Bus Accidents Can Lead to Serious Injuries
For instance, frequently passengers are not buckled in a seat belt, whereas other times they simply are not available. This is especially common in city or school buses. Therefore, unlike a passenger car or truck, people are either not required to wear a seatbelt on a bus or they don't have the option. Not making seatbelts mandatory or available leaves the passengers especially susceptible to injuries when something goes wrong. They are left to fend for themselves in the event of an accident - this is especially bothersome when you consider the amount of children who ride buses without a seatbelt every day.
Another characteristic that sets buses apart from passenger cars is their massive size. Where a pedestrian might have a chance of survival when they are struck by a passenger car; their chances are much slimmer when they are struck by a massive bus. Buses can certainly do more damage than an average car or truck, which means that injuries can be far greater, as well as damage caused to the other vehicle.
One of the greatest concerns for bus passengers is the fact that they are usually thrown about in a collision. If a bus driver loses control of a bus, it can go plummeting down a mountain, or off a bridge and into a lake or river. People can be thrown from the bus and become crushed or entrapped when the bus lands on their fragile bodies.
Passengers can suffer from slip and fall injuries [http://www.lawyer1.com/Personal-Injury/Slip-Fall.aspx] if they were standing or walking when the bus came to a screeching halt. They can also suffer from minor to life-threatening head injuries if they sustain an impact to the head while being thrust about.
Aside from passengers inside the bus, pedestrians and passengers in other vehicles are susceptible to injuries in a bus accident [http://www.lawyer1.com/Personal-Injury/Bus-Accidents.aspx]. For obvious reasons, getting into a collision with a bus can be extremely dangerous due to its massive size.
Bus accidents happen for a variety of reasons. They can be caused by driver negligence or inattention just like any other driver. The bus driver can easily be guilty of drunk driving, driver fatigue, driving while under the influence of a controlled substance, or they can even be suffering from a side effect of prescription medication.
The bus driver can also make a judgment error while driving which can lead to a traffic collision. Or they can simply take a turn to fast or they can collide with a vehicle in their blind spot. At other times they can be speeding or driving recklessly for no good reason at all.
Aside from bus driver error or negligence, a bus accident can have a mechanical defect as the root of the problem. A defective product or improper maintenance can lead to a devastating accident. This can happen when the manufacturer supplies a poorly designed part, or when the bus company fails to maintain their busses because they want to save money or time and simply wanted to cut corners.
Determining the cause of the bus accident will have to be left up to a professional New York personal injury attorney. They will be able to hire accident reconstruction experts who can find out what the actual cause of the accident was. They will also be able to subpoena any necessary maintenance records that might be relevant in the case. In the end, your lawyer will prove invaluable when you file your claim for damages.