Recovering Damages After A Bus Accidents Depending On The Type Of Bus

Here is a little secret for you – the secret even rookie lawyers do not know about – after a bus accident, your legal strategy to recover compensation depends on the type of the bus you were injured in/by.

“Wait, aren’t they all the same?” you may be wondering. Certainly, they all look very similar – large vehicles with many passenger seats – but the law looks at bus accidents differently depending on the type of a bus that is involved in a crash.

Fact: roughly 11,000 bus accidents occur in Pennsylvania and all across the United States every year, resulting in more than 3,000 injuries and roughly 50 fatalities.

Let’s delve into the topic with the help of our Philadelphia bus accident lawyer from the Dan Doyle Law Group.

City & public transit accidents

City and public transit buses are the most popular and common type of buses in Pennsylvania and all across the U.S., as millions of people resort to this type of transportation to commute to and from work every single day.

Often, city and public transit accidents are caused by the negligence of the bus driver or negligent acts on the part of the bus company, which fails to adequately maintain the bus, hire qualified personnel, and/or enforce hours of service requirements.

Either way, if the bus driver or his/her bus company was negligent and that negligence breached the duty of care owed to you, you may be able to file a personal injury claim not only against the driver or the company, but also the city, county or municipality that operates this particular bus.

That is right, you can receive compensation from Philadelphia or any other city, county or municipality where the accident occurred, explain our best bus accident attorneys in Pennsylvania.

“However, you may end up banging your head against a brick wall, as some cities, state or federal governments impose quite a few legal challenges to prevent victims of bus accidents from bringing a lawsuit against them,” warns our experienced bus accident lawyer in Philadelphia.

In Philadelphia and all across Pennsylvania, for example, you may not be able to bring a lawsuit against the Commonwealth though there are many exceptions to this general rule. If the state government possesses of control a bus, you may be able to sue the city or state government if you were injured during the operation of the vehicle.

Commercial bus accidents

Commercial or private buses are operated by large companies, which the law classifies as common carriers and imposes on them the regulations that are very similar to how taxi cabs are regulated in our country.

Therefore, if you have sustained injuries during the operation of a commercial bus, you may be able to sue the company operating the bus if your Philadelphia bus accident attorney can establish that the common carrier failed to exercise the highest level of care when transporting you and other passengers.

School bus accidents

Fact: roughly 18,000 school children sustain injuries in school bus accidents every year.

School children get injured in school bus accident when the bus collides with another vehicle on the road or is involved in a single-bus accident. Also, it often happens that bus accidents occur when children are boarding or exiting the school bus at a bus stop.

Similar to the city and public transit bus accidents, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the city, municipality or county where the accident occurred but only if that city, municipality or county possesses of controls the school bus. In Pennsylvania, many school buses are owned and operated by private companies, which makes it impossible to sue the federal or state government.

Find out your best legal strategy for recovering compensation depending on your particular circumstances. Contact the Dan Doyle Law Group and get a free consultation today. Call at 215-987-3730 or complete this contact form.