Video Description
Any time you get on a bus, you’re entrusting your safety to another driver. While buses are one of the safer modes of transportation available, accidents do still happen and can be serious.
Making it through the aftermath of a bus accident can be costly and overwhelming. A personal injury lawyer can get you the compensation you need to get you through the worst of it.
WHO PAYS FOR BUS ACCIDENT COMPENSATION?
Usually, bus accident victims are compensated through insurance. If you own a car, you’re legally required to have a car insurance policy. All New York car insurance policies come with personal injury protection, or PIP, benefits. These benefits will cover up to $50,000 worth of your injuries any time you’re in a motor vehicle accident, including a bus accident.
Of course, many people ride the bus because they don’t have a car. Fortunately, if you don’t have a car insurance policy, you’ll be covered by the bus company’s insurance. In some cases, there may be a question of whether the vehicle was legally a bus. New York law defines a bus to include vehicles with 15 or more seats, which includes municipal buses but not certain smaller omnibuses.
Whether you’re covered by your own policy or the bus company’s policy, the benefits will probably be the same. Unless you paid for additional coverage, PIP has a default policy limit of $50,000, as does bus insurance. Both types of coverage only cover what the law calls economic damages: medical bills, lost work time, and physical therapy bills. Economic damages do not include pain and suffering, disability, or emotional trauma, all of which are common in serious accidents.
If your economic damages are over $50,000 or you’ve suffered significant non-economic consequences from a bus accident, you’ll need to file a lawsuit to be fully compensated.
FILING A LAWSUIT IN A BUS ACCIDENT
In most bus accident cases, the obvious thing to do is sue the company that operates the bus. Most of the time, this will be a public transit authority, like the New York City Transit Authority, but it can be a private company as well. If your accident does involve a public transit authority, the statute of limitations for filing a claim is only 90 days from the date of the accident.
In some cases, though, other drivers may be at fault as well. Fortunately, it’s possible to file a lawsuit against multiple defendants if necessary.
The key question in a bus accident case is whether the bus driver or other defendants caused the accident by negligent conduct. Most cases settle instead of going to a jury, but the amount you can get in a settlement usually depends on how strong your case would be at trial. It’s important to have an experienced lawyer put together all the evidence and negotiate the settlement.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU’VE BEEN INJURED IN A BUS ACCIDENT?
If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus accident, contact Rosenblum Law for a free consultation today. Our experienced personal injury lawyers will assess your case and find the best strategy to get you all the compensation you deserve.
Why Choose Rosenblum Law?
