Bus accidents can cause passengers, pedestrians, and other drivers to suffer serious injuries. These injuries can lead to many forms of economic and non-economic damages. Fortunately, victims can recover payment for the harm they suffered.
Bus accident lawsuits can take from weeks to months to years to complete. Several factors can influence the path to compensation in your case. Our evidence, availability of witnesses, legal strategies, and more may determine what compensation you receive. A bus accident lawyer can help recover the full range of monetary damages available to you.
Contact our experienced bus accident lawyers today by calling The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083. Our attorneys can provide a free case assessment.
The Insurance Process for a Bus Accident Case
After a bus accident, you are likely living with serious injuries, expenses, and losses. Fortunately, vehicle accidents, including bus accidents, are usually covered by insurance.
New York is a no-fault state for auto insurance. According to I.S.C. Law § 5104(a), drivers, passengers, and others injured in an auto accident must file first-party claims with their own personal injury protection (PIP) insurance. If you do not have auto insurance, you can file a third-party claim with the defendant’s insurance.
You may only file a lawsuit if you have a “serious injury” as defined under § 5102(d) before you can sue. A serious injury includes dismemberment, serious disfigurement, death, loss of a fetus, fractures, or the permanent limitation or loss of a bodily system or function.
You may also sue if you have a medically diagnosed, non-permanent injury that inhibits your ability to perform normal daily chores for at least 90 days following the accident.
If you have a serious injury and an insurance settlement is not enough, your claim is denied, or insurance is for some reason unavailable, you may file a lawsuit with an attorney’s help.
Who to Sue for a Bus Accident in Long Island?
Multiple parties may be liable for a Long Island bus accident. After a crash, our Long Island bus accident lawyers can help determine who to sue.
Some bus companies are private. For example, companies like Greyhound and Megabus are owned and operated by private businesses. Also, a great number of buses are rented out by private charter companies. If your accident involved a private bus company, you may be able to seek payment from that company for the injuries you incurred.
Other buses are controlled as part of Long Island’s public transportation system. Suing a public entity can be more complicated than seeking compensation from a private bus company. If you were hurt because of a bus accident involving a public vehicle, you can call our attorneys for help determining how to proceed.
Common Causes of Bus Accidents in Long Island
There are many different potential causes of bus accidents. The cause of your accident can influence the path to compensation in your case. Our experienced Long Island bus accident lawyers can investigate whether your crash stems from one of the following causes:
Tired Driving
Tired drivers cause a great number of bus accidents. Fatigued bus drivers are prone to making careless mistakes behind the wheel. For instance, a bus driver may fail to yield the right-of-way and strike a pedestrian as they are using the crosswalk. Tired bus drivers may be held responsible for accidents they cause.
Distracted Driving
Distracted driving is another common cause of bus accidents in Long Island. Drivers can become manually, visually, or cognitively distracted. The following are examples of activities that can distract bus drivers:
- Talking with passengers
- Eating or drinking
- Texting
- Talking on the phone
- Viewing social media on a mobile device
Some activities, like texting, can incorporate all three forms of distraction. Our team can help bus accident victims investigate whether distracted drivers caused their accidents.
Poor Vehicle Maintenance
Bus companies should maintain their vehicles in proper working order. This means that inspections should be performed on a regular basis, and any problems with their vehicles must be attended to promptly. Unfortunately, some inspectors cannot keep up with the immense number of inspections they are asked to perform.
Furthermore, some bus companies may attempt to save money by delaying maintenance that they consider unnecessary. Our Long Island bus accident lawyers can help build your case against a bus company for failing to properly maintain their vehicle.
Defective Parts
Additionally, some bus accidents happen because of defective parts. For example, a bus may cause a rear-end collision with another vehicle because of a malfunctioning braking component that prevented the vehicle from slowing down. In such cases, our attorneys can help victims bring claims against the defective products’ manufacturers.
Speeding
Lastly, speeding is a common cause of bus accidents in Long Island. Most vehicles become more difficult to handle at high speeds. However, buses can be even harder to control. Bus drivers travelling at illegal speeds are prone to running red lights, veering outside of their lanes, and tailgating other motorists.
Damages Available in a Bus Accident Case
Bus accidents are often serious, and injuries tend to be severe, painful, and require extensive medical care. You might also lose valuable personal items, and mental distress may be significant.
Medical Bills
Chief among your damages is your medical expenses. You should seek emergency medical attention right after the accident. If necessary, take an ambulance to the hospital. If your injuries are severe, you might be facing significant pain and step costs.
Since bus accidents often lead to severe injuries, it is no surprise that many victims live with long-term complications. You may need regular medical care for the foreseeable future, possibly indefinitely. In that case, we can estimate the costs of future care and add them to your damages.
Property Damage
Bus accidents are extremely destructive. If you were driving your own vehicle, it might be badly damaged, and you might need a total replacement. If you were a passenger on the bus, you might have lost valuable personal items in the crash. Either way, we must account for property losses and damage.
