering after the crash. The Uber driver made a left onto busy Tamiami Trail before another vehicle struck the ride head-on, a detail that puts the incident in the same category of serious roadway crashes that can leave passengers with injuries even when they were not behind the wheel.

For Miami-Dade riders, the Sarasota crash is a reminder that the first steps after an Uber wreck matter as much as the police report. Uber tells riders involved in a crash to call 911 if anyone is hurt, report the crash in the app, and collect contact information at the scene. In any serious injury case, that means preserving the driver’s name, the other vehicle’s information, the time and place of the crash, and photos of the cars, road, and visible injuries.

Florida passengers also need to think about liability early. A head-on crash like the one in Sarasota can pull in more than one insurance file, including the Uber trip, the other driver, and any claim tied to the injured passenger’s medical treatment. Uber says it maintains commercial auto insurance on behalf of drivers, and some Florida injury lawyers advise passengers not to give a recorded statement to an insurer before understanding the claim. When pain, hospitalization, or loss of consciousness is involved, the medical record becomes as important as the crash scene itself.

That is especially true for South Florida riders who use Uber to move between Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach counties every day. If a crash happens, keep the app record, emergency call details, hospital paperwork, witness names, and any photos taken before the cars are moved. In a serious rideshare wreck, those records can determine how quickly a passenger gets a claim moving and whether the injury trail is complete from the start.