Bus Accident Lawyer

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is responsible for accurate information regarding accidents on public highways as well as reported fatalities related to accidents, and according to new data the agency has been under reporting accidents and fatalities related to motor coach vehicles, giving a false appearance as to the safety of our highways.

With the many bus accidents that are occurring, it is clear that public safety is being disregarded in an attempt to show that our highways are much safer than they really are, as inaccurate information has been reported to congress and on public records for bus safety. With the death of Lorenzo Charles who died in a motor coach bus accident in Raleigh, North Carolina, the death toll for this year is at 25, for motor coach, or passenger bus accidents involving fatalities.

According to the most recent reports 42 deaths involving passenger type buses were not reported through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, from the years beginning in 1995 through 2009, and even more shocking since 2003, 32 fatalities were not reported through (NHTSA), the (NHTSA), only reported 133 deaths, and withheld 42 deaths, in an effort to make our highways appear safe.

Failure to report accurate data in regard to highway safety puts the entire public at risk, as with necessary laws to protect the public are not seen as an urgent issue based on the reports of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The responsibility to keep highways safe start with honest reporting of the unsafe conditions that can cause a fatal bus accident, for example, unsafe or hazardous motor coach tires to blame for a bus wreck that causes the death of a passenger or passengers, is the bus company owner who is at fault, for failure to use proper maintenance prior to an accident.

When the Highways are to blame for a bus accident, such as with a traffic light that is not working, or a police car collision with a bus during a high speed chase, or a road that is deemed safe to travel during a flood, and the flooding waters cause a bus wreck due to negligence on behalf of those who are to keep the public transportation system notified of any unsafe routes, and did not carry out their responsibilities, in these cases it is imperative that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report any findings related to accidents or fatalities that must be rectified in order to prevent future accidents of this nature.

Bus wrecks are occurring frequently these days, with reports of bus accidents causing catastrophic loss of life as well as critical injuries to those who survive the bus wrecks. With many causes reflecting negligence on the part of the bus driver, and the reported cases are rising with the cause being driver’s fatigue, as well as intoxicated drivers, and distracted drivers.

In the New York bus crash in March 2011, the cause of the wreck was suspected that the driver of the bus was suffering from drivers fatigue, an investigation was conducted following the deadly bus crash that that killed 15 people and investigators discovered that the bus driver had rental car records showing the rental car in continuous use during the hours the bus driver claimed to be sleeping.

In addition investigators discovered that the driver of the tour bus had driving privileges suspended eighteen times prior to 2007, in addition he also had a criminal record and he had multiple licenses including one that was suspended before the New York bus crash in different names.

The driver of the bus was also said to be speeding at the time of the bus crash with reports of 78 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone, when the bus hit a barrier and landed 480 feet below, after the fall the bus slid into a sign support that split the bus in half.

Cell phone records during the investigation reveal that while the bus driver was driving the bus he was also using a cell phone as well the phone numbers he was calling were also being dialed when the bus driver claimed to be sleeping.

In light of the horrible events that unfolded in March 2011, as a bus takes out a total of 15 lives there has to be laws to protect all of the passengers that get on a tour bus driven by a driver that is deemed incompetent to drive, and should be the case when a bus driver has eighteen different drivers license suspensions.

When public safety is in the hands of people who drive public transportation vehicles, it is a requirement of the owner of the public transportation, to use determining factors in order to put only the best responsible drivers in their buses, and background checks to reveal any information that would put the public in danger, clearly in the March 2011 New York bus crash this was not done.

An accident involving a Coach USA bus occurred in Cleveland Texas, as traffic had stalled to accommodate a slow moving SUV, the bus crashed into a stopped pickup truck driven by Gary Rogers. After the crash the bus veered off the highway and landed near some railroad tracks located in Cleveland Texas, on the East side of U.S. 59. The bus driver and eight of the passengers were transported to Cleveland Regional Medical Center, after receiving injuries from the accident.

Much speculation began as to why the driver of the Coach USA bus failed to stop, as with many accidents involving buses of this nature it is almost always driver fatigue that causes such accidents as the bus driver becomes over worked and unable to avoid distractions. With the many demands that are being placed on the passenger bus drivers such as, working longer before being allowed to stop, are thought to be contributing factors as to why this type of bus accident occurs.

