The Unique Challenges Of Bus Accidents

Bus accidents can be catastrophic for everyone involved. While crashes involving multiple passenger vehicles can be serious, they also have a chance of causing minimal property or bodily damage. Buses, on the other hand, are much larger and heavier than passenger vehicles. Any crash involving a bus is more likely to cause serious property damage, severe injuries or fatalities.

If you’ve been injured in a bus accident, you may be wondering what your legal options are going forward. Let us help you through this process. Call Pack Law Group at 540-586-7225 to set up a consultation.

Common Causes Of Bus Accidents

Determining the cause of an accident is part of figuring out who is liable and what type of damages a victim may be able to receive. Crashes involving buses stem from the same few errors or circumstances, such as:

• Driver fatigue: Bus drivers in some municipalities work extremely long hours or put in long shifts on crowded, high-stress roads. These situations can create driver fatigue and make a driver more prone to errors in judgment.
• Negligence: Bus drivers must meet extremely high standards, since they are responsible for the safety and wellbeing of passengers and others on the road. However, they can still make errors in judgment that cause accidents. If a driver does not check before changing lanes, fails to use a turn signal, drives too fast for conditions, or otherwise drives in a negligent manner, they could be directly liable for a victim’s injuries.
• Other drivers’ actions: Other drivers often play a role in bus accidents. Drivers may try to sneak in front of buses because they don’t want to get stuck behind a large, slow vehicle. They may try to turn right on the inside corner of a bus, leading to a crash. They may fly past a school bus stop sign, hitting pedestrians. In many situations, other drivers are partially or fully liable for injuries in an accident.
• Defective bus parts: Often authorities link bus accidents to malfunctioning parts or replacement parts that don’t have approval for that vehicle.
• Improper maintenance: Commercial vehicles should stick to a strict maintenance schedule. If owners and operators do not follow the maintenance schedule or if they choose a repair service that is not qualified, shoddy repairs could be the cause of an accident.

Before you can seek damages for a bus accident, you must be able to prove liability. This doesn’t simply mean who caused the accident. It also means who is financially responsible for the results of that error.

What Is Sovereign Immunity?

One factor that often complicates bus accident cases is sovereign immunity. Sovereign immunity is a principle that protects government entities from lawsuits. This may come into play if the bus that causes your accident is owned by a school district, city government, or other government entity.

However, sovereign immunity is not absolute. There are circumstances in which you can still seek compensation from a government entity if they are liable for an accident. Before you give up, discuss your case with an experienced Virginia bus accident attorney. We can look at the details of your claim and see if there’s a path forward for you.

Pack Law Group Is Here To Help

Bus accidents can cause serious injuries and leave vehicles totaled. You could leave a bus accident with spinal cord damage, a TBI, broken bones, lacerations or infections caused by road burn. The costs of treating these maladies can be extraordinarily high, especially if you have to take time off of work to heal. Without a successful personal injury case, you could be left shouldering these expenses on your own.

If you have been involved in a bus accident, you do not have to go through this alone. Let the team at Pack Law Group step in and fight for you. Whether we settle your case in negotiations or a court battle, we are ready to fight for every penny you deserve. Set up a consultation now by contacting us online or calling us at 540-586-7225.