San Antonio VIA City Bus Accidents

Have You Suffered Injury Due to a Bus Accident in San Antonio, TX?

With millions of tourists coming to San Antonio every year to experience the River Walk, see the Spurs, and pay homage at The Alamo, San Antonio boasts one of the most advanced and comprehensive city bus authorities (the VIA) – it has over 7,000 stops – and we’re home to dozens of charter bus services.

That all comes out to more buses on the roads, and therefore more opportunities for you to be in a bus accident. Bus accidents can be much worse than you think, and the allocation of liability for injury to a bus accident is maddeningly complicated. According to the National Highway Transportation Administration Security, more than 20,000 people are injured every year in bus accidents nationwide. That's why you need someone like San Antonio bus accident attorney Michael Grossman. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in an accident with a San Antonio VIA bus, commercial bus, private charter bus, or other type of bus, our San Antonio bus accident law firm will help you get what you deserve.

Are Buses Safe in a Crash?

The standard line bus is the approximate weight of 15 tons. That’s the unloaded weight. This size does not necessarily lead to increased safety for bus passengers. When two vehicles collide, of course, passengers on the bus have some extra protection since the vehicle with more momentum and strength will bear the least of the impact. However, when a bus hits a stationary object, it can get dangerous for passengers because the design of buses is usually structurally inadequate to maintain integrity. This is mainly due to the fact that buses often use a frame on chassis design that involves a separate frame on top of a chassis. Buses tend to use a framework that is massive enough and reasonably durable, but offers only a simple, lightweight chassis mounted on a frame. The frame is usually very fragile and is often crushed under the weight of the bus in an impact. This is different from modern cars that use unibody construction, meaning the car and chassis are one and the same. The result of a unibody design is a structure that is more resistant to impact.

In a Bus Accident with a San Antonio Public Bus?

Seeking compensation following an accident caused by buses run by the government, such as VIA buses or those from a school district, is greatly complicated by the immunities and latitude granted to public institutions when they are involved in lawsuits. When public institutions that own or operate a bus are involved in a bus wreck in San Antonio, they are often protected by certain rules of immunity. You can still make claims against public entities that hurt you. If it’s a charter bus owned by private entities, you will likely go against a powerful insurance company determined to fight against your prosecution. There will be multiple parties to consider liable if it is a commercial bus leased by churches, clubs, school groups and others who need to travel long distances in large numbers. Often, these charter buses are in poor mechanical condition, especially with regard to tires, so that’s another set of potentially liable parties you have to investigate. Bus accidents can become quickly complex due to the number of parties that may ultimately bear varying levels of liability for the wreck.

Over our last 20 years of practice, San Antonio bus accident attorney Michael Grossman has amassed relevant experience that has helped many bus accident victims. He knows what to expect and will explain some basics to you here. The main thing is that if you are a passenger or if you're hit by a bus or you're in a collision with a bus, there are ways you can get compensation. It does not matter if it is a public institution or a school bus or private bus charter, although seeking compensation against each entity presents its own challenges.

Prosecution may be brought against public and private companies were responsible for the bus crash, and our attorneys have 20 years experience in treating these cases. These bus operators owe the greatest duty of care to their passengers and to others on the road. While issues relating to public bus companies, schools and municipal governments are complex, all bus companies are common carriers and the injuries they cause to others can be litigated in court

Bus accidents can cause terrible damage. It can often result in horrible injuries to passengers, pedestrians and drivers of other vehicles. The types of injuries include spinal cord and brain injuries, broken bones, sprains, fractures, burns, soft tissue injuries, burns, amputations, and death. The victims of bus accidents and their survivors often may face huge medical bills. Many are too disabled to return to work even after rehab. San Antonio bus accident attorney Michael Grossman will make every effort to ensure that clients have access to all the resources they need to rebuild their health and return to their lives. If you or a family member has had the misfortune to have suffered a painful injury or death of a loved one, you should talk with our San Antonio lawyers at 1-855-393-0000. It is a free call. Grossman Law Offices can answer questions about your specific case.

Complicating Factors in Bus Accidents in San Antonio

There are a number of factors that could cause an accident with a bus and they are rarely the cause of the person who is victimized. These causes can include negligent driving, a poorly maintained fleet, damaged roads, road hazards, improper or careless engine service, broken bus parts (seats, windows, stairs), and even trips planned during inclement weather. Whether you are a passenger injured on a bus, a pedestrian or a third party who was in a bus/car accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. It is important that you contact San Antonio bus accident attorney Michael Grossman so we can talk about your options.

