LOS ANGELES BUS ACCIDENT LAWYERS

When drivers and bus companies do not use the utmost care and diligence to protect the passengers, accidents happen. An experienced lawyer can help determine if the injured individual has a valid claim for damages.

Our bus accident attorneys help people who have been injured in Los Angeles, and greater Southern California. For a free consultation call 213-891-0777.

Our Promise to You

•  Free consultation.
•  We will refer you to a team of highly qualified medical experts who will treat you on a medical lien.
•  We will help you get the most for your injuries.
•  We will get paid only if we are able to get compensation for you.
•  Our partners will personally handle your case from start to finish.

What to Do If You Were Involved in a Bus Accident

Types of Compensation for Injuries Resulting From Bus Accidents

While each case is different, a Los Angeles bus accident lawyer can help you get money for:

• Pain and Suffering
• Cost of Medical Treatment (past and future)
• Loss of Wages
• Loss of Earning Capacity
• Loss of Consortium (disruption of normal marital relationship)
• Life Care
• Wrongful Death

In order to get the most for your injuries, it is imperative that you hire an experienced Los Angeles bus crash attorney who has handled these types of claims.

Bus Accident Information

SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENTS

We put a lot of effort into keeping our kids safe, but we can only do so much when they leave for school. However, unfortunately, accidents happen. When a school bus is involved in an accident, who can be held liable? Is the driver the only one responsible? We discuss this and other issues.

More on School Bus Accidents

Who May Be Held Responsible For Your Bus Accident Injuries?

Depending on the facts of your case, the following category of individuals/entities may be held liable for your injuries:

1. The Bus Company

Bus companies are ultimately responsible for passenger safety. Making sure the bus is in good operating condition and that the staff is properly trained and managed is also the responsibility of the bus company. The bus company can be held accountable for failing to make sure that the bus was safe and/or the bus driver was properly trained.

2. Bus Maintenance Company

Sometimes bus companies use an outside vendor to service and repair their fleet of buses. Independent maintenance companies can be held liable for any faulty inspection or work performed on a bus involved in the accident.

3. Bus Operator – Tour and Cruise Line Companies

Tour bus companies can be held liable for bus-related accidents if one of their employees was operating a bus that was owned and/or serviced by another company.

4. Bus Driver

Bus drivers who service the public owe a higher duty of care to make sure passengers do not get injured. California law specifically defines bus drivers who transport the members of the public for a fee as common carriers. Under California Civil Code Section 2011:

Drivers who fail to keep their passengers safe, whether on or off the bus can be sued for negligence.

5. Bus And / Or Bus Parts Manufacturer

If the accident results from a product defect in the bus, the bus manufacturer and/or parts suppliers in the supply chain can be held responsible. California’s strict product liability law states that everyone involved in the manufacturing and distribution chain of a product is responsible for damages resulting from the defect.

6. Local and State Governments

Where accidents are caused by the negligence of a city bus driver, or any other governmental agency, the city, local municipality or county can be held responsible for your injuries.

LA Metro (MTA), DASH Bus Injuries

On average, the Metro bus and rail system has as many as 39 million boardings per month. The agency operates via 170 bus routes with close to 16,000 bus stops and a total fleet numbering over 2,200 buses. Despite their efficiency and safety standards, metro buses and light rail pose dangers to riders and pedestrians.

Drivers, passengers, and pedestrians involved in accidents with MTA buses often suffer severe damage due to the sheer weight of a bus. Those involved often experience severe or life-threatening injuries that can completely change a person’s life forever. With serious injuries involved, it is in the best interest of the injured person to hire an attorney to handle the matter. Whenever there is an accident, investigators come out to the scene to find out what happened. Injured riders, bystanders, drivers, and pedestrians should always speak to an attorney to have an independent investigation done where findings are not skewed in the favor of government agencies.

As a government entity, MTA and its bus drivers fall under the common carrier definition, which operates under different requirements and procedures. Injured passengers typically have six (6) months to file a claim. With short filing requirements, some make the mistake of bringing the claim with the wrong party such as with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority itself. Sometimes responsibility can rest on bus maintenance crews, third party contractors, and product design and manufacturers, and determining who is liable is key. Our Los Angeles bus wreck attorneys can help determine who is responsible and which party is negligent in case of an accident.

If you were injured on any of the following services, you may have a claim against the bus or rail operator. Contact our attorneys to discuss your case: (213) 891-0777.

Highway Bus Accidents

Since common carriers have a higher duty of care to their passengers, bus drivers that take the highway as part of the route must use special care to keep passengers safe. When a bus stops on a highway due to direct or 3rd party accidents, it is the bus driver’s responsibility to keep passengers safe. Whether safe action means keeping everyone inside the bus or evacuating as soon as possible, the bus operator has to take the right action to avoid negligence.

