By Claude Brodesser-Akner | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

During the three-year struggle between the Legislature and ride-share companies over consumer protections, Uber threatened to leave New Jersey. Fearing Uber would exit just as it did in Austin, Texas, lawmakers made concessions and a deal was struck. And on Feb. 10, Gov. Chris Christie signed into law compromise licensing legislation embraced by both Uber and Lyft.

Now that they're here to stay, here's what you need to know before you hail your next ride.

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1. Your Uber and Lyft driver will get background checks, but won't be fingerprinted.

The new legislation requires that Uber and Lyft drivers (or any ride-share driver) be banned from employment by if they had been convicted of homicide, sexual assault, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, reckless driving and possession or sale of a controlled dangerous substance.

It stops short of requiring they be fingerprinted for a background check, or even that they be interviewed in-person for the job.

An Uber spokesman, Craig Ewer, stressed that "our third-party background check process requires prospective drivers to submit not just their name, but also their Social Security number, driver's license, and insurance information, all of which are cross-checked against each other to ensure we have the right person."

However, Richard Frankel, who last year retired as as the special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark bureau, said fingerprinting was a "more exact" method of checking if someone has a criminal past.

"There’s no way to misspell a fingerprint," Frankel said. " There’s a much more significant failure with name checks."

Uber and Lyft have accepted fingerprinting is New York City, where the companies operate as hired car ventures, since ride-hailing services are illegal, and are regulated under the same laws as taxis and limousines by the city's taxi and limousine commission.

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2. You're insured in an accident, even if your Uber or Lyft driver isn't

Under the new ride-share law, passengers injured in an accident while being transported by a ride-sharing company will now have medical coverage -- through either the driver, the company, or both -- that covers $1.5 million in medical bills.

That means that even if the driver's policy has lapsed, the ride-share company is on the hook itself. That's welcome news now that many auto insurance companies have made clear that driver's personal policies don't cover ride-hailing accidents.

The new coverage requirement brings ride-share companies on par with limousines in New Jersey, and actually provides better minimum insurance coverage for passengers than taxis. Taxis need only carry a minimum of $15,000 worth of liability coverage per person, and are capped at $30,000 of liability insurance per incident, according to the state's Motor Vehicle Commission regulations.

And it also eliminates confusion about who will bear the ultimately responsibility for your medical bills. In the past, the law's primary sponsor, Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), said that ride-share passengers could find their claims ping-ponged from their own insurance company, to the driver's to the ride-share companies. Now, the law codifies the insurance level that Uber already maintained before the legislation passed -- $1.5 million on all trips -- will kick in should a ride-share driver be uninsured or under-insured.

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3. Ride-share companies are now protected from extra taxes by N.J. cities or towns

In addition to establishing a single, state-wide system of regulations, the new law shields Uber and Lyft from municipalities levying extra fees on the ride-share companies.

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4. Uber and Lyft get to keep their data about you secret from the public, but not the state

Under the new law, Uber and Lyft have entered into a "memorandum of understanding" with the state Department of Transportation "concerning the transportation network company's submission of data collected from all prearranged rides" in New Jersey.

But under a provision of the new law, "any data submitted to the Department of Transportation shall be deemed confidential, shall not be disclosed to a third party except with the prior written consent" of Uber or Lyft.

And the new law also states that all their data "shall not be considered a government record" under the state's Open Public Record Act.

That means data about when and where you went with Uber or Lyft and where you were coming from won't be accessible to the public through the state's OPRA law, which is a boon for privacy.

The state might, however, use Uber and Lyft data to better understand traffic patterns and peak congestion times, which might result in help in designing better roads and less traffic.

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5. There's still no way to access ride-share safety records

Because Uber and Lyft drivers operate as independent contractors rather than employees, they can't be offered safety training by their respective ride-share companies. Under federal law, such safety training is a legal indicator that someone is an employee, and Uber and Lyft have vigorously fought against re-classifying their drivers as employees.

Both companies collect safety data and track driver accidents, and Uber has a policy stating that drivers who are consistently in serious accidents while using the service will no longer be allowed to drive for them.

But under the new state law, there's still no way for the public or the media to access ride-share companies safety and accident data or to verify their claims that accident-plagued drivers are barred from further service.

What's more, lawmakers fret that the open-ended nature of the new law's language about what's considered exempt from open public records disclosure laws could make it harder for citizens and the media to access ride-share drivers safety violations, incidents with drivers or data on car crashes.

"We can do better," said Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), who said that concessions were made to get bill passed, and that he was committed to fixing its flaws with subsequent legislation.

A spokesman for Uber said such safety data is considered proprietary, and according to the new state law, it's going to stay that way.