Bus Accidents Happen For Many Reasons

Modern buses are so heavy and cumbersome that they are often difficult to handle, even under the best conditions. When a novice driver or someone who is poorly trained is driving, it is often just a matter of time before there is an accident. Even experienced drivers can be too tired or distracted and can cause bus accidents. Unfortunately, we have seen intoxication and drug abuse by the driver as a contributory factor in a bus accident in San Antonio.

Roads, bus lines, other drivers, pedestrians, poor maintenance and drivers contribute to bus crashes. You can be assured that our accident investigators and attorneys will thoroughly investigate the scene of the incident and the bus itself to ensure that all responsible parties who are liable for a bus accident are brought to court. The general condition of the bus can be a factor in many accidents. Braking systems on a bus must be properly maintained because buses are so massive and the momentum that they create can be immense. We have found cases where bus operators were reluctant to maintain buses because it would take them off the road and they make no money when they are idle.

Bus accident liability is generally easier to determine when the bus is not public but private. States consider that the owner or owners of a bus to be "common carriers," which have a higher degree of responsibility to both their passengers and to others on the road. They must be very careful in their operation of their buses. Legally, it is often easy to conclude that there is a responsibility on the part of common carriers. However, responsibility is often challenging to determine when a bus belonging to a governmental authority is at the center of your accident case.

Say you're in a bus accident with a VIA bus in San Antonio while you happened to be driving a car. Many laws have been implemented to give buses the right of way on roads and this has led to the general bias that bus accidents usually happen because of the other driver. Another problem is that there are usually a lot of people who get injured in bus accidents, which means that there are likely going to be lots of people filing a claim. Let’s say a bus accident is caused by another car. There may be dozens of other passengers, not to mention the bus company, who are going to seek compensation for their injuries from the negligent passenger vehicle driver. As you may expect, typical drivers don’t carry the huge policies that commercial carriers do and so the amount of compensation paid to all may be severely limited. You will want an experienced bus accident attorney to help you identify other potential liable parties that could help pay compensation to you.

A bus can also cause severe damage to a passenger or pedestrian. This can be if the driver runs someone over or if the driver starts driving before the passenger is in place. It can happen on the stairs or if a driver closes a door on someone. If you have been injured in a bus because the bus driver starts to move before you're seated, you may need the assistance of a lawyer. Such allegations are virtually impossible for non-lawyers to litigate, because city entities have a long history of rejecting such lawsuits, even when valid. Basically, San Antonio courts work from the assumption that you know when you get on a bus that there are certain risks in riding the bus, therefore, your injury is likely not the fault of the bus operator. Our attorneys can help in these cases that the law and that the courts would say should not be brought. These cases are unlikely to go far without an experienced attorney to make the case to a judge.

Many people often share the responsibility for bus accidents in our experience. Sometimes bus drivers are just careless or reckless, but there’s usually more going on. Sure, they can speed, run through stop signs, ignore traffic conditions, or make turns illegally, but consider that they wouldn’t behave that way if they were properly trained and managed. Other times there are other parties of interest – the manufacturers, maintenance companies, inspectors, owners, and so on. We will find all parties and make a legal case against them.

What Are Damages You’re Entitled To?

Texas recognizes two separate personal injury damages in a case: General and special damages. General damages, otherwise known as non-pecuniary damage, are anything without measurable value associated with it. General damages are more subjective and vary from situation to situation. Some examples of general damages are:

• Pain and suffering
• Inconvenience
• Mental anguish
• Physical disabilities
• Emotional distress
• Reputation loss
• Loss of consortium
• Disfigurement

For an example of the subjectivity of general damages, imagine that an accident occurred with a bus crash that injured two people. The plaintiff was stunned by the impact, and although he suffered compound fractures of his legs, he was not awake and alert so as not to experience pain. However, the other plaintiff also suffers compound fractures of the legs. He was alert and had a terrible pain that he was awake to experience. Although these two victims may find themselves with similar medical expenses, they each had different amounts of pain and suffering. Consequently, the general damages they have the right to seek will be quite different.

In addition, general damages are subjective in the sense that an injury may have a more severe affect on one person than another. For example, a gymnast who suffers a hip fracture after a bus accident may be significantly more affected by the disfigurement than, say, an inactive 50-year-old since the gymnast regularly pushes her body to its limits and even a slight loss of mobility could be devastating.

