A Series of Unfortunate Bus Accidents

Looks like swine flu isn’t the only thing racking up the body count in California.

Going through the news, I read from the Los Angeles Times about a bus crash in Monterey County that left four people dead with more than thirty more injured.

It was an Orion Pacific tour bus carrying French Canadian tourists from San Francisco to Santa Maria. According to the article, the bus hit a guard rail on the two-lane southbound overpass, where it overturned and threw out three or four passengers at least 30-40 feet from the site.

Unfortunately, this bus crash isn’t the first for California and even more unfortunate is the fact that it isn’t even the first bus accident for this month as I remember reading two other bus accidents a week or two ago.

It just goes to show that we are simply not doing enough to make public transport particularly, commercial buses, safe for the public. One can’t help but sympathize with National Transportation Safety Board’s oft-repeated calls about the lax oversight of the commercial bus industry and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s failure to implement their recommendations that could lead to new safety equipment on buses, including seatbelts and stronger roofs and windows.

California laws actually place a higher duty of care on bus drivers to drive reasonably than an average driver. So in bus accidents, the blade cuts both ways, the negligent driver and the employer.

In times like this, there can only be regret—regret on the part of relevant government agencies who have been sitting on their hands instead of being proactive, regret for the part of the bus driver who may or may not have been negligent in the performance of his duty and yes, regret on the part of the employer for having failed to be more vigilant about the skills and qualifications of the person he has hired.

Bus accidents are deaths that could have been easily prevented and that on its own, is what makes it all the more tragic.

Colusa Bus Accident Investigations at its Final Stages

After months of speculation of the cause of the tragic bus accident, finally investigation revealed that the driver Quintin Watts was indeed drowsy during the crash. The investigation yielded no traces of alcohol or drug use. Due to such development, Watts was released from the state prison after 3 months of imprisonment.

On October 2008, eight people were killed and thirty-five others were injured when their bus ditched into a narrow road.

Initial investigations uncovered that neither the driver nor the bus has the legal rights to be on the road. The road was listed as non-operational.

Watts, on the other hand, was on parole for his 2007 conviction. While he has a long-standing authorization to drive pilot tankers and trucks, he had no DMV authorization however to drive a bus. Due to the accident, Watts’ parole was revoked and he was send back to jail.

Tragic bus accidents like this could likely cause by various causes. Driver’s error, mechanical defects, road or weather conditions and legal intricacies may altogether contribute to a horrible accident like this.

Consequently, all negligent parties who had contribution to the crash, no matter how little could face legal consequences.

May this incident be a lesson to all of us. One single mistake may result to invariable and complicating outcomes.

Liability in Bus Accidents

Buses often carry large numbers of passengers and when bus accidents occur, the consequences are often tragic and disastrous.

Look at an accident involving two school buses carrying students of Lennox Middle School, out on a field trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. According to reports, the two buses were traveling convoy and when the first bus on the line slowed down in traffic, the second bus slammed the back of the first vehicle.

Fortunately, the impact of the crash was not that strong to cause any serious injury but merely bruises and pain for the bus passengers who were mostly schoolchildren with adult companions. The twenty-three children all sustained injuries, some of them had severe neck and back pains.

The police are still investigating the incident to determine what caused it and who the liable parties are.

But who can be held responsible for accidents like this?

Under the law, common carriers like commuter trains and buses are expected to exercise care and safety for their passengers. During accidents, investigators will look into the standards by which this duty of care is exercised to see if there are lapses made.

Liability in most bus accidents depend on several factors as the cause of the accident must first be established.

If the accident is caused by factors other than driver negligence, liability will change considerably. For instance, if the accident is caused by a failing condition of the vehicle such as worn-out tires, brakes or steering mechanism, then liability will fall on the bus owners or operators and the drivers.

Typically, personal injury litigation will determine the extent of liability of each party involved in the accident. In this case, investigators are still trying to determine whether the drivers of the two buses are drunk or negligent, which will include going over their past criminal record and history of alcohol or drug use. Otherwise, the police would have to find out the other causes of the accident to hold the people responsible for the injuries that resulted from it.

By any means, liability in an accident may be difficult to be established and proved. Hence, one would need the assistance of an experienced accident lawyer in order to help him file a claim against the offending party.

Pedestrian killed in Fresno Bus Accident had Right of Way

The police investigation recently confirmed that 74 year old man who was killed in a bus accident in Fresno had right of way when the accident occurred.

Initially, it appears that a Fresno Area Express bus was maneuvering a U-turn from Fresno Street onto M Street when the victim, who was crossing M Street at about the same time, was struck by the bus.

After the investigation, the police believe that the bus was about to stop at the intersection when all of a sudden the light turns green. So it proceeded to turn into the intersection, thus hitting the pedestrian which the driver didn’t probably notice. It means then that the victim was in the right.

Statistics shows that there are at least 360 million bus passengers in the US each year, while there are 30,000 commercial buses for tours, charters, special operations and regular route services.

With the rise in numbers is the rise in bus accidents. From year 1990 to 2001, there were recorded 50,000 to 63,000 bus accidents in the US. The figure includes school, transit and intercity buses. Death toll is rather low, fortunately, but injuries reached a staggering figure of 15,000 to 21,000.

In this particular case, civil suit for recovery of compensation must be vehemently and strongly pursued by the family of the old man. This is not to enrich them but to vindicate them for the loss of a loved one.

If the bus was operating illegally such as when it turned out that the bus company was not authorized to operate as a carrier in intestate commerce, then it may be facing more legal repercussion that its owners or operators care to imagine.

Liability for Bus Accidents

Everyday, our roads and highways are witnesses to innumerable car and bus accidents causing serious injuries and claiming lives. Often, these unnecessary accidents are caused by carelessness, negligence or recklessness on the part of the drivers involved in car accidents.

With bus accidents, the devastation is numerous and unexpected than that of smaller vehicles. With the sheer size of buses roll over accidents, head on collisions and other high speed accidents involving buses always result in catastrophic injuries, property damages and lost lives.

Most bus drivers, like truck drivers, are tired and weary from whole days of driving through heavy traffic. They are always stressed out and some are sleepy due to extended hours of work as well as body fatigue as a result of the stress sustain by the body during those thousands of miles of road trips daily.

Whether through bus driver negligence or poor maintenance of buses and equipments, the bus owner or operator is liable for bus accident claims for the injuries you sustained as a result.

Unfortunately, most of the bus companies would rather spend money defending themselves rather pay for you medical bills outright. They don’t want to admit liability if they can help it because it is bad for their business.

Before pursuing a case of personal injury on account of being a victim of a bus accident, it is advisable to study the legal implications of it, first.