Atlanta Bus Accident Attorney

Injuries to bus passengers are very common in bus accident cases. This is because, in many circumstances, bus riders do not have a seatbelt or other restraint over them at the time the accident occurs. Therefore, when the bus strikes another vehicle in an accident, or another vehicle collides with the bus, the bus passengers are often jerked around in their seats. They may even strike parts of their bodies on the seatback or window, resulting in serious injuries to the head, neck, or back.

Several types of injuries are especially common to victims of bus accidents. These injuries include soft tissue injuries, broken bones and fractures, head injuries, back and spinal cord injuries, and even death in some cases. These injuries, depending upon their seriousness, can result in a significant amount of medical treatment following the accident.

Medical treatment for these injuries may include any of the following:

• Surgical procedures
• Injections
• Physical or occupational therapy
• Counseling or other types of mental health treatment
• Follow-up appointments
• Consultations with a medical specialist

If you have suffered one or more of these injuries in a bus accident that was caused by a negligent bus driver or other motor vehicle driver, you may file a claim for damages against the bus driver and/or the owner of the bus (such as a school district, municipality, or bus company). An experienced bus accident attorney can help you file your legal claim against the proper defendant(s) in a timely and efficient manner.

When bus accidents occur, several individuals or entities that may bear liability for the crash. The most obvious individual who may share in some or all of the responsibility for the accident is the bus driver.

A bus driver is responsible for the lives of all of the individuals who are on board his or her bus at any given time. Consequently, the driver owes these individuals a very high duty of care to operate the bus in a reasonably careful, safe, and prudent manner at all times that he or she is on the road. When the bus driver fails to act responsibly, such as by speeding, engaging in distracted driving, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or disobeying traffic laws or regulations—and an accident results—then the bus driver can be deemed responsible for the accident.

In addition to the bus driver himself/herself, the bus driver’s employer may be fully or partially responsible for any injuries or damages that occur as a result of the bus accident. In most cases, the bus driver’s employer is also the owner of the bus.

In some cases, depending upon the type of bus that is involved in the accident, the employer may be a school district, a city or municipality, or a private bus company, such as with charter buses. For one or more of these entities to share in the liability, there must be evidence that shows that the bus driver was operating the bus while on the job and while working within the scope of his or her employment.

A bus company, municipality, or other entity may also be held legally responsible for the bus accident if the evidence shows that the bus driver was negligently retained or hired. For example, a bus company could be deemed responsible for an accident if there is evidence that shows that the bus driver had a poor driving record and/or received traffic citations on more than one prior occasion.

In addition to a negligent bus driver or the bus driver’s employer, another motor vehicle driver may be deemed fully or partially responsible for a bus accident. In other words, the bus driver may have been operating the bus in a safe and careful manner at the time the accident occurred.

However, some other motor vehicle drivers may have been solely responsible for the accident. That other motor vehicle driver may have been operating his or her vehicle in a careless or reckless manner, such as by speeding, running a red light or stop sign, or engaging in distracted or intoxicated driving. In any of those instances, the victim or victims of the bus accident may file a claim against the negligent motor vehicle driver for damages stemming from their personal injuries.

An experienced bus accident lawyer will thoroughly investigate the circumstances of your accident and how it occurred. A lawyer will then determine who caused the accident and can file a claim or lawsuit that names all potentially responsible parties as defendants. Your lawyer can then set about pursuing monetary compensation and damages on your behalf.

To recover monetary compensation for the injuries that you suffered in a bus accident, you have the burden of proof. Specifically, the accident victim must demonstrate that the at-fault bus driver or some other individual or entity acted unreasonably under the circumstances. Moreover, the accident victim must show that the at-fault person’s negligent actions or inactions resulted in the accident.

Finally, the accident victim must demonstrate that he or she suffered one or more personal injuries or damages and that these injuries and damages were a direct result of the bus accident. The bus accident does not need to be the one sole cause of the injuries and damages that the accident victim sustained. However, the bus accident must be at least one cause of the injuries and damages that the accident victim suffered.

If you were injured in a bus accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, your first step is to file a claim against all potentially responsible parties and/or their insurance companies. Once a claim is filed, the insurance company will review all of the pertinent documentation, including the police report, medical records, and medical bills.

The insurance company may then place a settlement offer on the case, which the accident victim may choose to accept or not accept. In the event the insurance company is unwilling to offer you a reasonable amount of monetary compensation to settle your case, you then have the option of filing a lawsuit against the negligent bus driver, bus company, or any other individual who may have caused or contributed to the bus accident in which you sustained injuries.

Depending upon the jurisdiction where your bus accident happened, there is a period of time, called a statute of limitations, by which you must file your Atlanta bus accident lawsuit. If you fail to file your lawsuit within that time period, you are essentially waiving your eligibility for the monetary compensation to which you may be entitled. Therefore, you should make sure that you know the deadline for filing a bus accident lawsuit in your jurisdiction.

Georgia has set that deadline at two years for injury claims. If the government operated the bus that injured you, your deadline is one year.

Still, you will not want to wait to seek medical or legal advice. Act now—call a doctor to identify your injuries and ensure they don’t worsen. Then call our experienced Atlanta bus accident lawyers to give us the time needed to fully investigate your claim, preserve evidence, locate witnesses, and file your claim or lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitations, ensuring that you can pursue monetary compensation for your injuries.

The damages to which you may be entitled following a bus accident depend largely upon the nature and extent of the injuries that you suffered in your accident. Generally speaking, the more serious your injuries, and the more extensive the medical treatment you received, the more damages you are entitled to recover.

If you have been injured in a bus accident, there are several types of damages for which you may be eligible. The first category of damages is called economic damages. The primary purpose of economic damages is to make you whole following a bus accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence.

For example, you may recover compensation for any and all out-of-pocket expenses that you incurred for medical treatment, physical therapy, surgeries, or other medical procedures, such as injections. In addition, you may file a claim for any earnings that you lost as a result of the injuries you suffered in your bus accident. For example, the severity of your injuries may have prevented you from working, or you may have needed to miss time from your job to seek medical treatment or physical therapy.

In addition to these economic losses, you may file a claim for noneconomic damages for injuries that you suffered in your bus accident. Noneconomic damages compensate you for all of the inconvenience, aggravation, suffering, pain, and emotional distress that you incurred as a result of the injuries you suffered in your accident. You may also file a claim for permanent disabilities or damages that you suffered in your accident, as well as compensation for loss of spousal support or family companionship that resulted from your injuries.

Finally, after suffering injuries in a bus accident, you may file a claim for punitive damages. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish wrongdoing by the at-fault party. Punitive damages are available when one or more individuals act in a particularly egregious or reckless manner, resulting in the accident that led to your injuries. For example, punitive damages may be available in a bus accident case where the bus driver was intoxicated by drugs or alcohol at the time the accident occurred. An experienced bus accident lawyer can assist you with pursuing the monetary compensation that you deserve for the injuries that you suffered in your bus accident.