Many public and private schools utilize school buses to transport students to and from classrooms and other school activities. While buses are handy, they lack many of the safety features seen in other vehicles, and kids travelling on school buses may be badly hurt or killed as a consequence of an accident.
School buses are involved in 37 percent of bus deaths, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. You may be eligible to compensation if your kid was injured in a school bus accident. Here are four things to think about before filing a personal injury claim with the aid of an experienced bus accident lawyer.
Fault of the driver
First and foremost, examine if the school bus driver was to blame for the tragedy. Unfortunately, school bus accidents are frequently caused by driver weariness, negligence, and alcohol. The school bus driver may have been entirely to blame, or culpability may have been shared with another motorist or even a pedestrian who stepped out into the road and caused the accident. It is critical to correctly identify all accountable parties while considering whether or not to bring a bus injury claim.
Fault of the employer
The bus company’s owner may also be held responsible for the accident. If the bus company’s recruiting policies, driver training, vehicle maintenance, or any other action within its sphere of responsibility contributed to the accident, you can and should include them in your personal injury claim. Be aware that, in most circumstances, the school is not the bus’s owner or the bus driver’s employer. Instead, most schools outsource their bus services to third-party companies, who will be the defendants in your complaint.
Procedures exceptions
In some situations, a school district, as well as the operator of its bus system, may be named as a defendant in a school bus accident action. For example, if you have evidence that the school district was negligent in continuing to contract with a provider who has been known to have serious driver and vehicle safety issues, and you believe this negligence contributed to the accident that injured your child, you may want to bring your case to the school. However, keep in mind that doing so might lead to a slew of additional issues, making it more difficult to win your case.
Limitation of liability
The statute of limitations in California for filing a personal injury claim is two years from the date of the accident or the time the harm was discovered. In other circumstances, though, you may need to act more swiftly. For example, if you want to file a claim against the Los Angeles Unified School District, you only have 6 to 12 months to start the process by submitting a claim with the public organization before going to court.
If your child has been injured in a school bus accident in California, contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal case review.
