Bus Accident
New York leads the United States in yearly bus accidents, injuries, and deaths. With millions of people in the New York City metropolitan area, there is always a risk of a serious bus accident that causes substantial medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Recent data from the New York Police Department (NYPD) for a month showed 245 bus accidents. Bus mishaps are common in our bustling city, and you shouldn’t have to pay if someone else caused the accident. You have legal options if another party’s negligence caused your bus accident injuries.
However, attempting to take on a bus company and their insurance providers alone is unwise. Bus accident claims are notoriously complex, and only a seasoned bus accident attorney can obtain the most compensation for your losses.
If you have bus accident or auto collision injuries, the Law Offices of Robert E. Brown, P.C., will take on the bus and insurance companies to obtain financial justice for you. New York bus accident Attorney Brown has a perfect 10.0 Avvo ‘Superb’ rating and is a distinguished member of The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100. His experience and demonstrated results in obtaining fair settlements and jury verdicts are well-known throughout New York City. He is also a Harvard graduate and a retired NYPD captain dedicated to every client’s legal rights.
Why Do New York Bus Accidents Happen?
New York bus crashes happen for many reasons, including:
- Bus driver error
- Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Reckless driving
- Distracted driving
- Failure to yield or making illegal turns
- Driver fatigue
- Bus maintenance failures
- Improper hiring practices
If you were hit and injured by a New York bus, an experienced bus accident lawyer at the Law Offices of Robert E. Brown will find who is liable.
Types Of Bus Accidents
Many kinds of bus accidents happen every year in New York City in the following categories:
Bus Occupant Accidents
Riding a New York City bus is usually safe; it’s statistically much safer to be a bus passenger than a car driver in the Big Apple. After all, buses are big and heavy, usually traveling at a low speed, and are driven by professional drivers. However, bus occupants can be seriously injured in the following accidents caused by the bus driver, bus company, another driver, and others:
- Sudden braking can cause whiplash and other injuries
- Injuries from hitting another vehicle
- Slips, trips, and falls inside the bus or when entering or exiting it
- Getting hit by a New York bus at a bus stop
- Assault on a New York bus by a passenger
Some bus accidents involve several negligent parties. For instance, a car driver may cut the bus driver off and cause a rear-end crash but the crash might have been avoided if the bus’s brakes were better maintained. In this accident, the car driver and bus maintenance company could share fault for your injuries.
Non-Bus Occupant Accidents
Car drivers and passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians are often seriously injured in New York bus accidents since the average MTA bus weighs up to 40,000 pounds. Common accidents involving non-bus occupants include:
- Sideswipe accidents when the bus swerves into another lane
- Improper bus merging accidents
- Rear-end crashes in New York traffic
- Bus wide turn crashes
- Intersection crashes caused by failure to yield
- Bike lane crashes
Proving Fault In A New York Bus Accident
When filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit in a bus accident, you should always have a bus accident lawyer representing you. Our tenacious New York bus accident lawyers will guide you through the steps of proving fault by establishing the following legal elements:
- Duty of care: The personal injury law firm will show that the defendant – the driver, employer, manufacturer, etc.) was legally responsible for providing passenger or public safety.
- Breach of duty of care: Your New York bus accident attorney will show that the breach of duty caused the accident.
- Causation: Your attorney will connect the breach of legal duty to the crash. They will prove that the defendant’s negligence directly caused the bus crash.
- Damages: Your attorney will show that you suffered damages caused by the crash.
Our personal injury law firm will carefully navigate your bus accident claim to prove fault, which is vital for obtaining compensation in New York City. A preponderance of evidence must show that another party caused the accident and your subsequent injuries.
Why New York Bus Accident Claims Are Complex
All motor vehicle accidents can cause serious injuries. However, bus accident claims can involve more legal and financial complexities that require the skill of a seasoned New York bus accident lawyer for the following reasons:
- More dire injuries: When a New York City bus slams into a passenger vehicle, the consequences can be horrific. The bus typically weighs at least 10 times more than a passenger vehicle, so the car’s occupants are at a much higher risk of severe injury. Also, bus passengers can suffer major injuries because most city buses don’t have seatbelts and airbags.
- More people in the accident: Most motor vehicle accidents only involve a handful of people. A bus can hold up to 60 people with potentially dozens of injury victims. Insurance policies can be rapidly exhausted, making it more difficult to compensate everyone fully.
- Multiple vehicles in the crash: Bus accidents in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx often involve several vehicles. It can take weeks to sort out how the crash happened and who is to blame.
- More than one liable party: When a bus slams into another vehicle, many parties could be at fault and required to pay injury victims. It’s rare for only the bus driver to be found liable for the crash. Other potentially negligent parties can be the bus company, bus tour company, shuttle company, bus maintenance company, and the bus or parts manufacturer.
