SAN DIEGO
BUS ACCIDENT ATTORNEY
Buses are a useful mode of transportation in San Diego. City buses carry people to and from work, shopping, and other places, and school buses take thousands of children to and from school every day. Due to their size, buses are a relatively safe way to travel, yet every year hundreds of passengers, pedestrians, and other motorists suffer serious injuries resulting from bus accidents. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), approximately 12,000 accidents involving buses occur each year in the United States, injuring more than 24,000 people.
Despite the overall safety features of buses, when a bus driver makes a mistake on the road, it can significantly affect the lives of everyone on board both physically, emotionally, and financially. Family members and loved ones are also affected. If you have been seriously injured on any form of public transportation, including a bus, light rail, subway, or school bus, you could be entitled to seek compensation for your pain and suffering, contact the San Diego bus accident attorney.
A bus accident, like other large vehicles, has the potential to cause serious injuries to the victims. If you or a loved one have been injured in a bus accident, you should immediately consult the experienced San Diego bus accident lawyers at the Law Offices of Samer Habbas to protect your legal rights. Our personal injury attorneys will aggressively fight for the settlement that you deserve and will help you get through this difficult period.
With multiple offices located in San Diego, Irvine, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Riverside and El Segundo, our personal injury lawyers represent accident victims across Southern California. For more information or to schedule a complimentary consultation with an experienced San Diego bus accident attorney, please call 949-727-9300.
Recoverable Damages Available to Bus Accident Victims
Although bus accidents in San Diego are not as common as other motor vehicle accidents, they can result in severe injuries that can significantly impact the lives of the victims. Bus accident victims may require substantial medical attention, mental health treatments, and financial loss due to lost time at work because of the negligence of others. It is important to have an experienced attorney on your side to advise you on your rights and your legal recourse and to help you obtain the full compensation that you are entitled to.
Our expert bus accident attorneys will fight to ensure that you are compensated for your:
- Medical and hospital bills
- Loss of employment, wages, and future earning capacity
- Loss of benefits
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Funeral expenses
- Mental health treatment and physical therapy
- Pain and suffering
- Lost enjoyment of life
- Property damage and replacement
Common Bus Accident Injuries
Buses can become involved in accidents for any number of reasons. It could be the fault of the bus driver, another motorist on the road, inclement weather, or the bus itself might be defective due to negligence in repairs. Most bus accidents occur during the morning and evening commute to work and school.
Bus accidents often result in serious injuries to pedestrians, passengers, and other motorists. Some common bus accident injuries include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Broken or fractured bones
- Traumatic amputations
- Spinal cord injuries
- Neck and back injuries
- Cuts and bruises
- Wrongful death
How to File a Bus Accident Claim
Bus drivers owe passengers, pedestrians, and other motorists a heightened duty of care under California common carrier laws. Most motor vehicle accidents, including bus accidents, are due to negligence. This can result in you requiring medical treatment, mental health treatment, or you might not be able to work for an extended period, suffering significant financial loss. When you’ve sustained serious injuries due to another’s negligence, not only are you owed full compensation, but you will also need it to move forward with your life.
To successfully establish your case, you need to prove that the defendant bus driver and/or the bus service provider owed a duty of care to you, the defendant breached this duty, this breach of duty resulted in the accident, and you suffered actual injuries resulting from the accident.
Contact a Top-Rated San Diego Bus Accident Attorney
If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus accident in San Diego, contact the Law Offices of Samer Habbas & Associates. Our personal injury lawyers specialize in handling bus accident injury cases in California. We have the experience to help you recover your lost wages, medical expenses, and any other costs related to your bus accident injury.
The Law Offices of Samer Habbas is dedicated to helping bus accident victims receive just compensation for their injuries. With multiple offices located in San Diego, Irvine, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Riverside and El Segundo, our accident attorneys represent injured victims across Southern California. For more information or to schedule a complimentary consultation with an experienced San Diego bus accident lawyer, please call 949-727-9300.
Frequently Asked Questions
How common are bus accidents in San Diego?
Accidents involving buses make up only a small portion of accidents each year, although the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found that, per vehicle, buses and other commercial motor vehicles are more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than passenger vehicles. On average, nearly 60,000 bus accidents occur each year in the United States resulting in hundreds of people killed and thousands more injured. However, the average number of traffic accidents per year in the United States is 6 million.
Can I sue the city after a bus accident?
Determining who is liable for a bus accident can be difficult at times. In some cases, the accident is the fault of a third party, such as a cyclist or other motorist acting negligently. When the bus driver is negligent and causes an accident, he or she is responsible. If the bus driver works for a private bus company, as in a company that charters buses for trips or a tour bus company, the company responsible for the bus would also be responsible for the accident and can be sued for damages. In cases when a public bus or city-owned bus is involved in an accident, and the bus driver is at fault, both the city department of transit or transportation and the driver could be found liable and sued for damages associated with the accident.
Do bus drivers have a duty of care?
A bus driver is considered a common carrier and is required by law to make sure that passengers do not get injured. According to California law, a common carrier is someone who transports the general public for a set fee. Examples of common carriers include taxi cabs, MTA buses, airline companies, and railroad companies.
As a general rule, the establishment of one or more of the following elements can be used to qualify someone as a common carrier:
- The company has a regular place of business for transporting the general public
- The company in some manner advertises its business to the general public
- The company charges a set fee for its service of transporting people and/or property.
A bus driver has a duty of care that is stricter than the duty imposed on an ordinary driver. A bus driver can be liable for injuries sustained by passengers for even the slightest deviation from the obligation to transport them safely.d by passengers.
What should I do after a bus accident in San Diego?
It is important that you take specific steps after you have been involved in a bus accident to ensure that you will be compensated for your injuries. Here is a list of steps you should take:
- Call 911 and report the accident.
- Seek immediate medical attention.
- Document what you can by taking pictures or writing down what you remember after the accident.
- Obtain the names and phone numbers of all witnesses.
- Obtain the email addresses of passengers and/or witnesses.
- Don’t make statements regarding your injury.
- Consult with a San Diego bus accident lawyer.
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