Another accident involving a Coach USA bus occurred in Orange, New Jersey after a Coach USA bus crashed into a black SUV, the black SUV flipped upside down and was pinned between a utility pole and the bus. It took firefighters and EMTs an hour to pull two women out of the SUV, six of the passengers aboard the Coach USA bus were injured, and as a result of the accident the six injured passengers and the women injured in the SUV were taken to University Hospital.

While the above examples reveal accidents involving the Coach USA passenger buses, there are many passenger buses that have been involved in some serious accidents trough out the years, and with some reports of fatalities such as the March tour bus wreck in New York that caused the deaths of fourteen passengers.

The tour bus was trying to avoid hitting a tractor trailer when the accident occurred the tour bus lost control while trying to avoid a tractor trailer, who reportedly kept going as the tour bus rolled on its right side, stripping the roof from the top of the bus, while eventually striking a guard rail, and the bus then goes down along the guardrail.

This bus wreck is considered one of the worst as thirteen people died at the site of the tour bus wreck and one other person later died from their injuries at the hospital. There were eighteen other passengers who were injured during this bus crash and were taken to the hospital. The later reports reveal that the driver of the tour bus was driving at a high rate of speed when the wreck occurred.

On June 4^th 2008, twenty five passengers were injured when a greyhound bus tipped over while transporting forty two passengers. While the driver was not injured from the accident, twenty five of the passengers were injured as a result of the accident. Several eye witnesses state, the bus driver of the greyhound was driving north on I-65 when the bus accident occurred.

The description of the bus accident is frightening as it is described by witnesses and passengers, the bus is said to have landed on the right side with the wheels facing the concrete barriers in the I-65 median.

With grey hound and many other bus companies, the driver is supposed to be limited to a 10 hour driving limit, but that is not the only precaution that should be made, in addition there should be routine medical evaluations and random drug testing to adequately ensure the public’s safety as well.

Driver fatigue has been blamed for many bus accidents since the June 4^th 2008 incident such as the August 13^th 2011, incident where the bus driver of a gray hound bus lost control of the bus as he was in route to St. Louis, the bus landed on its side on the interstate. This bus accident caused a total of fourteen people to be transported to area hospitals, and one passenger was trapped inside the bus, requiring assistance from rescue crews.

Driver fatigue blamed on another incident in February 2012, in Los Angeles California, this accident involved a MTA bus, the bus crashed into a bus stop, the bus driver was the only one injured and she was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries, there was other damage related to signs and a light pole involved in this accident, fortunately there were no passengers on the bus at the time of the accident.

Whether the accident is one that involves multiple passenger injuries or only one driver the results can be deadly, if a bus driver falls asleep at the wheel there are a number of issues that must be addressed, the first being why? A simple why are they allowed to drive, when they can’t stay awake at the wheel and with countless lives that can be lost over the negligence of the driver as well as the company that employees the driver.

Public safety should include bus drivers that are awake at the wheel when driving any form of public transportation.

Parents who assume that their children are safe after allowing them to get on a school bus in route to school, are highly mistaken, with bus accidents occurring daily that involve a school bus you soon lose the belief that the school bus is a safe alternative for transporting your children to and from school. While many of the reported school bus related accidents involving bus drivers who are driving under the influence occur without children on board the bus at the time of the accident, offers little comfort to the parents of these children.

Egg Harbor Township, located in Philadelphia had one of these incidents, involving a school bus that shook up the small community beyond belief, as a female bus driver age 38 crashed a school bus in Pleasant Woods development in the Farmington Area, after calling the bus company she was given another school bus, shortly after receiving the second bus, she was involved in yet another accident, as she continued driving she then hit a house located on Rhodes Avenue. Shockingly, she was allowed to have a total of three accidents before finally being arrested. Fortunately there were no children on the bus during the accidents caused by her driving under the influence.

Reports of school bus drivers transporting children while under the influence occur a lot more than most people realize, such as the incident in Cumberland County, North Carolina involving a bus driver who was under the influence at the time of an accident involving a small Ford. Five of the eighteen students on board the bus received medical care and were reported to have minor injuries. When police tested the bus driver for alcohol levels, they discovered the school bus driver was five times above the legal limit.

