Every day, countless buses cross the Brooklyn Bridge into Brooklyn Heights. With the number of buses operating in the neighborhood, accidents are sometimes unavoidable.

Our lawyers have been litigating bus accident lawsuits for years and can help you recover the compensation you deserve. We can help you overcome significant challenges that often prevent victims from recovering damages. Our team can determine whether the bus involved in your accident is operated by a public or private bus company. If, like in many cases, you are injured on a public bus, we can help you sue the agency responsible for it. If you were injured on one of the many private buses operating in Brooklyn Heights, we can file your claim against the driver and bus company. Even if the private bus company made you sign a liability waiver beforehand, we can find ways around it to file your lawsuit.

Call The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 to receive your free case review with our Brooklyn bus accident lawyers.

Common Challenges in Brooklyn Heights, NY Bus Accident Cases

Numerous issues make bus accident cases in Brooklyn Heights much more challenging than typical personal injury lawsuits. Who you should sue for a bus accident, assessing the extent of your injuries, and filing your claim before the deadline are just a few of the challenges our bus accident attorneys can help you overcome. Liability is not always clear following an accident, and how long you have to file will be impacted by who is responsible for it. An accurate assessment of your injuries is also important so you are not denied a chance to file a lawsuit.

Who to Sue

The best place to start in a bus accident claim is determining who to sue for your injuries. The type of bus company involved in your accident will majorly influence who can be named as a defendant.

For instance, the bus driver might have acted negligently to cause the accident, but if they work for a public bus company, like the MTA, the driver cannot be sued. The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and other public bus companies are government agencies, so their employees are generally shielded from lawsuits by “sovereign immunity,” even if they acted carelessly. Instead, you can pursue compensation from the organization for the employee’s negligence. Thus, if an MTA driver or school bus driver injured you, we would file your claim against the MTA or school district in question.

The rules are less confusing if the accident involves a private bus company, such as those that provide tours of the nearby Brooklyn Bridge and its surrounding park on the pier or Megabuses and Greyhounds entering and leaving Brooklyn. Both the bus driver and the bus company can be held responsible in these situations as private bus companies enjoy no special legal protections like government ones.

However, many private bus companies require customers to sign liability waivers when purchasing their tickets, which leaves many victims worrying about their ability to recover compensation. Fortunately, most waivers provided by businesses cannot excuse negligence as a matter of public policy.

Then there is the problem of other drivers. Bus accidents rarely involve just the bus. Since New York uses a “pure” modified comparative fault rule, each party can be held accountable for their share of the accident.

Assessing Your Injuries

Accurately assessing your injuries is another critical issue since your damages will impact your ability to file a lawsuit. The state’s no-fault insurance system requires bus accident victims to use insurance to cover their losses before filing a lawsuit. This coverage will come from your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance if you were the other driver in the accident. The driver’s PIP insurance will typically cover passengers injured in the bus or another vehicle.

PIP is good for victims because it can compensate them right after the accident without going through the stresses of proving liability. However, it will not cover the full amount of your losses. It is limited to covering a minimum of $50,000 in medical expenses and lost wages, leaving many victims with lingering damages. When PIP is insufficient, we can usually file a third-party claim against the bus company’s insurance provider, as many companies offer additional coverage to avoid a legal battle.

However, the best way to cover all your damages, including your “pain and suffering,” is by filing a lawsuit. Generally, insurance will not cover losses like physical pain, emotional distress, and other mental impacts from the accident. But, if your economic losses exceed $50,000 or you suffered serious injuries, as defined by I.S.C. Law § 5012(d), no limits will be placed on your right to file a lawsuit. A lawsuit will allow you to recover the economic damages after PIP is exhausted, as well as the non-economic losses you are entitled to.

When to Sue

Once we determine who is likely responsible for your injuries, we will know how much time you have to file your lawsuit. If the defendant is a private bus company or individual driver, C.V.P. Law § 214(5) provides three years from the date of the crash to initiate their claim in court.

Unfortunately, the time limit to file against a public government-operated bus company is a more pressing issue. G.M.U. § 50-e(a) gives public agencies the right to be notified before a lawsuit is filed, which must be filed no later than 90 days from the date of the accident. They have the right to know what accident the claim is for, what employees are involved, and what injuries medical documentation shows you sustained. They can either approve the claim to avoid a lawsuit or deny it. Once denied, you will only have a year plus 90 days to commence your actions, according to § 50-i.

Call Our Brooklyn Heights, NY Bus Accident Lawyers Today for the Skilled Help You Deserve

Contact The Carrion Law Firm today at (718) 841-0083 for a free case assessment with our bus accident attorneys.