Bus Accidents Can Cause Serious Injuries

People can be injured when they are involved in any type of motor vehicle collision, including bus accidents. Bus accidents are different from other accidents because several different factors are involved that are not involved in your standard car or truck accident.

For example, passengers are often not wearing their seatbelts, while other times they are simply not available. This is especially common on city or school buses. Therefore, unlike in a passenger car or truck, people are not required to wear seat belts on a bus or do not have the option. Failing to make seat belts mandatory or unavailable leaves passengers especially susceptible to injury when something goes wrong. They are left to fend for themselves in the event of an accident; This is especially upsetting when you consider the number of children who ride buses without seat belts every day.

Another feature that differentiates buses from cars is their enormous size. Where a pedestrian might have a chance to survive when struck by a passenger car; their chances are much less when they are hit by a massive bus. Buses can certainly cause more damage than your average car or truck, which means that the injuries can be much higher, as well as the damage done to the other vehicle.

One of the biggest concerns for bus passengers is the fact that they are often thrown around in a collision. If a bus driver loses control of a bus, he can plummet down a mountain, or off a bridge and into a lake or river. People can be thrown from the bus and crushed or trapped when the bus falls on their frail bodies.

Passengers can sustain slip and fall injuries if they were standing or walking when the bus screeched to a stop. They can also sustain minor or life-threatening head injuries if they are impacted on the head while being pushed.

In addition to the passengers inside the bus, pedestrians and passengers in other vehicles are susceptible to injury in a bus accident. For obvious reasons, colliding with a bus can be extremely dangerous due to its sheer size.

Bus accidents happen for a variety of reasons. They can be caused by driver negligence or inattention just like any other driver. The bus driver can easily be found guilty of drunk driving, driver fatigue, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, or may even be suffering from a side effect of a prescription drug.

The bus driver may also make an error in judgment while driving, which can lead to a traffic collision. Or they may simply turn too fast or hit a vehicle in their blind spot. At other times, they may be speeding or driving recklessly for no good reason.

In addition to the bus driver’s mistake or negligence, a bus accident may have a mechanical defect at the root of the problem. A defective product or improper maintenance can lead to a devastating accident. This can happen when the manufacturer supplies a poorly designed part, or when the bus company does not maintain their buses because they want to save money or time and simply want to cut corners.

Determining the cause of the bus accident should be left to a professional personal injury attorney. They will be able to hire accident reconstruction experts who can find out what the actual cause of the accident was. They will also be able to subpoena any necessary maintenance records that may be relevant to the case. Ultimately, your attorney will prove invaluable when filing your claim for damages.