Our roads are becoming more crowded with cars with each passing year. Daily gridlock is now just a fact of life for most commuters. Government bodies and private companies are looking for innovative solutions, including Elon Musk with his cleverly titled ‘Boring Company’. But for right now one of the only ways to mitigate the commuter crisis is encouraging more people to use public transport.
What you probably didn’t realize is that there are over 14,000 bus crashes that result in injury almost every single year. Nobody who travels on a bus ever thinks they could come to any harm because of the sheer size of the vehicle. But the truth is that the same injuries apply to bus crashes as apply to any other type of vehicular accident.
What is also true is that bus companies have a duty of care to their passengers, who are also their customers, which means they need to be able to get you from point A to point B safely.
The bigger issue is that although some public transport companies provide their passengers with safety restraints, they are rarely used. So in the event of a bus accident, you are far more likely to suffer some form of soft tissue or more serious injury than you would have in a car because you would have been wearing a seatbelt or been protected by an airbag.
Establishing Liability
If you have been injured as a passenger on a bus the first thing you need to do is establish who is liable for your injury.
Was it the fault of the driver themselves? Or was the bus hit by another vehicle, thus causing the accident. Or perhaps your injury came about as a result of negligence both on the part of the bus driver and the driver of another vehicle.
If your injury was caused by the negligence of the bus driver themselves you have the choice of suing the driver\’s insurance company, or the bus company itself.
Establishing liability in the situation will require ascertaining whether or not the bus driver was operating a vehicle while fatigued, when not trained properly to do so, while under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, if the vehicle was not properly maintained, or that the bus was carrying more passengers than it was safely rated for.
You do also have the option of pursuing a personal injury claim against any other person who caused your injury by crashing into the bus with their vehicle. Obviously you can only pursue such claims if the negligent driver remained at the scene of the accident.
Government Owned Vehicle
Pursuing personal injury claims against private companies or individuals is usually quite straightforward. Your problems may, however, start if the bus you were travelling in is owned by a government body e.g. a school bus.
You do still have legal recourse to claim compensation for personal injury in these situations, but there is more paperwork involved. You must first start with what\’s called a ‘Notice of Claim’, which basically tells the government body that you intend to sue them for damages caused to you while in a vehicle owned by them.
Your ‘Notice of Claim’ must include specific details as to the time, place and circumstances surrounding your claim, and also a description of your injuries or any property damage which occurred because of the accident.
You must file your notice of claim within six months of the accident for it to be acknowledged and for you to have any hope of claiming compensation for injuries suffered.
What Damages Can I Claim For?
The damages you can claim for when involved in a bus accident are the exact same as those you can claim for in any normal motor vehicle accident. You are allowed to claim for medical expenses, loss of earnings, pain and suffering, future medical expenses, etc.
Just be aware that to pursue a claim against a bus company, who are referred to as common carriers, can require a thorough investigation of the circumstances around the accident for your claim to be successful.
That\’s why it makes a much sense to engage the services of a personal injury attorney with demonstrable experience in bus accident claims.