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New York City Bus Accident Lawyer

Have you been involved in a New York City bus accident? Whether you were injured as a passenger, bicyclist, pedestrian, or as the occupant of another vehicle struck by a New York City bus, the attorneys at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers, can help you pursue a claim for your injuries or a loved one’s death.

Catastrophic injuries like broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries are life-changing injuries that can cause permanent disability. When an accident is caused by negligence, damages available in a personal injury claim can include medical expenses, lost earnings, and pain and suffering.

Without a lawyer advocating for your rights, a bus company or municipality will almost certainly take advantage of your lack of representation and offer you a small settlement. If you have suffered a serious injury or tragically lost a loved one, you have one chance to receive compensation for the rest of your life going forward. Do not accept any offer without talking to the NYC bus accident lawyers at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers, P.C by dialing (212) 514-5007.

Our consultation is always free, and we are only paid if we recover money for you.

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How Our New York Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help After Your Bus Accident

Depending on the type of bus involved, liable parties could be a private tour company, a church or private school, a public benefit corporation, a municipality, or a rental car company. Our NYC bus accident attorneys are dedicated to holding bus drivers and bus companies accountable for serious injuries and wrongful deaths.

Along with compensating injury victims, personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits have led to countless safety improvements and regulations that ultimately keep adults and children safer.

Bus accident victims may face an uphill battle, especially if the claim is against an agency like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Although claims are vigorously defended, bus agencies are not immune from liability for their negligence.

In 2016, the New York Daily News reported the New York City Transit Authority, which operates the MTA, had paid out $431 million in injury lawsuit settlements over the prior five years, an average of $86.2 million per year.

If you are hurt in any bus accident, talking to an experienced and knowledgeable NYC personal injury lawyer is the first step in recovering compensation for your injuries.

At Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers, our NYC law firm has decades of experience going up against the MTA and private bus companies on behalf of crash victims. When you’ve been hurt, we’ll be there to fight for you, too.

Our team will investigate your crash, gather evidence, conduct extensive legal research, and work with experts as we determine what your case is worth. We’ll leave no stone unturned as we work to negotiate a meaningful settlement on your behalf. And, our accomplished trial lawyers won’t be afraid to take your case to a jury, if that’s what it takes.

Call our law offices in New York City to schedule a time to discuss the details of your case. Your first evaluation is always free.

What Qualifies as a Bus?

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) defines a bus simply as a vehicle “designed, constructed, and/or used to transport passengers.” The term “bus” is also used to refer to motor coaches, or buses with elevated passenger decks located over a baggage compartment. A Greyhound bus is a common example of a motorcoach.

The attorneys at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers represent victims of accidents involving all types of buses, including:

Greyhound buses
School buses
MTA city buses
Charter tour buses
Casino buses
Church buses
Airport shuttle / rental car shuttle buses.

At Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers, our NYC bus accident attorneys can bring a lawsuit against any appropriate entity following a bus accident. We are familiar with claims procedures, statutes of limitations, and strict filing requirements for claims against public benefit corporations like the MTA.

Causes of NYC Bus Accidents

Bus accidents are often caused by some form of negligence, which may or may not violate commercial vehicle laws, bus company rules, or transit authority policies. Examples of negligence that may lead to an accident include:

Distracted driving
Drunk/impaired driving
Fatigued driving
Negligent hiring/failure to do a background check
Negligent maintenance
Speeding/reckless driving.

As soon as practical following a bus accident, a skilled New York City bus accident lawyer can immediately dispatch a skilled bus accident investigator to identify the cause of the accident. This is a necessary element of any personal injury claim.

In order to recover money for a bus accident, the victim must prove that another party was responsible. An investigation of the bus, electronic data, and GPS records, as well as bus company and driver records, can help establish the sequence of events and who was ultimately responsible for the accident.

Bus Accidents Caused by Dangerous Bus Parts

If a defective or dangerous part causes an accident, the bus manufacturer may be liable for an accident and resulting injuries. Examples of situations where a defective part may contribute to an accident include:

A leak in a power steering gearbox could cause steering problems
Insufficiently torqued caliper mounting bolts could cause reduced brake effectiveness, leading to brake failure
Defects in the sidewalls of bus tires could be responsible for causing rapid deflation, which could increase the risk of a crash.

