Bus Accidents

Bus accidents kill over a hundred people every year. Approximately four to eleven children are killed annually. Bus accidents, like truck accidents, can cause enormous damage. Much of the harm occurs to those outside the bus because the average car is demolished by the impact. A bus on pedestrian accident is likely to cause considerable harm or death. Passengers in buses suffer injury if the bus collides with a large, solid object, or if it swerves or stops abruptly.

The experienced Oakland bus accident team at Spencer Young Law holds private and government bus operators accountable. When injuries occur, someone needs to make it right. Unfortunately, we have all, to some extent, outsourced our duty to make up for harm to insurance companies. This turns a tragedy into another unpleasant event: a lawsuit over who is going to pay. We enjoy this fight because we get to help families heal and rebuild by holding the guilty party accountable. If you or someone you know has been in a bus accident, call now for free consultation.

There are different types of bus services which give rise to different types of bus lawsuits in the event of an accident. Urban or suburban bus transport systems are the most common type of bus used to move people along regularly scheduled routes and stopping at scheduled local stops. Express bus services, also known as commuter buses, tend to run faster than normal urban buses between two or more points of interest. Long distance coach services are often intercity or interstate. Finally, there are specialist bus services, such as school buses and airport transport buses, that focus on moving people along more specialized routes.

In some cases, there may be multiple responsible parties for a bus accident. A bus company will almost always be liable for the injuries caused by its drivers. A local government entity will also likely be accountable for harm caused by its driver’s negligence. Sometimes, the driver him or herself, or even the occupants, may be personally liable. The following examples illustrate this:

Example 1: Jordan is driving his daughter Denise to school before going to work in Oakland, California. A school bus is travelling down a crossroad a half mile in front of them. Some kids start yelling and throwing balls of paper at the bus driver. The bus driver gets distracted and collides with Jordan’s car injuring him and his daughter. Jordan and Denise have six months to file a claim against the appropriate government entity for the school bus driver’s negligence. If they do not file a claim form within six months, their bus accident lawsuit may be dismissed for not complying with the California Tort Claims Act. If Jordan’s attorney finds evidence that the children were acting negligently inside the bus, and it partially caused the accident, the parents of the children may also be held liable for a portion of fault.

Example 2: Byron is a bus driver. He is also an alcoholic. Byron drives for Greyhound, a large private bus company. Byron has a drink one evening on his route from Reno to San Francisco after losing money at the casinos. As he approaches the Bay Bridge, Byron collides with a car in front of him, causing a multi-vehicle accident with passengers in each car. The families of the different injured parties have two years to file a lawsuit against Greyhound because it’s a private company. The families also have two years to file a suit against Byron personally because he was drinking in violation of Greyhound’s company policies.

Example 3: Casey, an AC Transit driver, is driving from Hayward to Oakland. Scooter, a Hayward bus driver, is making his rounds picking up kids. Casey and Scooter both negligently collide into one another while pretending to ram one another off the road. The occupants of both buses have claims against both the AC Transit and the school bus operators. Casey and Scooter may also be personally liable for acting recklessly.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a bus accident, trust an Oakland bus accident attorney at Spencer Young Law to listen, learn, lead and win for you. If you are an attorney doing research on possible referral partners, please call now. We pay referral fees in accordance with California State Bar guidelines.