Highway accidents may sometimes involve construction hazards from construction sites and crew. Cases, where a construction agency was at fault in a highway bus accident, can be harder to litigate as the laws of liability are more complex.

Passengers who are hurt on a bus in the scope of a highway accident or a sudden stop may seek compensation for injuries and should speak to a bus accident attorney given the chance.

Greyhound and Tour Bus Accidents

Whenever you book a tour or arrange transportation with a charter bus service you’ll notice that their advertising will claim that “safety is our number one priority“. This is typically true of most bus operators, except when it’s not. Sometimes profits come before safety. Tour bus accidents happen when passengers’ safety is jeopardized by negligent behavior in regards to maintenance of the vehicles or driver hiring and training. When passengers are injured, the bus company will make every effort to minimize a settlement or to downplay the seriousness of injuries. Our attorneys level the playing field for accident claims so that you can get the maximum compensation for your injuries.

Greyhound is the biggest bus company in the United States, so when it comes to image and profits you can bet that it’ll do everything possible to minimize or dismiss your claim entirely. The bus company will ask you to fill out a form following an accident, and then proceed to try to get a recorded statement from all injured victims. The recorded statement is used against you in your claim for compensation, thus we stress that you contact an attorney and do not make any statements.

When Greyhound is worried about its liability it will often try to get the injured people to sign off on a low-ball offer. Signing off on such offers also includes clauses that prevent people from further suing the company once they discover the full severity of their injuries. It is critical that you do not rush to accept an offer before a full medical examination of your injuries and a free consultation with a Los Angeles bus accident attorney.

Greyhound will do everything possible to protect itself from making any payments to you or your loved ones. The company will hire attorneys do defend the case no matter how obvious that the driver was at fault. It will also use typical tactics of delaying a case for as long as it can so that you grow frustrated and impatient. Even when you feel like the evidence against the driver is irrefutable, Greyhound will find a way to try to argue the facts. Without a tour bus accident attorney on your side, you risk any sort of just outcome and compensation.

Charter and Tour Bus Companies Operating in California

If you’ve been injured on a Greyhound bus or any bus operated by the following companies, give us a call for a free consultation and immediate assistance:

Examples of Bus Accidents: Two Pedestrians Struck by Bus

Bus drivers can log tens of thousands of miles behind the wheel in the course of a career. They receive training on safe bus operating procedures and are typically required to follow strict work/rest requirements. Still, no matter how many hours are logged or how much training is conducted, accidents are inevitable.

The Incident

It was reported that one man was killed and another seriously injured when the pair were struck by a city bus on the evening of February 4th, 2013. An 81-year-old man was fatally injured while 50-year-old sustained serious injuries. According to the bus driver, it was the end of his shift and he was taking the bus back to the depot when he struck the two men as they stood in or near a crosswalk – no passengers were on board. A toxicology test was conducted to determine if drugs or alcohol were in the driver’s system, but those results remain unreleased. It should be noted, however, that a toxicology test is routine in many jurisdictions following a serious or fatal bus accident.

This accident marks the third time in three days that a bus has crashed or been involved in a catastrophic accident. The first occurred on February 2nd, in Boston, where a bus carrying teens and adult chaperons returning from a college visit crashed into an overpass on a road that the bus was too big to drive on. The second occurred on February 3, when a tour bus with faulty brakes returning from a ski trip in Big Bear slammed into the back of a sedan, causing the bus to flip before crashing into a pickup truck.

Pedestrians Have the Right of Way

In almost every U.S. jurisdiction, pedestrians, not cars, have the right of way. This legal right of way protection, however, does not guarantee that drivers will see pedestrians in the road, which is why anyone crossing or standing near an open road or highway must maintain situational awareness at all times. This means that pedestrians shouldn’t just focus on “walk/don’t walk” signals, they still need to look both ways before crossing the street and make eye contact with drivers approaching a crosswalk.

There are several reasons why a vehicle driver would fail to see a pedestrian. Drivers routinely do things like drive distracted, fail to look both ways before merging into traffic, and accelerate through yellow lights. Instead of racing through crosswalks, pedestrians should wait to cross a street until they are absolutely sure that all drivers approaching the crosswalk see them and are prepared to stop. Just because a signal displays that it is safe to walk, it does not guarantee that drivers in the area won’t act negligently or recklessly.

Bus Accidents in Los Angeles

With all the public awareness and advice out there regarding pedestrian safety, the need to advocate on behalf of walking commuters strongly exists. It doesn’t take long to go out to any given intersection in downtown L.A. to see a bus speed through an intersection when it should be slowing down. Pedestrians have a responsibility to stay aware, but bus drivers owe an even greater duty of care to the public. Los Angeles bus accident lawyers aid injured people by having experts reconstruct the scene of the accident to prove that the bus was at fault.

Our city is a hectic place, but it can be made safer by shining a spotlight on pedestrian safety and holding negligent entities responsible for their actions.

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