When a driver loses control of a bus, a catastrophic accident can occur almost instantly. Our attorneys work with top experts in bus accident forensics. If a potential mechanical defect is suspected of having caused loss of control, our product liability lawyers in New York City will thoroughly investigate the source of the problem and determine if a defect may have caused the accident.

Preserving Important Evidence Following Your Bus Accident

Personal injury lawyers always say that you should contact a lawyer as soon as possible following a crash, and that it is never too soon to contact a lawyer. This is even more critical in car accidents involving buses or trucks.

Following a collision, the bus itself may be important evidence. The bus may be immediately towed hundreds of miles away from an accident scene in the hours following a crash, making it challenging to inspect or preserve evidence that is critical to winning a personal injury or wrongful death claim.

The attorneys at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers, can help you ensure vital evidence is not destroyed, replaced, or repaired. The first step to do this is to send a spoliation of evidence letter to the bus company, which requests the preservation of evidence. This includes the bus and bus parts, but also driver records and maintenance records, which may be relevant if the accident was not caused by a defective part.

If the company then loses or destroys evidence, fines and even criminal contempt charges may apply.

MTA Bus Accidents in New York

Bus accidents in NYC occur almost daily and frequently make news headlines. In 2018, the New York Post reported that in a 31 month period from 2015 to 2017, MTA buses were involved in 21,823 crashes, injuring at least 2,520 people. MTA bus drivers have been involved in a number of very serious incidents over the nears, including:

A bus driver employed for just three days failed to apply a parking brake. Her bus rolled backward and struck a pedestrian and four cars.
A bus driver had a medical episode causing his bus to jump the sidewalk, hit a light post, three small trees, a street sign, and two parked cars.
A bus driver did not realize he had struck a bicyclist and dragged him about a block, killing him.
A drunk bus driver found to be 3.2x the legal limit smashed into parked cars.

New York City’s MTA, the largest public transit authority in the United States, provides transportation to about 15.3 people a year, across NYC, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut. The service is run by the state of New York. The surface transit division of the MTA is the MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO).

Injuries and Fatalities Caused by Evacuation Difficulties

Minor injury accidents have turned into catastrophic situations when bus passengers have been unable to evacuate. In one notable crash in 1988 in Kentucky, 27 people died when a gasoline fuel tank was punctured, and fuel supply ignited. The front door was blocked by collision wreckage, and there were no emergency exit windows a roof hatches.

As a result of that accident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended buses to have stronger fuel tanks, stronger seats, and more accessible emergency exits. Many of the safety improvements that have been implemented over the years are the result of data collected from crash investigations.

School Bus Accidents in NYC

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says the safety standards for school buses are above and beyond those for regular buses – and the school bus is the safest vehicle on the road. School bus accidents still occur, often due to negligent or irresponsible driver behavior.

In one accident in February 2020, a New York school bus driver was arrested after fatally running over a 10-year-old girl in a crosswalk.

Like other types of bus accidents, school buses can have multiple causes:

Bus driver distracted by mobile devices
Bus driver failing to properly adjust mirrors so that they
Negligently maintained school bus
Design or manufacturing defect in the school bus
Other drivers on the road.

If the school district failed to properly screen or train a bus driver, or failed to maintain a bus properly, they may be liable for injuries to the victim.

School districts can be challenging defendants, and claims involving them are subject to specific filing requirements for sovereign immunity waivers. A knowledgeable NYC school bus accident lawyer can help you protect your legal rights following an accident.

Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers attorneys have handled numerous school bus accidents. Our bus accident case results include a $500,000 recovery for a student who suffered a fractured leg due to a school bus accident.

Hire an Experienced New York City Bus Accident Attorney at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers

Do not accept any compensation offer for your injuries or a loved one’s death without first talking to a lawyer. You may be entitled to receive substantially more compensation for motor vehicle accident injuries and lost wages than are initially offered, even if the insurance company states an offer is the best that will be made.

Our New York personal injury lawyers at Rosenbaum Personal Injury Lawyers have more than 40 years of experience representing victims of bus accidents in New York City. We’ve seen firsthand how devastating bus accidents are for victims and their families.

We are serious about helping bus accident victims recover the maximum compensation they are entitled to receive. We represent clients all across NYC – including those injured on Long Island and Staten Island – and look forward to helping you.