You may get compensation for any damages you suffer during a bus accident, including medical costs, pain and suffering, lost income, and the replacement of damaged property. What type of compensation can I get for a bus accident? Your financial recovery should reflect the full cost of your accident. A lawyer will ensure that their settlement demands are equal to or surpass the cost of your damages.
Securing fair compensation for a bus accident can be a challenge. Insurance companies and anyone you sue may not make it easy to secure the money you are entitled to. This is why you should allow an attorney to fight for you—they’ve represented other bus accident survivors and know the path to success.
Compensation to Pursue After a Bus Accident
Find a bus accident lawyer as soon as possible. They will personally evaluate your damages and provide a more accurate accounting of the compensation you deserve. This kind of personalized attention is one of several benefits that come from speaking with an experienced attorney.
For now, know that bus accident victims may deserve compensation for:
- Healthcare expenses: Bus accident victims can suffer injuries to virtually any body part, with the head, face, and spine being particularly vulnerable during a traffic collision. To be safe, you should get an extensive evaluation after the collision. Your lawyer will worry about securing compensation for that care—you need to prioritize your immediate and long-term health.
- Pain and suffering: Medical costs will not measure the full extent of your losses. Every traffic accident comes with a non-economic cost. Your pain and suffering may include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), emotional anguish, psychological distress, anxiety, and physical pain—just a short list of the many types of pain and suffering you might face.
- Damaged property: Your attorney will seek money to repair or replace any of your property, such as clothing or electronics, damaged during the bus accident.
- Professional damages: Bus accidents can cause injuries, which can cause the accident victim to miss work, reduce their hours, and perhaps even pause their career indefinitely. Your lawyer will account for damages such as lost income, diminished earning capacity, and lost benefits when forming their financial demands.
- Mental health services: You will decide whether you want to seek counseling, try medication, or take other measures to overcome any pain and suffering caused by the bus accident. If you seek these or other forms of treatment, your lawyer will seek compensation to pay for them.
Outcomes like disabling injuries and wrongful deaths can add to the cost of a bus accident—these are tragic consequences that no victim deserves. Whether you’re on your way to recovery or are permanently affected by the effects of the accident, you deserve fair compensation.
Why Buses Can Cause Immense Devastation for Accident Victims
You would be well-served to hire a lawyer after any traffic accident. For a few reasons, you might be particularly receptive to legal services after a bus collision. These accidents can be uniquely harmful to victims because:
Buses Rank Among the Heaviest Vehicles on the Road
Motor vehicles can range from a few thousand pounds up to 80,000. The heavier the vehicle, the more dangerous it can be during an accident—though many other variables can determine the severity of a collision.
Buses generally weigh more than 33,000 pounds. If such a heavy object hit a vehicle you were in, you likely absorbed substantial force. There is a significant chance you suffered both physical injury and psychological and emotional harm as a result of the wreck.
Buses Lack the Safety Features of Passenger Vehicles
If you were on a bus during the accident, you may not have had the protective benefit of:
- A seatbelt
- Airbags
- Headrest
- Modern seating
- Other safety features generally found in passenger vehicles
Those on a bus at the time of a collision may be more likely to be ejected from their side, hit their head, and suffer serious injuries because of the noted lack of safety features on many buses.
Bus Riders Have Little Ability to Avoid an Accident (or Protect Themselves)
When someone is driving a motor vehicle, they have some degree of control. The driver might brake, accelerate, swerve, or engage in other measures to try and avoid an accident. When you’re on a bus, you are at the mercy of others.
To be clear: even those driving their own vehicle can be seriously injured in a bus accident, but the lack of control is one more reason why bus riders may be at great risk during a crash.
You may have serious, expensive injuries. Your psychological and emotional hardship will only add to the weight of your accident. Spend your time resting, seeing your doctors, and recovering from your trauma. Let an attorney pursue the compensation you deserve.
Your Lawyer Will Figure Out Who Should Pay for Your Damages (It May Be the Bus Company)
Knowing that bus accidents can be expensive for survivors, you should take no chances when it comes to your case. Let a professional handle it. Your lawyer will perform a range of critical case-related duties for you, and establishing fault and liability for the crash will be among them.
Those who may owe you compensation for your accident-related damages include:
A Private Company
Many buses are privately owned, and this may include:
- Tour buses
- Greyhound buses
- Shuttle buses
- Buses for transporting residents of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities
- Prisoner transport vehicles
The legal doctrine of strict liability means that vehicle owners are often liable for accidents involving their property. Private bus owners may also contribute to an accident by hiring unfit drivers, failing to service vehicles, and engaging in other types of negligence. In either case, the bus owner may be liable for your damages.
Public Authorities
A public authority, such as a state, county, or city government, may be liable when one of their buses is involved in a collision. School buses and public transit are two specific types of multi-passenger vehicles that may be publicly owned.
A Bus Manufacturer
If any bus-related defect contributed to your accident, the bus or defective component manufacturer may owe you compensation for damages. If defects in another motor vehicle caused the collision, that vehicle manufacturer may be liable.