All intoxicated school bus drivers will eventually get caught, such as the Northwest Indiana incident. A school bus driver reported to have been driving while intoxicated with forty four children in route to a field trip. This is enough to aggravate any parent who has to trust the school bus driver in order to transport their children to and from school functions, in addition to the outrageous fact that she was actually driving with the forty four children on board that bus is frightening.

Mandatory drug screening is necessary in order to prevent school bus drivers from receiving jobs or keeping jobs where they put the public at risk, I can’t believe that no one knew about the school bus driver’s use of alcohol prior to the incidents reported.

Driver fatigue is a major culprit in the majority of bus related accidents. With cases of legal claims throughout the United States and the most recent bus accident being the New York bus accident that claimed the lives of 15 people as the first portion of the investigation into the Bronx New York bus accident is to determine whether the driver was suffering from fatigue which could have caused the bus accident.

A reported bus accident last year involving a bus traveling through Virginia was involved in an accident causing the bus to roll over fatally wounding four passengers and injuring others involved claims of driver fatigue to be one of the major culprits causing this bus accident.

Two people are killed and 32 injured after a Rimrock Stage Bus wrecks in Montana, which will be investigated for whether driver fatigue was a factor in the cause of this accident or if it was caused by icy weather.

Bus Driver killed in Pennsylvania after rear ending a tractor trailer injuring the driver of the tractor trailer along with 24 passengers. The cause of this accident is driver fatigue, along with negligence on the part of Mr. Ho Charter service while reports prior to this fatal accident show that more than 68% of the drivers working for Mr. Ho Charting service were given citations for fatigued driving.

While charter buses are the first mentioned in this article in regard to driver fatigue being the result of many bus accidents, this is not the only form of transportation that can be involved in deadly crashes involving driver fatigue. There are numerous reports of school bus accidents claiming the lives of many, and fatigued driving is the major cause of these accidents as well.

In 2006 a tragic school bus accident claimed the lives of 4 students and injured many more as a school bus was pushed off of a high way overpass, the driver of this school bus was investigated for driving fatigued as well, this accident led to many hoping to enforce seat belt laws for school buses in an attempt to save lives should this occur again in the future.

Random Lake school bus carrying 26 students involved in a crash with a hauling and utility truck  causing minor injury of 18 children with 2 children receiving treatment in a hospital for more serious injuries, as well as the driver of the truck requiring transport to a local  hospital, the investigation of this accident reveals driver fatigue as the cause.

Thirty-two people were injured and two died after a bus crashed on the icy Interstate 90, just a mile off Clinton, at around 7am in January, leaving about eight people still seriously injured to this day.

The Rimrock Trailways bus line skidded off the road and crashed, with all its passengers either dead or injured, a report by the Montana Highway Patrol revealed. At the time of the accident, it was said that some of the passengers were ejected from the bus when it leaned to its side, breaking the windows in the driver’s side. Three of them were found pinned under the bus, while the others were sprawled across the ground, writhing in pain.

Two who died were identified to be 56-year-old Robert Lange, a truck driver from Kalispell, and 60-year-old Fatimah Amatullah, who was on her way to Seattle to see relatives.

Investigations into the cause of the ac cident found that it was the icy road that did most of the damage, although the bus was also running at a speed of between 65 and 70 miles per hour. The vehicle reportedly slid 150 feet when it got into the median, so investigators remain in the dark as when the bus had started going out of control. When the bus bounced as it slid, investigators believed that was when the windows broke and people were ejected from the vehicle. The bus was found on its side.

“It was a very traumatic scene, with around 20 people walking wounded and screaming in pain,” an observer said, declining to be identified. Some of the injured were immediately rushed to the nearest hospital with mixed major and minor concussions, while the two were already dead on the spot. The driver was among those who had been seriously hurt from the incident.

In a fatal accident where the cause is largely unknown and most likely pointing to natural causes, is the bus company still liable? Bus accident lawyers will tell us that any injury suffered while in the confines of a public vehicle will place the operator accountable for anything that happens and, hence, victims with both major and minor injuries may file for claim. As long as you have the supporting medical papers to back your claim for compensation, our team of lawyers can provide assistance to any damages claims relating to bus accident claims, no matter how minor.

