Buses are a popular form of transportation in cities, commonly used to transport citizens across cities or kids to school. School and public buses usually hold 20 to 40 passengers at a time. Nowadays, most buses are equipped with seatbelts, which helps keep passengers safe in the event of an accident. There are about 3,000 bus accidents across America every year, with California, Florida, and Texas as the states with the deadliest accidents.

School bus related crashes alone kill about 100 people per year. There are nearly 500,000 yellow school buses that provide transportation for children every school day in America. Riding a school bus is a privilege for a lot of children, as some don’t have easy access to riding a school bus and are forced to walk if no other method of transportation is available.

What To Do After A Bus Accident In Los Angeles?

If you’ve been involved in a bus accident, it’s important to follow the appropriate steps to ensure you get the compensation you deserve. Getting hit by a bus is a traumatic life experience, and you want to ensure you get the compensation you’re entitled to. Being involved in a bus accident can be life changing, and having an experienced personal injury attorney on your side can make all the difference when handling your claim. Here’s some steps you can follow if you’re ever involved in a bus accident in Los Angeles:

• Take pictures of the bus and your vehicle.
• Check yourself and any others involved for injuries.
• Call 911. If someone was hurt or more tha $1,000 of property was damaged during the accident, call 911 so the police can arrive at the scene.
• Don’t admit it’s your fault under any circumstances.
• Get witness information. See if there is anyone around that witnessed what happened.
• Get the bus's insurance information and take a photo of the bus operator's driver’s license and license plates.
• Seek medical treatment. Whether it’s going to the emergency room or urgent care clinic, seek medical attention for your injuries.
• Contact a Los Angeles bus accident attorney. Having an experienced attorney handling your case will ensure you get the best possible settlement for your claim.

Different Types Of Buses

• School buses. School buses transport children or other school going individuals to school. Usually, school buses are yellow and black. School buses usually pick up the riders at a certain time before school starts and bring them back home after school is done.
• City buses. City buses operate in between cities, with numerous bus routes available to take people to different destinations. Riders of city buses are able to take different routes to go to different destinations.
• Motor coach. Motor coaches are usually used to transport large groups of people from one location to another. Motor coaches are usually used on group trips or other types of events where large groups need to travel together.
• Shuttle buses. Shuttle buses are usually driven between places without many stops. Shuttle buses are commonly used at airports and sporting events.
• Party buses. Party buses are commonly used for celebratory events, whether it be a birthday party or a graduation event. Party buses usually carry anywhere from 6 to 20 passengers, and are equipped with party equipment like speakers, disco lighting, as well as food and drinks.

What Compensation Can a Bus Accident Attorney In Los Angeles Get Me?

Being involved in a bus accident can be a traumatic life experience, causing lifelong stress, anxiety, and PTSD. Getting the maximum compensation for your bus accident is important, as it will allow you to seek medical treatment for your injuries and make you whole for everything you lost as a result of the accident. Dealing with an insurance company yourself is no easy feat. The adjusters at the insurance companies work on hundreds of cases daily, and have been trained on how to negotiate and influence people to accept low settlements. When you have an attorney like Sogomonyan Law Group handling your case, those tactics don’t work. We’ve dealt with plenty of insurance adjusters and know how to handle them to get our clients the maximum compensation. At Sogomonyan Law Group, we may be able to recover:

• Lost wages. You’ll be compensated for wages you’ve lost due to the accident.
• Emotional trauma. Being involved in a trucking accident is a life changing experience. The emotional trauma associated with a big rig accident can cause lifelong anxiety and PTSD.
• Medical bills. You’ll be compensated for any medical bills that you had to pay as a result of the accident.
• Property Damage. You’ll get compensation for your vehicle and any other property damaged during the accident.
• Pain & Suffering. As a victim of a trucking accident, you’re entitled to monetary compensation for the pain and suffering that you went through during the accident.

These forms of compensation vary in amount depending on the other parties and your own insurance policies. You won’t always be eligible for everything listed above, but an experienced personal injury firm like Sogomonyan Law Group can review your case to help you determine what it’s worth.

Who Can I Sue If I’m Involved In A Bus Accident?

The circumstances of your bus accident play a major role in determining who will end with a lawsuit for the damages. As the plaintiff, you could be suing multiple people, not just the driver of the bus. Here’s who you may be able to sue if you’re involved in a bus accident:

• The bus driver
• The company that employs the bus driver
• If the bus was leased, the leasing agency.
• If the bus was defective, the bus or parts manufacturer.

The circumstances of the bus accident are what will determine who will be liable for damages. If the bus was defective, a personal injury attorney may be able to hold the bus manufacturer or the parts manufacturer liable for the accident. If the bus was managed by a leasing company, they would be held liable. The driver and the company that employs the driver are usually liable parties in an accident if the bus driver is the one who caused the accident. Ultimately, knowing who to sue can be tough, but when you’re working with an experienced Los Angeles bus accident attorney, you have nothing to worry about.

Do Bus Drivers Get Fired For Accidents?

Whether or not a bus driver would get fired for an accident that they were involved in depends on who was liable for the accident. If a bus driver is involved in an accident where they are the responsible party, there is definitely a possibility that they could get fired as a result. Bus drivers are responsible for the lives of the passengers as well as other drivers on the road, so if they're found liable for an accident, it's likely that their job could be at risk. If a bus driver is not found liable for an accident they were involved in, it's safe to assume that they would keep their job as they had done nothing wrong.

If a bus accident causes someone serious bodily injury or death, it's very likely that the bus driver would be fired and potentially even criminally charged. A bus driver in Detroit that drove for the Detroit Department of Transportation had been fired after striking and killing a pedestrian who was crossing the street. This accident was her second pedestrian accident while driving a bus for the city of Detroit. Her first accident was in 2015, when she ran over a man who had hopped off the bus and was getting their bike off the rack. This led to the man's death and the city of Detroit settling for $4.5 million with the victim's family. Even though the bus driver was fired, she was retrained and later eligible for rehire as a bus driver. This goes to show that even though a driver may get fired after a bus accident there is always a possibility that another company would hire them to get behind the wheel again.