What Causes Bus Accidents?
The leading cause of bus accidents may be driver fatigue, or more specifically circadian rhythm fatigue. Many school, municipal, intercity, and tour bus drivers are behind the wheel early in the morning or late at night. Most people are naturally drowsy at these times, regardless of how much sleep they had the night before. Fatigue is more than feeling drowsy. Much like alcohol, fatigue clouds judgement and restricts motor skills.
Regardless of the time of day or night, bus drivers have a duty of care. In fact, as commercial drivers, bus drivers have a higher duty of care than other motorists. If a lack of care (negligence) causes injury, a Carlsbad personal injury lawyer can obtain substantial compensation for victims. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.
First Party Liability
To establish negligence, a Carlsbad personal injury lawyer must prove four elements by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not):
- Duty: Most commercial drivers, such as truck drivers, bus drivers, and Uber drivers, have a duty of utmost care. They must go above and beyond to avoid accidents. Most noncommercial drivers, who have a duty of reasonable care, can proceed through intersections on green lights. Commercial drivers must at least slow down to ensure the path is clear.
- Breach: Some drivers breach (violate) their duty of care before they get behind the wheel. Fatigue and alcohol use are common kinds of driver impairment. Others include distraction, drug use, and a mild or severe medical condition. Aggressive driving, such as speeding, also violates the duty of care. Speeding is especially dangerous if the tortfeasor (negligent driver) is operating a large vehicle with poor sight lines, like a bus.
- Cause: A Carlsbad personal injury lawyer must prove cause-in-fact and legal causation. Lawyers often refer to cause-in-fact as “but for” causation, as in the accident wouldn’t have happened “but for” the tortfeasor’s negligence. Legal causation is foreseeability (possibility) of injury. If a doctor makes a medical mistake during post-accident surgery, that injury is not foreseeable.
- Damages: Normally, victims must sustain physical injuries to obtain compensation for those injuries. The worse the injury, the higher the available compensation. Since most bus accident claims settle out of court, the actual amount largely hinges on a lawyer’s negotiation skills, or lack thereof.
Usually, meaningful settlement negotiations can only begin after medical treatment is at least substantially complete.
If a case settles too early, the settlement won’t accurately reflect the cost of future medical treatment. As a result, the victim is financially responsible for these expenses. Furthermore, many insurance companies hide the best “smoking gun” evidence as long as possible. So, if the case settles too early, the best evidence, and therefore maximum compensation, may be unavailable.
Third Party Liability
The respondeat superior doctrine typically applies in bus accident cases. Employers are financially responsible for bus accident damages if their employees were negligent during the course and scope of their employment.
California law defines these elements in broad, victim-friendly ways. For example, almost any bus driver, even an independent contractor or unpaid volunteer, is an “employee” for negligence purposes. If the employer controlled the driver, perhaps by dictating the route or passengers picked up and dropped off, that driver is an employee for negligence purposes.
Respondeat superior adds an additional layer of complexity to an already complex case. Most bus owners are out-of-state, or even offshore, holding companies.
Work With a Savvy San Diego County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Carlsbad, contact the Pursley Law Firm. We routinely handle matters throughout the Golden State.
Source:
clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12115-circadian-rhythm-disorders
