When you put your children on the school bus each morning, you have every right to expect that they will be well taken care of throughout the day—including on the bus ride to and from school. When that isn’t the case, it is especially devastating. If your child has been injured in a school bus accident, you understand just how traumatic that is. Don’t hesitate to seek experienced legal counsel to protect your child’s rights.
Georgia School Bus Accidents Happen
It’s terrifying to think about, but school bus accidents happen. The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that in the years from 2004 through 2012, 174 school-aged children died in school bus crashes (or crashes involving other forms of school transportation). Fifty-five of the children were killed while riding in the busses, and the rest of the children were pedestrians. About 19 children die each year in school bus accidents, and nearly half of these children are between the ages of five and seven. These numbers are far too high.
If your child has been injured in a school bus accident, you need skilled legal counsel. At Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC, in Gwinnett County, Georgia, we have the experience, knowledge, and compassion to aggressively advocate for your child’s rights, and we’re here to help.
Common Causes
School bus accidents are generally caused by the same things that cause other kinds of vehicular accidents:
- Driver distraction, impairment, or other forms of negligence
- Poorly maintained school busses
- Equipment defects
- Inadequate passenger protection (which can exacerbate the injuries incurred in an accident)
The difference is that you’ve entrusted your child’s safety and care to the school’s bussing system, and they failed to protect your child. Because all parents must place their trust in the school system to which they send their children, such a lapse can be very difficult to come to terms with.
Bus Driver Negligence
The school bus driver who delivers your children to school and back each day is charged with safely transporting your children, and if that driver’s negligence causes your child to be injured, it can be especially devastating for you as a parent. Further, the school district is charged with hiring experienced, safe, reliable, and responsible drivers who are well-equipped to fulfill this extremely important task. If the school district’s hiring practices are negligent, it can affect your children’s safety.
Negligence on the part of the school bus driver can take many forms:
- Driving while distracted
- Driving while impaired by alcohol, drugs, or exhaustion
- Not adjusting for road conditions, inclement weather, or low visibility
- Not obeying traffic signs or signals
- Speeding and engaging in other forms of aggressive driving
Distracted Bus Driving
Distracted driving has become such a prevalent problem that it’s important to take a closer look. In fact, distracted driving has reached such epic proportions that the U.S. government maintains a website that’s dedicated to the issue, distraction.gov. The government characterizes distracted driving as any driving in which the driver’s attention is focused on anything other than the primary task of driving. Further, they break distracted driving down into three classifications:
- Manual distractions that engage the driver’s hands
- Visual distractions that engage the driver’s vision
- Cognitive distractions that engage the driver’s thoughts
When it comes to distractions, texting reigns supreme because it manages to combine all three forms of distraction in one activity. It’s important to note that Georgia law prohibits school bus drivers from using their smartphones—even if it’s in hands-free mode. Your child’s school bus driver should never engage with his or her smartphone while behind the wheel of a school bus.
Other Distractions
Smartphones aren’t the only distraction out there. School bus drivers can become distracted by any number of things:
- Reading maps or directions
- Eating and/or drinking
- Allowing the children on the bus to distract one’s driving
- Using the driving mirrors for any reason other than safe driving
School bus drivers are professional drivers who ferry precious cargo—your children. These drivers are held to stricter legal standards than other drivers on our roads, and you should be able to trust your children’s bus driver to protect them from harm.
Your Accident Claim
If your child’s been injured in a school bus accident that was caused by a bus driver’s negligence, your claim may involve the bus driver, the school district, any third-party contracting agency, and the insurance companies. These claims are complicated, but an experienced personal injury attorney will thoroughly investigate your case and get to the bottom of what transpired. Whether bus driver negligence, a faulty or poorly maintained bus, negligence on the part of the school district, or anything else caused the accident, your rights, and your rightful compensation matter.
Dr. Edward F. Dragan writes for Education Expert that “[w]hen a school provides transportation for a student, it has a duty to transport them safely, and the school ordinarily cannot avoid its liability for failing to transport its pupils safely by delegating the performance of its duty to a private school bus company.” Furthermore, he writes that “where work involved may be characterized as inherently dangerous (transporting school children), the duties of the employer (the school) are non-delegable, and the school may be liable for the negligence of its contractor (the bus company) if it did not reasonably monitor the contractor’s compliance activities.” In other words, if a third-party contractor hired the negligent bus driver, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the school district doesn’t share the responsibility.
Duluth Bus Accident FAQ
When a bus driver or bus company fails to exercise caution to protect their passengers and others on the road, accidents can happen. Because buses are so much larger than most vehicles, they can often cause catastrophic injuries when they are in an accident.
