Learn what to do if a loved one is injured in a bus accident.
Back to school time can be stressful for parents and kids alike. While kids may be concerned about making new friends and evading the school bully, one thing parents may worry about is safety during all those rides on the school bus in LA’s infamous rush hour traffic. However, the reality is that riding the bus is actually very safe, statistically speaking.
Other Motorists Fare Worse in Bus Accidents than Bus Passengers
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 1,222 fatal school transportation accidents causing 1,353 deaths from 2003 to 2012. This averages out to 135 deaths from accidents involving buses or other school vehicles per year. However, only about 35 of those victims were actually riding the school bus. The other 100 victims were primarily drivers and passengers of other vehicles, with a few bicyclists and pedestrians also included.
Bus Accidents Rarely Kill Children
Of the 1,353 fatalities, only 174 were school age children. Of these children, the majority were actually pedestrians, 119 pedestrians versus 55 passengers. In fact, the NHTSA has advised parents that while riding the bus is very safe, safer even than riding in a car, statistically speaking children are at greatest risk for an accident when approaching or leaving the bus. They have identified a 10-foot “danger zone” around the front, back, and sides of the bus as the area where kids need to take the most care and adults need to be the most watchful.
Seeking Compensation for Bus Accident Injuries
Because serious injuries from school bus accidents are rare, parents need not be overly worried. However, it is still wise to know in advance what steps should be taken in the unlikely event of an accident involving a school bus:
- Get medical care for victims
- Take photos to document the scene
- Collect contact information from witnesses
- Contact an attorney
- Let your attorney contact your insurance company
The above steps would apply to any kind of traffic accident and would help form the basis for a personal injury claim, so long as liability for the accident can be satisfactorily proven. However, in the case of a school bus accident there are a few special considerations that you need to be aware of.
First of all, there may be shorter filing times if the bus or school vehicle belonged to a public school. Rather than having two years to file as you would have in an ordinary traffic accident injury case, you may have only 6 to 12 months to initiate your claim through the public entity’s procedures.
Secondly, you may have the opportunity to target more than one person or entity in a bus accident injury case involving a school vehicle. The driver, the contractor supplying the bus service, and the school district could all potentially be held liable for an accident under the right set of circumstances.
If you have questions about seeking compensation for bus accident injuries, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas today.
