If you were hit by a city bus, you can generally sue the city if its negligence contributed to your accident. Other parties can also bear liability for a city bus accident, and you can hire an attorney to establish liability for your accident-related damages.
You may also file an insurance claim to recover the compensation you deserve. With a bus accident lawyer leading your case, all options are in play. An attorney can lead your claim and initiate a lawsuit if it is the best decision for you.
Failures By a City That May Lead to a Bus Accident
To successfully sue anyone for personal injury (including a city), you must prove negligence or intentional wrongdoing. Negligence is the most common cause of action in accident cases.
Your attorney will investigate the details of your bus accident and uncover any negligence by the city that makes the municipality liable for your accident-related damages.
Negligence by city officials that can contribute to a bus accident includes:
Hiring Unqualified Employees
Operating, maintaining, and directing city buses is a monumental task with life-and-death ramifications. Only when accidents happen do we realize just how pivotal these responsibilities are.
Cities must hire only tested, credentialed, and skilled:
- Traffic light technicians
- Administrators in the public transportation sector
- Bus drivers
- Mechanics
- Civil engineers
- Road maintenance professionals
If negligence by any city employee contributed to your bus accident, the city is likely liable for its effects.
Failing to Monitor Employees
Even if a city hires qualified employees, it must monitor those employees for:
- Job performance (specifically safety-related performance)
- Alcohol impairment
- Drug impairment
- Emotional or psychological volatility
- Sleep deprivation
- Health problems
- Any other shortcomings that can lead to an accident
If the city failed to monitor or appropriately discipline any employees who displayed behavioral red flags, city officials may be guilty of negligence.
Failing to Repair or Replace Defective Buses
A bus itself can be a hazard. When a city fails to purchase modern buses, maintain the buses regularly, immediately address potential defects, and replace buses as necessary, city officials endanger lives.
Failing to Maintain Safe Road Conditions
Roads accumulate significant wear and tear that can lead to accidents, and cities must maintain those roads at all times.
A municipality must generally:
- Regularly inspect roads for potential hazards
- Install cutting-edge technology (including traffic cameras, defect-free traffic lights, and other safety mechanisms)
- Repair potholes, uneven surfaces, and any other hazards that can lead to a city bus accident
- Position work zones safely
- Take any other reasonable measures that decrease the risk of traffic accidents happening
A city may err in other ways that lead to a bus accident. Attorneys conduct open-minded investigations of bus accidents and identify every instance of negligence that caused the accident.
If a city’s negligence led you to suffer injuries or lose a loved one, your bus accident attorney will document that negligence and take appropriate action against the municipality.
Parties Other Than the City May Be Liable for Your Damages
When an accident involving a city bus happens, it’s fair to assume that the city may be responsible for the collision in some way. However, your attorney may find that parties other than city officials contributed to the collision, possibly including:
A Bus Manufacturer
When buses have safety defects, the manufacturer may be liable for resulting accidents. Authorities define safety defects as those that:
- Pose an unreasonable level of danger to the public
- Exist across a specific vehicle model or class of vehicles
Defects can result from a vehicle’s design, assembly process, mechanisms of operations, or materials. If your attorney and their experts find that a defect in a city bus caused your accident, they may sue the manufacturer and any other liable parties.
A Motor Vehicle Manufacturer
Some city bus accidents result from defects in another motor vehicle. For instance, a car may strike a bus because the car’s brakes fail. In such a case, the manufacturer responsible for the vehicle defect may owe compensation to victims of the city bus accident.
A Motor Vehicle Driver, Pedestrian, or Motorcycle Rider
In some city bus accident cases, nobody associated with the bus is negligent. Instead, another party does something to trigger the accident. Examples of this include:
- A motor vehicle driver striking the bus
- A pedestrian darting in front of the bus, causing the bus driver to stop suddenly (in which case another motorist may hit the bus from behind)
- A motorcycle rider makes an illegal maneuver that leads to a bus accident
As your lawyer investigates the details of your city bus accident, they will determine whose actions led to the collision. Once they establish fault for the accident, your attorney will determine who has financial liability for your damages.
A Private Bus Company
If the city bus involved in your accident is owned or operated by a private company, that company may be liable for your accident-related damages.
If any other party contributed to your accident, your bus accident lawyer will identify their negligence and demand that they pay you fairly for your damages.
Who Should Consider Suing a City After a Bus Accident?
Anyone adversely affected by a city bus accident should seek compensation for medical bills, lost income, and other damages. Those who may need such compensation include:
- Bus passengers
- Occupants of a vehicle hit by the bus
- Pedestrians or bicyclists hit by the bus
- Motorcycle riders hit by the bus
- A bus driver injured when their bus was hit by another vehicle
Those who lose loved ones from bus accident-related injuries can also seek compensation for their immense loss.
There Are Often Short Deadlines for Suing a Municipality—Don’t Wait to Hire Your Bus Accident Lawyer
States often impose unique deadlines when plaintiffs sue a municipality. This is one of many reasons to hire your city bus accident lawyer as soon as possible.
