Were you injured in a crash with a bus? Check out this article about 4 bus accident facts, then call our lawyers for a free legal consultation.
1. Recovering Damages as a Passenger
People who have been injured in a bus accident often ask what kind of damages they can recover. One of the first things we attempt to recover is all available no-fault benefits. We ensure that medical care is paid for and lost wages are addressed, as are other expenses – such as mileage – that result directly from the accident. Additional damages or recovery are based upon the nature and extent of the person’s injuries. Our investigation ascertains exactly what happened and who was at fault – and we proceed from there.
2. School Bus Injury Claims
If a child is injured on a school bus and the driver of the school bus can be shown to be negligent, then a claim can be made against the bus driver. Sometimes school districts have their own employees working as bus drivers, or sometimes those bus drivers are employees of a bus company. In either situation, the company or the district can be sued if the bus driver is at fault. If the bus driver acts negligently and the bus driver is an employee of the school district, then in the litigation, we would pursue not only the bus driver, but we would also pursue the district as well.
3. Bus Accident Case Value
When we determine the value of a claim on a bus accident, we look at a number of different factors. The initial factor with the bus claim is whether we can show that the bus company is at fault for the injuries that you sustained. One thing that is very important in that analysis, and different from any other accident claims in New York State, is that the bus company has different requirements that are applicable to them.
In New York State, when we’re at trial, we have a Pattern Jury Instruction, and that Pattern Jury Instruction gives the jury instruction with respect to each type of case. In a negligence case, we need to show that the individual who is responsible for your injuries was at fault by 51%. In a bus accident case, the legislature in New York State has established rules which give heightened responsibilities to individuals on the bus. In other words, a bus driver can act negligently and still not be held responsible legally because the jury instructions give them leeway.
The first thing that we look at is whether or not we’re going to be able to prove that the bus company and the bus driver was negligent with these enhanced jury instructions. We take that into consideration, we make an analysis of what the likelihood of it being victorious at trial are, and then we look at your injuries. The injuries are determined based on what your current injuries are – what you’re feeling, how you’re doing at the time that we’re looking at settling – and then we ask our doctors to provide us with an idea of your future prognosis. Once we take all those things into play, we also look to see if you have any lost wages or components of future medical benefits that are going to be required. All those things come into a determination as to what we believe the value of the case is. If they don’t come to that number, we go to trial.
4. Bus Accident Settlement Timeline
One of the first questions that’s often asked of me is how long the case will last. My response to my clients at that point is that the case will take as long as necessary in order to maximize the recovery. When you first walk into our office, we generally don’t know what’s wrong with you. We don’t know how long your injuries are going to bother you and whether there’s going to be any permanency to those injuries.
During the process of you getting treatment, gathering medical records and getting the opinions of the medical doctors, we make a determination as to whether the case should resolved with an insurance company or whether it should be put in suit. If put in suit, the case takes longer because we’re in a posture where we have to go through a full litigation process. That process can take a year, sometimes longer depending on how much fighting is going on between the insurance company or the bus company and ourselves.
This is all dependent on whether or not the judge has room for a trial; sometimes calendars are extremely bogged down and we have difficulty getting trial dates. From the standpoint of early on and understanding exactly how long a case will last, we don’t know. We do not settle cases quickly just to get rid of them. We tend to take a little bit longer on our cases so we can maximize the recovery.
Were you severely injured in a bus accident and have questions? After reading these 4 bus accident facts, contact our dedicated Buffalo Bus Accident Lawyers to fight for you.
Attorney Robert Maranto is a partner with Andrews, Bernstein & Maranto, PLLC and has achieved the rating of superb on Avvo.
The Personal Injury Lawyers at Andrews, Bernstein & Maranto, PLLC fight for the rights of persons who are injured or disabled. We approach each case on an individual basis and personally assist each client with their unique needs. We are involved in every step of the legal process, and ensure that each case receives the time and effort necessary for success.
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