With that in mind, below is some helpful information to answer the most frequently asked questions people have about bus accidents. Keep in mind, if you or someone you know has suffered injuries in a bus accident, contact the legal team at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC to get the help you need.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (USBTS), public transportation use is on the rise, with most major transit systems seeing at least one full percentage point increase in ridership.
For years, the number of accidents involving buses increased alongside public transit use, before peaking at 69,000 bus accidents in a single year. The most recent statistics show only a small decrease since to 65,000 incidents per year. More people ride buses than any other form of public transportation in the United States. Along the same lines, buses make up the majority of public transit accidents.
While government statistics point to bus travel being among the safest modes of transportation, a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) survey reports that over 700 million people use buses every year. Recently, the occupant fatality rate was 45 deaths per 100,000 bus accidents. By comparison, the fatality rate for passenger car accidents is 251 deaths per 100,000 accidents.
Although buses are generally considered safe, accidents can and do happen. The NTSB reports almost 3,500 injuries and 1,315 fatalities stem from bus accidents during a seven-year period. Additionally, a University of Michigan study discovered that 63,000 buses, on average, are involved in bus accidents each year, with 14,000 of these resulting in an injury and 325 producing at least one death.
We can draw two simple conclusions from these statistics. One, buses are relatively safe, especially when compared to other vehicles. Two, buses are not immune to accidents, and those involved in these accidents may suffer severe injuries and even death.
- Duluth public transportation systems: Many buses in the public bus system do not have seat belts. If you’ve ever taken a public bus, you may have noticed the absence of seat belts or other safety measures. Consequently, serious injuries often occur in the event of an accident. When these buses belong to a government entity, it can make injury claims more difficult. That’s why you need to work with an experienced accident attorney with the know-how to handle your bus accident case and fight for compensation for your damages.
- School buses: Millions of children use yellow school buses every year. Tragically, 13,000 children suffer injuries every year in school bus accidents. If you or your child suffers injuries as a result of a school bus accident, get the help you need by contacting a skilled bus accident attorney at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC. We’ll help you file a claim against the driver or owner of the bus to receive financial compensation for your damages.
- Shuttle buses: You’ve most likely used a shuttle bus owned by a hotel, airport, or another large organization. While these buses offer convenience, they are not without risks. Generally, these buses are involved in more accidents than other types of buses. That might be because their awkward shape contributes to blind spots, and there are more opportunities for accidents due to the frequent stops they make.
Many school bus accidents happen due to driver distraction. While bus drivers deal with many of the same distractions as passenger vehicle drivers, bus drivers have the added distraction of dealing with dozens of students on board.
Here are just a few distractions a bus driver might face on any given day:
- Students talking to the driver
- Disciplining a student while trying to focus on driving
- Dealing with arguments or even fights among students
- Reaching for a student’s dropped belongings
Of course, the bus driver could be distracted by the same things that distract drivers of passenger vehicles, including mobile phone use, eating, drinking, and adjusting the radio. Some causes of bus accidents are not necessarily the fault of the bus driver, such as poorly maintained buses, road conditions, and third-party drivers.
One of the deadliest types of bus accidents is a rollover accident. A rollover occurs when the bus rotates 90 degrees or more and rolls onto one side or on its roof. While a bus rollover can happen in many circumstances, they most often occur when there is a sudden shift in direction at a higher speed. The momentum can be tremendous, particularly when the bus is full of people. Combine that with their high center of gravity, and you can easily see how a bus can rollover.
Buses can turn over when:
- The driver makes a sharp turn or sudden maneuver at a high rate of speed
- The bus experiences a tire blowout or another operational issue
- The driver is going too fast on a curved road
- The bus slips on icy, oily, or wet road conditions
- The roadway has significant deterioration
Not surprisingly, bus rollovers often cause serious injuries. If you sustain injuries in a bus accident, you don’t have to face your injuries and financial losses on your own. Get help from a reputable bus accident attorney who can help you obtain the financial compensation you deserve for medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages. Contact Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC now for a free case evaluation.
While bus accidents are not as common as passenger vehicle accidents, they do happen, and these accidents cause injuries ranging from minor to life-altering to fatal. Injuries resulting from bus accidents do not only involve the bus driver and occupants, but they also can involve other vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists.
