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334-333-3333Whether you ride city buses, tour buses, shuttle buses, school buses, or charter buses, Alabama roads accommodate all types of bus travel. However, despite buses’ relative safety, passengers can be severely hurt or killed while riding them.
Identifying the negligent party responsible for your injuries is crucial for recovering adequate monetary compensation. A personal injury attorney can help determine all at-fault parties in an accident or other dangerous bus incident and hold them accountable for their actions. Learn about potential parties you can recover compensation from in the event of a bus accident.
Several parties may be responsible for negligent conduct when a passenger is hurt while riding a bus. Potentially liable parties include:
A bus driver may be liable if you prove they acted negligently in a bus accident. For example, if the driver breaks the law by speeding or texting and causes an accident, you can file a lawsuit claiming they violated Alabama’s traffic laws to win compensation.
If the driver doesn’t follow proper safety procedures, such as not maintaining a safe distance from other vehicles, it also indicates negligence.
A bus company may be liable for an accident for several reasons. Bus companies may be responsible for the actions of their employees. If an employee acts negligently, you may include their employer in your claim.
A bus company may be liable if they don’t properly maintain or repair the bus. If a mechanical failure due to poor maintenance causes an accident, the company may have to pay damages.
The city of Montgomery can be held liable in a bus accident if the accident happened due to defective road conditions, such as potholes or unsecured manhole covers. The city can also be held responsible if the accident is due to a traffic signal malfunction or insufficient lighting on a darkened street.
If the city knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and failed to take steps to remedy it, then the city can be held liable for any resulting accidents.
In addition, you may be able to hold the city liable for the negligence of its employees. Therefore, the city can be held liable for damages if a city bus driver causes an accident due to recklessness or carelessness.
If another driver’s negligence causes an accident, you may be able to file a claim against them. For example, a driver that fails to stop at a red light due to intoxication can cause a bus crash. If the bus runs off the road or collides with a utility pole, the car driver can be held accountable for their negligence.
Injuries sustained while riding a bus are not always due to a collision. Other passengers can exhibit negligent behavior toward their fellow passengers, resulting in injuries and property damage. If you’ve suffered emotional distress due to another passenger’s recklessness or misconduct, you may also be able to bring a claim for non-economic damages.
For example, if another passenger commits an act of violence against you, they can be open to legal action on your part. Furthermore, if the driver knew that the belligerent passenger was dangerous and did not remove them, you may have grounds to pursue a claim against the driver.
A seasoned personal injury attorney has the know-how and access to resources to quickly and efficiently examine the circumstances of the incident. An attorney with The Vance Law Firm can help by investigating your claim to identify the negligent parties that caused your accident.
They can help you gather evidence to support your claim, including eyewitness testimony, video footage, medical records, or data from a bus’s black box or data recorder. This data logging device captures valuable information about the vehicle’s operation and can be instrumental to your claim, if available.
Finally, your attorney can help you file your claim and negotiate with the responsible party’s insurance company to ensure you receive a fair settlement.
Determining at-fault parties can be challenging if you’ve been hurt while riding a bus. The bus driver, municipal authority, bus company, or other drivers involved in the incident may try to avoid liability by pointing to the other parties’ involvement. Hiring a Montgomery mass transit accident lawyer from The Vance Law Firm can ensure you get an attorney with a proven track record to pursue your claim.
Contact our law office to schedule a free consultation where you can ask us any questions you may have regarding your case. Our lawyers can help you determine who is at fault for your injuries and hold them accountable.