- More accident evidence: Bus accidents may require an experienced New York bus accident attorney to work through much more complex evidence than the typical auto accident. For instance, state and federal law limits how long a bus driver can drive and be on duty before taking a break. The bus driver’s service logs may reveal if they were driving more than legally allowed. Many city buses also have video recording equipment that can show how the crash happened. Maintenance logs are also crucial evidence that may reveal the bus company didn’t correctly maintain its buses.
The complexities of a New York bus accident require an experienced bus crash attorney to analyze the case so you can receive the most compensation for your losses. Serious bus accident injury claims can reach seven figures, depending on injuries and other factors.
Is the MTA Responsible For Your Bus Crash Injuries?
New York City bus drivers are employed by the MTA to drive a commercial vehicle. So, if the bus driver was on the job when the bus hit you, the MTA may be vicariously liable.
Vicarious liability means that even though the bus driver caused the crash, their employer could be partially at fault because the driver was working for them when the crash happened.
Suppose a New York MTA bus driver runs a stop sign while carrying passengers and hits you during the evening commute. MTA would be at least partially liable for your losses because the driver was working at the time. Vicarious liability is often helpful for New York bus accident victims because transportation companies must carry commercial insurance policies. They are usually financially able to compensate a seriously injured accident victim.
In other accidents, the bus driver’s employer could be deemed directly liable for crash injuries if it is proven that the company’s negligence directly contributed to the incident. For example, MTA could be at fault for a bus crash if it hired a driver with a poor safety record.
Vicarious and direct liability can both be involved in motor vehicle accidents. With your New York bus accident lawyer’s help, you could file claims for both forms of liability if there is strong evidence that they exist.
Potential Compensation In a New York Bus Accident
When negotiating with the liable party’s insurance company, the Law Offices of Robert E. Brown will fight hard to maximize your bus accident claim compensation. Some of the compensation to which you may be entitled includes:
- Current and future medical expenses: Your attorney will partner with your medical providers to understand your injuries and prognosis. Serious injuries may require months or even years of medical treatment and rehabilitation. These future costs must be carefully accounted for to ensure you have sufficient money for a full recovery.
- Current and future loss of income: Many New York bus crash victims are unable to work after a severe injury. Our attorney will consult occupational and financial experts to determine your lost income. You could be entitled to loss of future income for years if you’re permanently disabled.
- Pain and suffering: Some bus crash damages are hard to document and quantify. An experienced personal injury law firm can accurately estimate your compensation for physical pain and suffering, emotional trauma, disability and disfigurement, and reduced quality of life.
Obtaining fair compensation for your bus accident injuries means retaining an experienced bus accident attorney to represent you. Those who attempt to negotiate a settlement without an attorney’s assistance usually leave considerable money on the table. The insurance company may attempt to lowball you after a bus accident, so always have an experienced attorney review your case.
What About New York School Bus Crashes?
Were you or your child hurt in a New York school bus crash? Having a child hurt in a school bus crash can be a traumatic event. You will need a skilled attorney to maximize your economic and non-economic compensation in a personal injury claim. Unfortunately, the National Safety Council reports that 13,000 Americans were hurt in school bus accidents in 2019 alone.
Filing a New York personal injury lawsuit can help you obtain compensation after a New York school bus crash. When filing your case, our bus accident attorneys will:
- Demonstrate how the liable party – bus driver, school district, employer, etc. – caused the accident that injured you or your child.
- Gather school bus accident evidence, including medical documents, photos and videos of the accident, eyewitness testimony, and police reports to build the case.
- Negotiate with the school bus driver, school district, employer, or insurance company for adequate compensation.
- Present the bus accident claim in court if a fair settlement cannot be reached.
Statute Of Limitations For New York Bus Accident Lawsuits
If you were hurt in a New York bus crash, time is limited to file a personal injury lawsuit. This is due to the statute of limitations. According to New York law, the statute of limitations for a bus crash is three years from the date of the accident. You will likely be barred from financial recovery if you do not file your claim within that time.
Additionally, if your bus accident claim is against a state or local government entity, you must notify the government within 90 days of the accident. It’s essential to speak to New York bus accident lawyers promptly after the accident so there is ample time to take legal action.
Speak To New York Bus Accident Attorneys Today
If you were recently hit by a New York bus, you are probably overwhelmed with medical bills and pain and are unable to work. You don’t have to pay for your injuries and other damages out of pocket. You may be entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit against the liable party.
The Law Offices of Robert E. Brown, P.C., have experienced personal injury attorneys with a 10.0 Avvo ‘Superb’ rating. Contact the Law Offices of Robert E. Brown, P.C., today for a free consultation at (212) 766-9779. A contingency agreement pays for our personal injury law firm’s services, so you do not have to pay any legal expenses if we do not win.
