Bus Accidents
You Deserve Just Compensation for Your Bus Accident Injuries
In some ways, busses are accidents waiting to happen. Most don’t even have seatbelts, yet the vehicles and drivers are entrusted with delivering passengers safely to their destinations. The sheer number of passengers in most busses translates into the potential for mass injuries and even fatalities in the event of an accident.
When you think of busses, you probably picture the “big dog” or a yellow school bus. In fact, according to the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, a bus is defined as any motor vehicle designed to carry more than ten people. This encompasses a variety of types of busses, including school busses and commercial interstate transport busses. However, municipal transit busses, airport shuttles, tour busses, and church busses also count.
In 2017, the latest year for which statistics are available, 15,000 bus crashes in the U.S. involved injuries, and 25,000 people were injured in those crashes. In addition, 274 people died as the result of bus accidents. Each of the people injured and each person who died were likely due compensation. It’s a safe bet, though, that many of them weren’t represented by bus accident attorneys and so didn’t get the maximum compensation they deserved.
If you have been injured in a bus accident, Silver Law Firm can help. Whether you were riding in an AC Transit bus, a charter bus, a school bus, a tour bus, or a shuttle bus, our Bay Area bus accident attorneys will determine who is responsible and hold them financially accountable for your injury.
Determining who is responsible can be a complex process, which is why it’s critical to have a Bay Area bus accident attorney at your side. They can review the accident report and conduct their own investigation. Those responsible can include the:
Bus Driver: If the bus driver was impaired – through alcohol, drugs, fatigue, or distracted driving – they may have legal liability for contributing to the crash.
Bus Company: If the company that owns the bus employed an unqualified driver, or was negligent in supervising or training them, they can be held responsible. Similarly, if a governmental entity – such as a school district or transit authority – owns the bus, then they may be partly to blame.
Bus Maintenance Company: If the bus owner contracts with a maintenance company and the bus had unaddressed maintenance issues that contributed to the accident or experienced mechanical failure, then the maintenance company can be liable.
State and Local Governments: If the condition of the road contributed to the accident, then the governmental entity responsible for maintaining the road can be held to account.
Companies that Use Busses: Tour operators, hotels, cruise lines, and car rental companies own and operate busses for their customers. If one of these busses is involved in the crash, then the company that owns and operates the bus may have legal liability.
When you step onto a bus, you put your life into someone else’s hands. If you’re injured, you need help in holding the responsible parties accountable. Silver Law Firm’s seasoned Bay Area bus accident attorneys understand California’s complex bus accident liability laws and will ensure that you receive the compensation you deserve for a complete recovery.
But time is of the essence. You only have two years from the date of the accident to file a claim. Call Silver Law Firm 24/7 for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.