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You likely have noticed a barrage of different buses on the city streets and highways in Morgantown. From school buses to church buses and shuttle buses, buses are everywhere, and people rely on them to get to where they’re going—and most people arrive at their destinations safe and sound. However, buses are much bigger than most vehicles on the road and they have many more passengers, so their safety threat is much greater than a standard auto.
Sharing the road with buses can be challenging; they are large, heavy and often hard to maneuver. To complicate things even more, bus operators are operating these behemoth vehicles with several blind spots, so other drivers can never be sure that the bus operator even sees them on the roadway. If you have been in an accident with a bus, either as an occupant in a vehicle that collides with a bus or as a passenger on the bus itself, you know firsthand the terrifying ordeal it can be. When bus accidents are caused by the negligence of someone else, you have the right to seek out compensation from the at-fault party to recoup your losses caused by your injuries. A Morgantown bus accident attorney is your first line of defense in your pursuit for justice.
Very quickly after a bus accident, teams of insurance adjusters and lawyers usually descend on the scene. Their goal: minimize the economic fallout for the insurance company that insures the bus. The insurance company doesn’t want to pay a cent more than it has to in order to brush claimants under the rug, and attorneys for the defendants in bus accident cases can be quite aggressive. For these reasons, whether the bus accident resulted from operator error, a problem with the bus’ safety system, or even due to the actions of another vehicle on the road, bus accident victims face a myriad of issues in pursuing compensation.
Buses are common carriers that are required to operate under the safety standards set about by the Department of Transportation. The job of your bus accident attorney is to identify all possible litigants in your claim, whether that’s the company or government agency that owns the bus, the mechanical company servicing the bus, or the manufacturer of the parts used on the bus. In some cases, there may be more than one defendant in your claim.
Most bus accidents result from bus driver error. Drivers may fall asleep due to fatigue or exhaustion, or they may become distracted by a text message or cell phone call. Some operators drive recklessly or carelessly; they speed, disregard traffic control devices, or drive while impaired. But it is not always the bus operator—any of these errors can also be caused by other drivers on the road. And in some cases, neither driver is at fault, but the condition of the road is to blame, such as when debris is in the road or pavements are broken or uneven.
Regardless, serious injuries ranging from whiplash to crushing injuries, burns, and traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord injuries are seen all too often in bus accidents. Some of these injuries leave victims impaired for life.
If you are a bus accident victim, contact us right away to discuss your case. Our Morgantown bus accident attorney can review the facts in your case and get started on your claim. Schedule your no-cost case evaluation now.