Buses are a convenient means of local travel. Thousands of buses are on roads every day across the United States, helping people commute, take a city tour and travel from one place to another for various purposes. Though it is safe to travel in buses, accidents can happen due to reckless driving. If you are involved in a bus accident, the injuries sustained can be severe. A bus is a large vehicle with lots of passengers and the driver has to try to stay on schedule for stops. This causes the driver to do things like drive too fast, take off before everyone is seated, close the doors to the bus too early, and stop abruptly. All of these things can cause passengers to become injured.
If you have never been in a bus accident, you may not know what steps to follow next. At the Accident Injury Law Center, Mr. Yneges helps injured bus passengers take the essential steps after an accident.
Here is what you should do, if you were injured as a passenger in a bus:
Collect Evidence:
Get the bus route, time of day you were picked up, and the number of the bus to start with. Also get the driver’s name and look for phone numbers to call inside and outside the bus to report the driver if they were not driving properly. Make a request for all the video footage for the bus, inside and outside cameras, by calling and writing to the bus company to request the footage. Take photos of where you were sitting or standing and of the bus itself.
Talk to Witnesses:
When it comes to an accident, the role of witnesses becomes very important, because they are non-interested parties that can describe what they saw happen to you. Take a look around and see if there are people who saw what happened to you and their names, addresses and contact information. These details will prove to be of great help if the claim has to be filed as a lawsuit.
Call 911:
In the case of a bus accident, the bus driver may not want to get into trouble so don’t rely on them to call for medical assistance for you; call 911 yourself or ask someone near you to call 911. You can ask the driver to call 911 as well, but don’t expect them to do it on their own. As soon as you are able to, after the accident, make a request for the 911 call to be provided to you on CD or on a written transcript.
Seek Medical Attention:
Bus accidents can be moderate or severe. In some accidents, the bus turns over completely causing major injuries to the passengers. If the bus accident you are involved in is a severe one, you will need immediate medical help. You cannot assess the extent of an injury right away. In many cases, the injuries look small, but you could have very serious injuries which are not visible from outside. Injury symptoms may sometimes take several days to appear. Therefore, always call for medical assistance right after an accident, even if you think you are fine.
Avoid Making Statements:
Never prejudge or underestimate the extent of injuries from a bus accident. Refrain from making any kind of statements related to your injuries. If you end up making incorrect statements or saying “you are OK”, this can ruin the success of your claim.
Before giving any injury-related statement, you should seek the expert / legal help of an accident injury attorney.
Talk to a Bus Accident Attorney:
Major bus companies are protected by way of insurance. Insurance companies often want to pay as little money as they can after an accident. This is exactly why you should always work with a personal injury attorney, because oftentimes the insurance companies will not take your claim very seriously if you are not represented by an attorney. Insurance companies even give attorneys a hard time and put off settlement of a case as long as possible, so when they see a person representing themselves they know they can cause that person to become very frustrated with all the delays caused by the insurance company and the person is more likely to settle for a much smaller amount than their claim is worth.
Responsible Parties in a Bus Accident
The responsibility of a bus accident can lie with one or more parties.
Bus Drivers:
It is the duty of the driver to drive the bus safely and get the passengers to their respective destinations without injuring them. Most accidents happen because of the mistakes of the driver. Bus accidents are more likely to occur if the driver is drunk or ill-trained or if he or she drives while they are distracted.
Bus Companies:
Bus accidents also happen due to the negligence of companies that operate a fleet of vehicles. It is the responsibility of the bus companies to choose the best drivers, based on the latter’s qualifications and skills. Plus, these companies also need to abide by the regulations set forth by the government. If bus companies fail to fulfill all these criteria and recruit poorly trained drivers, they must be held responsible for the bus accidents.
Other Motorists:
It is not only the bus driver who may be involved in a bus accident. In the case of a collision, several drivers or motorists may be involved. Their responsibility can be either partial or full.
Determining the parties that were responsible in an accident is not always easy. That is why it is essential to gather all the evidence from the site of the accident and collect witness statements. In short, working with a personal injury attorney is the ideal way to process your injury claim. Just submit all the information to the attorney, and he will come up with an effective plan.
Why You Should Hire a Bus Accident Injury Attorney
Without the help of an accident injury attorney, you will find it challenging to deal with the insurance company and any defense attorneys. There are several benefits of working with a reputed attorney who has a reputation for aggressively representing their clients and helping them to succeed with their injury claim. Working with a competent personal injury attorney means he or she will fight on your behalf and help you receive the maximum amount of compensation to cover for your loss. With the attorney by your side, you do not have to worry about the complexities of filing an injury claim. The attorney will take care of each and every part of your claim in a professional manner and the other side will know that if the claim does not settle for a fair amount the attorney will file a lawsuit on your behalf.
A bus accident has several aspects, each of which requires expert legal attention. If you were involved in a bus accident, you will need to deal with an insurance company to make a claim for injuries, lost wages, and or property damage. As a result of a severe accident, you may be confined to bed for several weeks, resulting in loss of wages. There are many other issues that arise after you have been in an accident. A personal injury attorney will deal with every aspect in an effective and professional manner.
Talk to A Bus Accident Attorney Mr.Yneges
If you are located in Orange, CA, feel free to reach out to The Accident Injury Law Center (TAILC). Mr, Yneges will help you cope with all kinds of legalities in the wake of a bus accident. After sustaining injuries in a bus accident, your focus should always be on recuperating and getting well enough to go back to work. While you rest and recover, our bus accident injury attorney will negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf, so that you receive the compensation that you rightfully deserve. Mr. Yneges is a reputed and accomplished personal injury lawyer who helps a wide range of clients, badly hurt in accidents, get their lives back on track.
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