If you have been in a bus accident in the past months or know someone who was, do get in touch with a qualified bus accident lawyer to see how much compensation you can get from the damage.

Forget about the movie “Speed” where bus-related incidents involve criminals and hostages. Nowadays, it appears that bus accidents and injuries are happening among tour services whose objectives would have been to entertain, not harm. Switzerland saw the latest massive bus accident in what the media describes as the worst in the country since 1982, involving the death of 22 children and their six companions.

In March, students of St Lambertus school in Heverlee, a suburb of Leuven, Belgium were happily coming home from a ski trip in the Swiss alps when their tour bus crashed into a tunnel wall, killing 22 kids and six adults on site. Some twenty-four passengers survived but suffered trauma. Twenty-one of those who died were of Belgian nationality, while the remaining seven were from Netherlands. Most of the kids were 12 years old.

Investigations are still ongoing on what could have cause this tragic incident, whether it was a technical or human error. According to investigators, it did not seem that the bus was traveling at illegal speeds, running at only around 15 to 20 kilometers from the Val d’Anniviers ski resort before entering the Swiss tunnel where the bus crashed. All the children were wearing seatbelts at the time, but shock of the crash had still led to their deaths.

A memorial mass for the deceased was held shortly after, bringing around 100 family members of the Belgian victims to fly in to Geneva. Some where taken the the Valais canton where the accident happened, while the others were brought to the hospitals where the surviving children had been admitted. Others received counselling in crisis groups. As of the memorial, eight children had still been unaccounted for.

For most parents of the victims, all they could do at the time was grieve, but the horror that incident led to, regardless of who was at fault, should call for someone who will be held accountable for what happened. After the grieving, the next best step would be to consult with legal entities who can give an outsider’s view on what could have happened and who could be answerable to the tragedy. Could it have been the tour group’s fault? Could it have been the driver’s? Could it have been the tricky tunnel curves? There is strength in accepting what remains of the accident, but there is greater strength in finding out the truth.

Investigations into a massive bus accident in Lockport, New York has led to the filing of a lawsuit with a $40 million claim. Kaizar Master of Abu Dhabi and Westchester County attorney Michael Kaplen (on behalf of 17-year-old Maryam and her father, Kaizer Master) filed a case with the Niagara County Court against Bedore Tours of North Tonawanda, Bridgestone Americas Tire, Motor Coach Industries, and the bus driver for the death of two passengers and the injury of dozens more during a tour by Indian nationals to Niagara Falls from Washington DC.

The bus reportedly got out of control on Interstate 390, flipped, and crashed into a wooded location 55 miles south of Rochester. On investigation, it was revealed that the front right tire belts appeared to have not been properly attached and the driver was speeding at 72 miles per hour in a 65 mph zone. The bus also reportedly did not have enough seatbelts, which could have saved some of the other passengers from serious injury.

Sakina Master was one of the passengers who was killed during the crash. Husband, Kaizer Master, and daughter, Maryam, are both seeking $20 million in reparations for their loss, as well as injuries and psychological trauma suffered to themselves. Mrs. Masters was sitting in the front seat without a seat belt and so was extremely exposed in the crash.

Bedore Tours of North Tonawanda, located in New York, has specialized in Niagara Falls tours since 1950. The reputable company could now be held liable for negligence in maintaining the vehicle question. The driver also faces charges of speeding. It has been reported that the driver himself was inexperienced as a bus driver and so was unknowledgeable as to how to react to the blown tire.

With so much mass transit in New York, the state has taken serious measures to prevent bus injuries as well as subway injuries. In the matter of the defective tire belts, the responsible parties could be fined a maximum of $1,000 or a minimum of $350. It remains to be seen whether Bridgestone Tire will be held liable for this aspect of the accident or perhaps a technician working with the bus company itself, dependent on the state of the equipment before installation.

Motor Coach Industries is being sued as a party to the incident as the bus manufacturer because they did not install seat belts when the bus was sold to Bedore Tours. It is known, however, that tour buses are not legally required to install seatbelts for passengers. It may be that this incident will raise an alarm for legislation in this area.

Bus injuries are no small matter. Consult with our bus accident lawyers if you’ve ever been or know someone who’s suffered trauma from a motoring accident. A bus is defined as any motor vehicle that carries fifteen or more people at once, not including the driver.