Special damages, also known as economic damages, are damages that are explicitly measurable in terms of dollar amounts. Some examples of special damages are:

• Medical bills
• Court costs
• Any loss of earning capacity
• Lost wages
• Property damage

As an example of special damages, imagine a veterinarian technician who makes $30,000, but lost the ability to work after a bus accident caused the loss of his legs. He may no longer be able to work under those circumstances, and therefore would lose his income for the rest of his 40 years of work he expected to do. That's why it's at least $1.2 million for compensation following the accident for his lost earning capacity should be requested, not to mention the other damages, such as medical bills and other items. One of the characteristics of a good bus accident attorney is the ability to adequately account and quantify the damages a victim is entitled to receive as compensation. Our San Antonio bus accident attorneys carefully evaluate each case in order to maximize recovery.

When A Loved One Dies in a Fatal Bus Accident in San Antonio

You should bring a wrongful death case in a fatal bus accident to ensure adequate financial compensation for your family and to prevent future bus accidents caused by similar negligent behavior by any involved, bringing about changes in how responsible parties act and operate buses. The unexpected and sudden disturbances caused by the tragic death of a loved one in a fatal bus accident are devastating when such a loss occurs. Although nothing compares to a loss like this, the financial difficulties resulting from the death of a family member can be enormous. The surviving members of the family of a bus accident fatality are entitled to compensation. Relatives of those killed in most wrongful death lawsuits may seek two types of damages: wrongful death damages and survival damages.

Only spouses, children, parents, and in rare cases, siblings, can claim damages for wrongful death in bus accidents. Wrongful death damages may include:

• Loss of future financial support.
• Medical expenses of the victim before death.
• Compensation for mental and emotional trauma and loss of family love.
• Funeral expenses.

As for survival damages, the closest living relative to the victim of a fatal bus accident can pursue compensation for that which the departed could have sought if they had not died. A line of ascension starts at the spouse and goes to the children and then the parents and then siblings. Survival damages include:

• Medical expenses of the victim.
• Physical pain and suffering of the victim.
• Lost earning capacity.
• Damage to property.
• Mental distress or the victim, i.e. what the victim would have suffered during the rehabilitation process if he or she had only been wounded.
• Lost wages during the hospital stay if the victim would have been survived and recovered.

Research and Evidence Gathering Following a Texas Bus Accident

Investigation of the facts after an accident has two important purposes. This study examines who caused the accident and if more than one party is to blame. Many times, as we mentioned, it is not clear who was to blame for causing the accident involving a bus. In some cases it is obvious, as when a driver is reckless, but in other cases the contributing factors to the accident are things that happen far from the scene – improper driver training, improper bus maintenance, poor planning, manufacturer defects in the bus or bus parts, etc. There is no sure way of knowing who is implicated in a process until we investigate.

We here at Grossman Law Offices know the correct way to collect photographs, physical evidence, video evidence, bus company records, maintenance records, and we know how to evaluate and classify all the evidence to make your case. You should be aware of defense attorneys will do the same in building a case against you. In addition, most defense lawyers are sent to the scene moments after the accident so they get a chance to see the evidence before key elements disappear. It is likely that defense attorneys involved in your case have completed their studies and are already working against you. They know it will take time to decide to hire someone such as San Antonio bus accident attorney Michael Grossman.

Soliciting Settlements

The best way to proceed so that a victim can seek full reconciliation and compensation is to hire a San Antonio bus accident attorney that will make a strong case against the defendant or defendants. You want to encourage them to voluntarily pay you compensation without even having to go to court. You want them to know that the case is so good that it will cost them more if a jury provides a favorable outcome for a plaintiff. An out-of-court settlement means that the defendant voluntarily agrees that they will pay the plaintiff a certain amount of money in exchange for the victim not taking the case to trial. This allows the plaintiff and the defendant to avoid the need for litigation by entering into a mutually acceptable agreement without the assistance of a judge or jury or the high cost of a formal trial.

Not all offers of settlement are a fair deal. If you are offered a settlement from a defendant before you even talk to a lawyer, we can almost guarantee that the offer is likely worth much less than the amount that you deserve. It may seem like much money at the time, but we can assure you that this is not as much as you likely deserve. In these cases, some company agent will offer to provide a quick and dirty amount for your suffering and your injuries in hopes that you will take the money and leave. They bank on you being swamped with bills. Your agent will say something like "We can avoid the hassles and problems that come with a trial if you're just able to sign these documents and then you can get money now."

The law requires that the defendant doesn’t have to pay one penny to the victim until the plaintiff proves otherwise in court. The burden will be on you to do that. We have to explain the reality of how legal cases unfold. You must prove you have incurred damages and that the accused was responsible. If a plaintiff provides sufficient evidence and is not able to present a convincing argument, that plaintiff will lose. The insurance company is doing everything possible under the law to refuse to pay you, the civil plaintiff.