The Bus Driver
Bus drivers may be professionals, but they’re not perfect. In some cases, they can be utterly reckless. The driver of the bus involved in your accident may be liable for:
- Speeding
- Texting while driving
- Engaging in conversation with passengers while driving
- Tailgating
- Failing to yield to traffic, pedestrians, or traffic signals
- Engaging in any other careless or reckless behavior that led to your accident
A bus driver might also be liable if they ignored signs that the bus was defective. Operating a bus comes with immense responsibility, including the duty to exercise the utmost caution. If a bus driver did not live up to this duty, they may be personally liable for your accident-related damages.
Another Motorist
If a motorist other than a bus driver caused the accident, that motorist is likely liable for your damages.
Insurance Companies Are Typically Involved in Bus Accident Cases. Allow a Lawyer to Deal with Them.
In most bus accident cases, insurance companies will be responsible for paying someone. Bus drivers, bus companies, and other motorists should all have insurance. This means you will likely have to deal with insurance companies in some capacity and may depend on one or more insurers for compensation.
It’s best to have a bus accident attorney handle insurance representatives for you because:
- Insurers have an incentive to underpay: Insurance companies want to make as much money as possible. This means that insurance representatives have reason to fight when it comes time to pay bus accident victims and other claimants. This is the reality through which you should view your claim. Allow an attorney to protect and fight for you.
- Bad faith happens: Tactics insurance companies use against claimants include deception about policies, claim denials, misrepresentation of the claimant’s statements, and pressuring the claimant to make a statement while they’re in a compromised state of mind. Having a lawyer represent you will prevent these bad-faith tactics from working against you.
- You might face pressure to accept a lowball settlement: Many bus accident survivors are overwhelmed by the financial pressure the collision creates. Insurance companies may take advantage of this vulnerability by offering a lowball settlement. Once a claimant signs such an agreement, they cannot typically pursue more compensation—and many mightily regret accepting the quick, lowball offer.
- Your lawyer can sue an insurance company for you: Insurance companies know that if they act in bad faith and don’t relent, they may face a lawsuit. This possibility is far more likely if the claimant has a lawyer’s representation. This way, having a bus accident attorney may deter insurance companies from mistreating you.
There may be a few reasons to sue an insurance company or those directly responsible for a bus accident. Bad faith by insurers is one of those reasons. If you feel that insurance companies are not honoring their contracts—or you have other reasons to take legal action—your lawyer will file suit for you.
Determining Liability Is the First Step. Obtaining the Money You Deserve Will Be Next for Your Attorney.
An attorney’s role does not stop with determining liability or dealing with insurance companies. Once your lawyer has spoken with you about the accident, they will earnings the fight for the compensation you deserve. This fight may require your lawyer to:
Pry Evidence from Liable Parties
You may choose to sue a bus company. That bus company may have footage from an on-vehicle camera (an increasingly common feature of buses), records indicating the bus driver was unfit, or other evidence that works in your favor.
Your attorney may need to pry this evidence from liable parties using a legal measure called a letter of spoliation. This letter will require liable parties to preserve all accident-related evidence your lawyer can gather for your case.
Secure Any Other Evidence Proving Fault for the Bus Crash
Some evidence may be up for the taking but may not be available much longer. Examples of this evidence may include:
- Statements from witnesses on the bus, bystanders, and others with a useful account of the collision
- Expert testimony about why the collision happened and who was responsible for the crash
- Photographs of the collision scene
- Video from security cameras, red light cameras, bystanders’ recording devices, and other sources
- A police report detailing the collision
Lawyers sometimes pay experts to reconstruct accidents. Trust your bus accident attorney to create a compelling array of evidence that shows who is responsible for your injuries, financial losses, and pain and suffering.
Secure Medical Records and Other Proof of Your Damages
Proving the cost of your case requires proving each damage. Your attorney may show the harm you’ve suffered by:
- Acquiring images of injuries, doctors’ notes, and bills from your medical providers
- Having experts value your financial losses, diagnose your pain and suffering, and substantiate your doctors’ diagnoses of physical injuries
- Securing financial records that indicate you’ve lost income because of the bus crash
Bus accident lawyers must prove their client’s damages in each case they lead. This is a critically important practice your lawyer will be well-versed in.
Negotiate with Insurers (and Possibly Civil Defense Attorneys)
Insurance companies deserve a chance to pay you. Your lawyer will give them that chance by presenting your settlement demands. Even if the insurance company does not immediately honor those demands, negotiations can lead to a fair settlement for you.
Take Your Case to the Courtroom
Your attorney will be responsible for any lawsuit and trial you decide to pursue. Attorneys often embrace the high stakes that come with a court case, and yours will be ready to perform on your behalf.
Don’t Stress, Bus Accident Survivors. Hire a Lawyer Today
You can hire a bus accident lawyer at no upfront cost. Your attorney will have to secure compensation for you to receive a fee. This means no risk for you and every reason for your lawyer to fight aggressively for your financial recovery.
Call a bus accident lawyer to ensure you get the compensation you deserve.