You may hire your lawyer as soon as you can because:
- Missing the deadline for filing a lawsuit against a city can be financially devastating
- Your city bus accident lawyer will need to obtain evidence from the bus accident as soon as possible
- You want to focus on recovery, and hiring a lawyer will allow you to do that
When you turn your case over to your lawyer, you free yourself of the responsibility of the claim or lawsuit. For most accident victims, this reality cannot come soon enough.
Suing a City Comes with Some Considerable Challenges
Municipalities often have greater legal protection from civil lawsuits than other parties. An experienced bus accident attorney will be familiar with the challenges of suing a city, which may include:
Addressing Sovereign Immunity
Municipalities are sometimes shielded from civil lawsuits. This protection is known as sovereign immunity. While you can sue a city for a bus accident, your lawyer will need to investigate sovereign immunity statutes to determine if suing is worthwhile (or even possible).
Accounting for Laws Related to Your Lawsuit
State and local laws may set parameters for your bus accident lawsuit. For instance, legislation may define:
- The process of suing a municipality
- Whether your lawyer has to negotiate with the city before pursuing a lawsuit
- The amount of compensation you can pursue from the city
- Certain other rules and procedures for suing a municipality
An attorney who handles bus accident cases in your city should know these laws well. You may save time and avoid confusion by relying on a knowledgeable, experienced lawyer to evaluate your case and seek fair compensation.
Notifying the Municipality of the Lawsuit
Statutes may require that you notify a liable city before suing. Your attorney will file any such notice accurately and promptly.
Beating Filing Deadlines
Attorneys are keenly aware of filing deadlines, including those that govern lawsuits against public entities (like a city). Your attorney will work urgently to draft and file your case so it remains viable.
How a Lawyer Will Help with Your City Bus Accident Lawsuit
A city bus accident lawyer will make your case their responsibility. Even the finest detail will be your lawyers’ concern, and they will fight for your financial award by:
Detailing the Cause of the City Bus Accident
Your legal team will secure all relevant evidence from the bus accident. From eyewitness accounts to photographs of vehicle damage and video footage of the accident, your attorney may acquire several types of evidence that help your case succeed.
Establishing Liability for Your Damages
Your lawyer will weigh all relevant evidence to establish liability for your accident. In proving negligence and liability, your lawyer will likely need to:
- Show that the liable party owed you a duty of care
- Prove that the liable party violated their duty of care
- Establish that the violation of the duty of care contributed to the accident
- Prove the damages that have resulted from the accident
Your attorney will use all relevant documentation and evidence when completing this sequence.
Calculating and Documenting Your Damages
Your lawyer will determine the precise value of every damage resulting from the bus accident. Attorneys must obtain convincing proof of those damages, too, which may include:
- Medical records detailing the injuries, possibly including doctors’ notes, X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans
- Medical bills showing the cost of accident-related health services
- Mental experts’ diagnoses of pain and suffering related to the accident
- Employment records to help prove professional damages (including lost or future income)
Your attorney will identify your accident-related damages and seek documentation of each.
Completing Settlement Negotiations
Reaching a settlement agreement is the most common outcome for those involved in civil cases.
Your attorney will represent you in settlement talks, during which they will:
- Exhibit all documentation of your damages
- Furnish evidence proving who is liable for the city bus accident
- Present and explain their calculation of your damages
- Make a verbal argument detailing every aspect of your case
Your attorney may face resistance from liable parties, who will likely attempt to pay as little as possible for your damages. A capable attorney will remain steadfast in their settlement demands and address the defendants’ arguments head-on.
Discussing the Possibility of a Lawsuit (and Trial) with You
Not every city bus accident case will become a lawsuit. Some resolve with nothing more than an insurance claim. If your case reaches the point where a lawsuit is the right option, your attorney will discuss the merits of filing a lawsuit with you.
Damages for City Bus Accident Victims
Traffic accidents often leave victims ailing physically, psychologically, and emotionally. Financial hardship is also common among bus accident victims.
More specifically, your damages may include:
- Healthcare expenses, including emergency care, diagnostic services, rehabilitation, and medications
- Pain and suffering, which can include physical pain, emotional anguish, psychological distress, and lost quality of life
- Vehicle-related expenses, possibly including the cost of repairing a vehicle, replacing a vehicle, and getting temporary transportation
- Income losses, which can include lost income, diminished earning power, and lost bonuses
If your loved one passed away due to injuries suffered during a city bus accident, you may turn to a lawyer to get justice for your family.
A civil lawsuit is one way of holding liable parties accountable, and your lawyer can seek compensation reflecting:
- Your pain and suffering
- Any pain and suffering the decedent endured because of the accident
- Loss of the decedent’s financial support
- Loss of the decedent’s household services
- Loss of consortium
- Funeral costs
If your loved one’s passing causes any other damages, your attorney will document those damages and demand fair compensation from the liable parties.
Hire a Bus Accident Attorney to Seek Fair Compensation for Your City Bus Accident Today
Your priorities after a bus accident should be getting medical treatment and hiring a qualified personal injury attorney. If you tend to these responsibilities, you will protect your health and also your financial future. Don’t wait to find your bus accident lawyer. Contact the Rothenberg Law Firm LLP today.
