School Bus Accidents and Passenger Injuries

In many cases, parents will send their children to school on a school bus. This is a common, reliable, and convenient form of transportation for children who are too far from school to walk or ride their bike. It is also a good option for parents so that they do not have to worry about driving their child to school if they are busy getting to work. Public transportation also reduces the carbon footprint by providing a large carpooling service. However, despite these benefits, school buses have their drawbacks. Most importantly to consider is what happens if a school bus gets into an accident and your child is injured as a passenger. On this page, you can learn more about school bus accidents and who might be at fault.

Keeping Passengers Safe

There are many measures taken to keep passengers safe on school buses. Drivers must have special licenses and maintain a clean driving record in order to transport kids. In addition, there are school bus rules for passengers designed to keep them safe.

A few of these guidelines include:

• Maintaining a safe distance from the school bus while it approaches a bus stop. Make sure that your child does not dart in front of the bus and that they wait until the bus is fully stopped before trying to get on it.
• Staying seated while the bus moves. Make sure your child knows to stay in their seat while the bus moves so that they do not distract the bus driver or slip and fall. If your child is standing during an accident, this could also cause more serious injuries.
• Respecting the limit of two children per bench.
• Using a seatbelt if it is available.
• Listening to the driver and following their directions.
• Making an effort not to distract the driver by screaming, fighting, laying on the seats, etc.
• Following any other specific rules that the bus driver has for their bus.

Who Is Responsible For an Accident?

While they are rare, school bus accidents can occur. If your child sustains an injury during a school bus accident, you may want to seek compensation for their injuries. If this is the case, you need to know the at-fault party and who to sue.

In some cases, the bus driver themselves will be responsible for the accident. This is the case if they exhibited negligent behavior while driving, such as speeding, following other cars too closely, using a cell phone, or driving under the influence. In these situations, you can sue the bus driver for their negligence.

In other situations, the company that owns the school bus may be responsible. This might be the case if an accident occurred because the bus was not properly maintained. For example, if an accident occurs because the brakes were worn out, the company that owns the bus would probably be responsible for not maintaining the vehicle.

Of course, another driver may be responsible if they caused the accident. In this case, you can sue the other driver involved in the accident.

If you are not sure who is at fault or how to proceed with a personal injury case, contact my office for further assistance. We are happy to help.