Buses can yield considerable damage and produce serious injuries and fatalities, in part because of their large size and weight. In one year, there were 73 fatal school bus accidents alone, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
Some common injuries resulting from bug accidents are:
Lacerations and deep cuts: Most buses have windows on all sides. When an accident occurs, it’s not uncommon for the driver and passengers to suffer deep cuts and lacerations from broken glass. These injuries can leave permanent scars, and victims may experience damage to their skin and nerves so severely that they require emergency procedures or plastic surgery.
Broken bones: Some bus accidents are so powerful that passengers are thrown from their seats and strike the other interior parts of the bus or one another. As a result, they can suffer broken bones requiring surgery and physical therapy. This is one of the many injuries that can render the victim unable to work and earn a paycheck.
Whiplash: Whiplash injuries often happen when the bus suddenly hits another object or slams on its brakes. When this happens, the body jolts forward and backward, which in turn forces the neck to make a snapping movement.
If you suspect you suffered whiplash in an accident, look for these symptoms:
- Neck pain, swelling, or tenderness
- Muscle spasms
- Headaches
- Limited mobility
Brain and spinal cord injuries: Whenever a bus is in an accident, there is a possibility a passenger may strike their head on a seat or window. Traumatic head and brain injuries can lead to nausea, confusion, headaches, insomnia, and blurred vision, to name a few symptoms. Severe head trauma may result in coma, seizures, paralysis, permanent cognitive impairments, and a loss of mobility. If a passenger hits another object in the bus or gets ejected from the bus, they can suffer spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis or even loss of life.
If you or someone you love suffered injuries in a bus accident, it’s imperative to receive proper medical care as soon as possible. Even if you are unsure of the extent of your injuries, it’s a good idea to seek medical attention as symptoms are not always noticeable until much later.
Seek legal representation to recover compensation for damages. Contact us now for a free review of your case.
Determining liability in a bus accident is not always as straightforward as it is in passenger vehicle accidents.
Generally, there are a few likely parties who may be liable in a bus accident:
- Third parties: Many bus accidents are the fault of a third party, which could include another driver, pedestrian, or cyclist, to name a few. If the third party was negligent, they could be a liable party in a bus accident insurance claim or lawsuit. Examples of driver negligence can include failure to obey the law, following the bus too closely, or operating a smartphone while at the wheel.
- Bus driver: Buses fall under the designation of “common carriers,” which means drivers have a strict duty to exercise reasonable care to protect the passengers on their bus. If the bus driver is negligent in any way, they may be at fault for an accident. Negligence may include driving under the influence or while drowsy, using their mobile phone, or violating traffic laws. The driver’s employer may also be strictly liable for the driver’s negligence.
- The entity that owns the bus: In some cases, the entity owns and operates the bus could be liable for an accident. This is true, for instance, if the accident happens because of a mechanical failure or malfunction due to inadequate maintenance.
Many times, the government is the owner of the bus. If you wish to file a claim against the government, you may need to overcome some procedural hurdles. Always seek the help of an experienced bus accident law firm, such as Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC, to help you navigate the legal system and get the justice you deserve.
Typically, you can seek financial compensation in the form of compensatory damages. In rare cases, punitive damages are appropriate.
Compensatory damages are financial recovery for many types of harm and losses, including:
- Property damages
- Past, current, and future medical bills
- Ongoing physical therapy
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of companionship
- Wrongful death
Punitive damages are typically only available in cases involving egregious conduct that causes catastrophic injuries or fatalities. As their name suggests, these damages aim to be a punishment for the defendant to prevent future negligent behavior.
If you suffered injuries in a bus accident, seek legal representation as soon as possible. Your attorney will need time to gather evidence at the scene, video and photographic evidence, witness testimony, and so forth. This process is much more difficult later when evidence gets lost, recordings get lost or recorded over, and memories fade.
After a thorough investigation, your bus accident lawyer can bolster your case with the right evidence of liability and your damages. The lawyers at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC have experience in bus accident cases and know all the various damages you can claim. We’ll pursue every avenue to get you the compensation you deserve.
As you might imagine, the amount of financial compensation you may receive in a case can vary. That’s because every case is unique, with its own set of circumstances that contribute to the settlement.
Generally, the amount your case is worth depends on a few factors:
- The severity of the injury
- The impact of the injury on your life and job
- The permanence of the injury
- The potential or existence of emotional damage
Consult a skilled attorney at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC who has the experience to get you the highest amount of compensation allowed by law for damages.
Quite simply, working with a bus accident attorney at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC is affordable because you don’t pay anything upfront, and you don’t pay a penny unless we win your case.
Our Georgia based attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you won’t pay any fees unless we secure financial compensation for you in a settlement or jury verdict.