Insurance companies and defendants face serious financial losses and crashes when they have to pay compensation to an injured victim, especially if there may be multiple injured victims in a bus wreck. They want you to accept a low-ball offer quickly. Do not do this under any circumstances. Disregard any settlement until you speak with an experienced lawyer. Remember to never, under any circumstances, accept a payment or sign a written statement without an experienced bus crash attorney looking over any documents you may be asked to sign. You may be signing away your rights and your future ability to seek compensation and redress.

Going To Court

As a victim of a San Antonio bus accident, you’ll likely need an attorney to review the evidence to build your case. Our investigation of the wreck is to help determine the identity of all parties who are responsible for the bus accident. It may happen that there are other parties outside of what we have listed. There may be other drivers or parties, and, until we have reviewed all the evidence, it is not clear that they are involved.

A thorough investigation by our professional team can help a victim obtain compensation for injuries since we gather the evidence needed to prove the guilt of the accused before a jury. We gather whatever we have to so that we can make an evidence-based case backed up by a solid legal argument. It is this kind of detailed evidence gathering and case management strategy you will need to bring to justice. That is, you will need it if you want to win your case so you can get compensation for losses.

At Trial

When you're in a courtroom, you must prove four basic elements to win a jury in favor against the defendants. These elements that you, the applicant must prove are duty, breach, causation and damages. Basically, the case includes an ordinary liability case. We have to prove the defendant's failure to use reasonable care to protect others from harm. Negligence occurs when a defendant doesn’t do something that a reasonable person would have done in similar circumstances. Ordinary negligence consists of the four elements that we talked about, and all four must be proven in court. If the court is not convinced you have proven all four of these factors, you lose the case.

The general duty of care that we all have an obligation to each other, as we said, is to take a reasonable action any person would take, and this applies to persons acting as individuals and how they act in groups i.e. bus companies or public bus authorities. In your case, it is a bus driver who has a duty of care to you so he does not cause injury. Bus companies have also a duty of care to ensure their drivers are licensed, tested and qualified. Other third parties we discussed have a duty of care, as well. The burden on common carriers is likewise taken as a given.

The second element of a plaintiff must demonstrate to the court that the defendant breached this established duty of care. It must be submitted before the trial court to prove that the defendant or the defendants did not meet a reasonable standard of conduct under normal circumstances that could cause harm to someone. If, for example, the driver goes fast, ignoring a stop sign or driving when tired or under the influence, then we say that their actions are unreasonable. We must prove a violation like this to the jury.

The next element in litigation of a bus accident case is called causality. At this point, you must show that the defendant was partly responsible for the actions - intentional or not - that really were, in fact, the cause of your injury. If you do not have enough solid evidence to prove that he was the defendant, you will not succeed in a lawsuit against a company responsible for a San Antonio bus accident.

The final step of a successful lawsuit for this kind of accident is you must prove to the jury your damages. Damages are your incurred financial losses. In court, you must prove up your damages. As we discussed, you may be entitled to compensation for things like pain and suffering, current and future medical expenses, ongoing emotional damage, repair and replacement bills, lost wages of the free time you have taken, the overall loss of capacity labor, and other losses you may have suffered. The defendant must argue to the jury that the amount of compensation sought is an unrealistic sum. It is also one of the areas in which San Antonio bus accident attorney Michael Grossman and his team have built a solid reputation. In our two decades of experience, we have seen many cases of bus accident injuries like yours. Having heard and reviewed the details of your case, we know how much in damages to request so that you are compensated fairly.

Going it Alone Is A Mistake

Bus accident litigation in San Antonio is complicated and the issues are confusing for laymen and inexperienced lawyers alike. Many times there are multiple plaintiffs and multiple defendants. Sometimes the damage is more severe than you see in normal car wrecks. Sometimes it may happen that the insurers, bus companies, or even a representative of VIA will offer you a fast, low ball settlement for your injuries. You do not want to accept such a settlement without first talking with a knowledgeable bus accident lawyer in San Antonio. You do not want to deal with the offer without a lawyer to review the terms and paperwork. You do not want to take it at face value that immunity means that you cannot claim damages. Transportation companies and groups in the rental policy will usually have a huge high-value insurance policy, which means that you will likely be dealing with aggressive insurance adjusters and high-powered defense lawyers.

San Antonio bus accident attorney Michael Grossman can help you cut through all the red tape and get the compensation to which you are entitled. Call toll free and talk with Grossman Law Offices about your case. The number is 1-855-393-0000.