If you have a damaged vehicle, you should save records of the repairs and any information from your auto insurance provider. We may need this information to establish some of your damages. You should also carefully evaluate the items you might have lost during the accident. Your phone, jewelry, laptops, tablets, and more are expensive to replace.
Lost Income
A bus accident is not something most people walk away from unscathed. Your injuries might be serious enough to prevent you from returning to work for a while. Whether you are out of commission for a few weeks, months, or longer, you can claim your lost wages as part of your damages.
If your injuries are so severe that you can never fully return to work, we can estimate the income you have currently lost in addition to lost future income. Our calculations may depend on what kind of work you do and how you are paid, but your damages should be substantial.
Pain and Suffering
Not all damages are proven with records of financial costs. Many other damages are based on your personal experience during and after the accident, and these damages are very subjective.
You might be dealing with serious physical pain, mental trauma, and psychological injuries after the accident. Bus collisions are often frightening experiences, and many survivors struggle to come to terms with what happened. If you are suffering, talk to your attorney, as you may be entitled to significant damages.
Time Limit to File a Bus Accident Lawsuit in Long Island
C.V.P. Law § 214 establishes the time limit for filing a bus accident lawsuit in Long Island. Generally, you will have three years from the date of your crash to file your case. Noncompliance with this deadline could cause you to miss out on important compensation.
Still, you should contact our Long Island bus accident lawyers as soon as possible after suffering a crash. Crucial evidence may become harder to collect as time passes. For instance, important details surrounding your accident can be forgotten, and physical evidence can become lost. The sooner you contact our attorneys, the more easily we can gather the information needed to support your lawsuit.
How Long Your Bus Accident Case Might Take
Plaintiffs often want financial compensation sooner rather than later, but legal claims usually take time to resolve. Your attorney can help you determine how long you might wait before getting compensation.
We should be aware of factors that could slow your case down. If the defendant is angry or refuses to take accountability, they may dispute more facts, and it may take longer to resolve things. Also, cases involving more complex facts tend to take longer. For example, a multi-vehicle bus accident with dozens of injured victims will likely take longer than a single-vehicle bus accident with only a few injured victims.
We may speed things up if we can negotiate a settlement. A settlement will allow you to recover at least some compensation without the need for a trial. If you do not want to settle, having strong evidence is a good way to make the case go faster.
Proving Fault in a Long Island Bus Accident Lawsuit
Plaintiffs in bus accident lawsuits must demonstrate that their injuries were caused by the defendants’ careless conduct. There are several types of evidence that can be used to prove that a defendant is at fault:
- Accident reports
- Witness statements
- Photos from the scene
- Physical evidence from the scene
- Expert witness statements
- Surveillance footage
- Personal recollections
Our experienced Long Island bus accident lawyers can help collect and preserve the aforementioned evidence in your case.
Elements of a Bus Accident Lawsuit in Long Island
Each bus accident lawsuit is unique. Many different legal strategies may be utilized to recover payment in your case. However, each of the following elements must be established in order for your case to prevail:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care
- The defendant breached their duty of care
- You were hurt because of the defendant’s breach of duty
- You sustained damages because of the injuries you incurred
During your free case review, our Long Island bus accident lawyers can help determine if these elements have been satisfied.
The Process of Filing a Bus Accident Lawsuit
Filing a bus accident case begins with a call to a lawyer. Unfortunately, this is probably the easiest step in the whole legal process.
First, your attorney must draft and file a formal legal complaint against the person responsible for the bus accident. The complaint must contain specific and detailed information about you, the defendant, the accident, and the evidence we have to support your claims.
Remember, if the complaint is vague, omits essential information, or is otherwise lacking, the court may reject it.
Next, we must serve the defendant with notice of the complaint. This is one of the most important steps in starting a lawsuit. The defendant must be notified of the lawsuit according to strict laws and court rules. If we send notice in the wrong way or fail to send notice at all, the entire case may be dismissed.
After the complaint is filed and the defendant notified, there are numerous status and pretrial hearings before the actual trial. We should have opportunities to file pretrial motions and demand discovery of the other side’s evidence.
What Happens During a Trial for a Bus Accident?
A trial is the culmination of our legal preparations. Everyone must follow very strict laws and court rules regarding procedure. If the rules are broken, your case might be in jeopardy.
Typically, the plaintiff presents evidence first because they have the burden of proof. We may introduce evidence and witnesses to help prove that the defendant is responsible. Once we rest our case, the defense may present evidence and witnesses.
Keep in mind that the defendant does not have the burden of proof, and they are not actually required to present anything.
Both sides may question witnesses. When we question our own witnesses, it is direct examination, and we cannot lead them to any particular answer. When we question opposing witnesses, it is cross-examination, and questions may be more leading.
We must be mindful of the rules of evidence during the trial. Evidence must conform to these rules, or it may be inadmissible. If inadmissible evidence is mistakenly allowed in court, the case could be appealed.
If You Suffered a Bus Accident in Long Island, Our Attorneys Can Help
If you were hurt in a bus accident, seek support from our experienced bus accident lawyers by calling The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 for a free case review.
