Buses: Practice Areas
Bus Accidents
Overview > Catastrophic Injury and Death > Buses

In the Inland Empire, bus accidents are a particular concern for the hundreds of thousands of kids that travel to school each day by school bus. An additional concern are the thousands of commercial buses that take visitors to the many Inland Empire tourist locations, such as Palm Springs and the many Indian Casinos located throughout the Inland Empire. With the Inland Empire being a gateway for buses taking tourists to numerous destination locations such as Las Vegas, Lake Havasu, Phoenix, San Diego and Orange County, commercial bus activity is very high and that brings increased incidents, often resulting in catastrophic injuries and deaths.

When there is a major bus accident, it is important that the victims or their families retain an experienced firm in complex commercial driver litigation with a proven track record of success that can evaluate the many commercial bus driver issues such as:

  • Experience, licensing and training
  • It is also important to know if the rules were followed regarding the maximum number of hours a bus driver can drive. These rules were developed to avoid fatigue
  • It is also important to know whether drugs or alcohol played a part in the accident
  • Insurance and employer responsibility issues need to be thoroughly explored
McCuneWright, LLP and its affiliated firm, Panish Shea & Boyle are uniquely qualified and have dedicated a significant portion of their practice to representing clients who have suffered losses in all manner of bus accidents. We know that bus transportation is one of the safest forms of transportation in our country, but when buses are involved in accidents, the results are often catastrophic. The lack of safety precautions, such as no seat belts for bus passengers, is at the root of the serious injuries and fatalities that often are found in bus accidents.
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Clients Lead the Effort to Warn of Danger
Size and weight. Due to the size of buses, it is inherently more difficult for bus drivers to see other vehicles, particularly when changing lanes or when a quick maneuver is required. Also the sheer weight of a commercial bus makes stopping quickly extremely unlikely making accident avoidance more difficult.

Arrival and departure deadlines. Commercial bus drivers are often under pressure to make the scheduled and posted deadlines for arrival and departure times. These deadlines may cause a driver to resort to driving at unsafe speeds to meet the deadlines. Bus overloading. A commercial bus can be overloaded in terms of number of occupants and total legal weight. Bus maintenance. A commercial bus might not be maintained properly causing any number of mechanical issues to arise, including brake failure or missing safety equipment.

Weather conditions. A driver can fail to adjust his speed and take other appropriate safe driving precautions when encountering inclement weather conditions.

Driver attentiveness. A driver can be less than focused on the significant responsibility of driving a commercial bus by talking on a cell phone, CB radio or dealing with a GPS system.

Economic times increase commercial bus travel. With rising fuel and travel costs, more travelers are choosing commercial bus travel as their means to make trips. This increases the total number of commercial buses in operation at any time, thus increasing the likelihood of commercial bus accidents.

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Investigating the Bus Company and Driver's Responsibility, Including Training and Licensing
State and Federal governments establish commercial bus driver qualifications and standards which include the proper driver's license and endorsements. Employers often provide several weeks of training and assist their driver's in obtaining and renewing their licensing appropriately.

Education and Training:

  • Many commercial bus companies prefer high school graduates and require a written test of ability to follow complex bus schedules
  • Some public transit bus companies require several years of experience
  • Commercial bus driver trainees often have gone through classroom training, which includes Department of Transportation and the employing company's rules and safety regulations, State and municipal driving regulations and safe driving practices.
  • School bus drivers receive 1-4 weeks of driving instruction and classroom training on State and local laws and regulations; driver-pupil relations; first aid certification; emergency evacuation procedures; and understanding the special needs of students who are disabled or have emotional issues.
  • All bus drivers are taught and allowed to practice on courses. They practice turns and avoidance maneuvers, backing up and driving in narrow situations. They also are given opportunities to practice driving in all types of road and weather conditions.
Licensure:
  • Bus driver qualifications and licensing are established by State and Federal regulations. All bus drivers must comply with Federal regulations and any State regulations that exceed Federal requirements.
  • Federal regulations require drivers who operate commercial motor vehicles in excess of 26,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight rating or designed to carry 16 or more people, including the driver, to hold a commercial driver's license. These motor coach drivers must comply with US Department of Transportation and California State regulations.
To qualify for a California Driver's License, applicants:
  • Must pass a test on the rules and regulations
  • Demonstrate through a skills test that they can safely operate a bus
  • For bus drivers driving within California, the age requirement is 18. But, if the bus driver intends to leave the state of California, the Department of Transportation requires the minimum age to be 21 and must pass a physical exam every 2 years.
  • Physical requirements include: good hearing, 20/40 vision with or without corrective lenses, 70 degree field of vision in each eye and must not be color blind.
New Laws for 2009:
  • Drivers may not use a wireless communications device to write, send or read text-based messages while driving a motor vehicle, including commercial bus drivers.
  • It is unlawful for a person who is on probation for a DUI offense to operate a motor vehicle, including a commercial bus, at any time with a BAC of 0.01% or greater. Violations will result in a one year suspension of driving privileges. Refusal or failure to complete a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) or other chemical test while on probation will result in a two year suspension of driving privileges. Refusal or failure to complete a PAS or other chemical test while on probation with two or more prior DUI convictions will result in a three year revocation of driving privileges
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Investigating Other Responsible Parties
It is vital in a commercial bus accident with catastrophic injuries or wrongful death, that all possible sources of compensation are investigated. This requires knowledge and experience in commercial bus cases in order to consider and evaluate insurance issues, employer responsibility, product defect and dangerous roadways.

At McCuneWright, a complete and full investigation is conducted to identify all responsible parties for the damages incurred in each bus accident. Among the areas that are critical to fully understand are the:

  • Insurance Issues
  • Employer Responsibility
  • Other Responsible Parties
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Investigating Other Responsible Parties
To obtain full recovery for clients in a bus accident, the law firm needs to have experience in handling catastrophic injuries and wrongful death cases, not only to help clients with these life altering losses, but to obtain proper recovery for the losses. To receive full compensation, it requires a number of things.

Understanding the Clients Losses

It requires the knowledge to understand the medical issues in the case and to work to make sure in the difficult environment of insurance and medical providers that the client does not become just a number in the medical system and receives the medical treatment that is required. It requires the compassion to understand the client's loss.

Understanding what the Client Seeks in the Case

It requires the ability to listen to the client and understand what the client's seeks in the lawsuit. Lawsuits of these types of cases are not just about money, they are always about justice and usually about change.

The Ability to Effect Change

It is not enough to know what changes are needed, the law firm must have the ability to make the changes happen. Lawyers of McCuneWright have changed laws in California and Federal regulations after learning in a case those laws which should have protected people such as our clients did not.

The Ability to Obtain Full Monetary Compensation

The principal responsibility of the law firm is to obtain full monetary compensation for the clients' losses. That happens when the law firm takes cases to trial and is successful in trial. Without success in trial, insurance companies do not settle for full monetary compensation.

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