The average bus accident compensation for an injured bus occupant runs between $15 Thousand and $20 Thousand dollars. For people outside the vehicle, including motorcyclists and pedestrians, the average payout is higher, often approaching or exceeding six figures. Public and school buses are large vehicles requiring properly trained drivers to navigate Los Angeles to avoid accidents. Unfortunately, drivers in Los Angeles always encounter buses driving recklessly to get to their destination on time.

Bus accidents can result in catastrophic injuries to many parties, inside and outside the bus. Other drivers and riders need to practice defensive driving to reduce the risk of accidents.

Ehline Law and our personal injury lawyers work closely with bus accident victims to protect them from insurance companies and their corporate interests. Every case involving bus accidents has different circumstances and understanding them and fighting for the victim’s rights on an individual basis is what we are all about.

We Help Bus Drivers and Those In Other Vehicles Seek Compensation

You need strong legal representation if you’re injured in a bus accident. Contact us now to learn more about your legal options for bringing a potential personal injury claim, or potential wrongful death claim. Our top bus accident lawyers are available 24/7 to discuss school bus accidents and even to help wrongly hurt school bus drivers. We can help you properly document the evidence to increase your overall recoverable damages for things like lost earning capacity, emotional damages and even your medical care.

How Do Bus Accidents Happen?

Bus accident statistics make clear that bus passengers rarely have the benefit of seatbelts in most jurisdictions. A bus is a large and immobile vehicle that is difficult to maneuver, requiring experience and skill to operate safely. The bus company is considered a common carrier owing a special duty of care, whether it is a private company, or government run, like the Mini-Blue Bus in Santa Monica, CA. Your bus accident attorney will argue that damages are presumed as a result of violating the higher standards of care owed in most bus passenger cases, like a school bus accident, for example.

Inadequate Bus Driver Training as a Cause?

Before bus drivers can take the wheel and transport passengers, they receive substantial training to drive safely. Bus drivers receive training on the weight distribution of the bus and the blind spots so that they’re aware of these two critical factors that can lead to an accident involving transit buses.

However, not all drivers receive proper training, and those that receive training may carelessly drive as they understand that other road users will not challenge a bus and give way. These reckless actions can lead to devastating accidents. This will affect your bus accident case worth, which is another reason why you must hire the right Los Angeles bus accident attorney.

Bus drivers also have a tight schedule they must follow, and if they’re a bit behind their schedule, the bus operator may not slow down at an intersection or run a red light. Such dangerous driving habits put other road users at risk since they may not have enough time to slow down or avoid hitting the bus.

Even passengers on the bus also are at risk of accidents, especially during boarding and disembarking. Due to a delayed schedule, the bus driver may drive off before the passenger has fully exited the bus, causing them to fall and suffer injuries. In an injury case like this, the dollar value depends in large part on how many buses are involved and the type of injuries. It could be another party is held liable to pay monetary compensation due to a defective part or even poor road conditions leading to such a car accident.

Common Los Angeles Bus Accident Injuries

Injuries in a Los Angeles bus accident depend on where the victim gets hit and the force of impact. The type of accident will determine the severity of the injuries sustained. Due to its massive size, a motorcyclist or a pedestrian involved in a bus crash may not be alive to sue for negligence.

Even if they survive the collision, in California, the injured victims often has less than six months (statute of limitations against a government run bus company) to sue, leaving a maimed or permanently brain damaged person with little chance of recovering from the time they suffered injuries.

For example, a pedestrian hit by a chartered bus may suffer severe bus accident injuries compared to a driver rear-ended by the bus who may experience whiplash. People in rear ended in cars by a speeding bus can easily suffer other losses that victims of bus accidents typically suffer more injuries requiring medical attention than those involving smaller conveyances.

The following are some of the common injuries sustained after a bus crash:

• Back and spinal cord injuries, including paralysis
• Internal bleeding and organ damage
• Post traumatic stress disorder
• Torn muscles and ligaments
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Broken bones and fractures
• Facial and dental injuries
• Crushing injuries
• Wrongful death.

All types of injuries can follow bus accidents, and victims must pursue a bus accident claim to recover compensation on behalf of themselves or a close loved one.

Bus accident victims often wonder how much they may receive or what the average bus accident compensation in Los Angeles is to help them determine whether they should consider taking legal action against all responsible parties, even the bus manufacturer (mechanical failure) or school district vicariously liable for distracted driving.

What Is the Value of a Bus Accident Lawsuit in Los Angeles?

There is no average compensation value for public transportation bus accident cases, as every bus accident case is unique and has different circumstances.

Several factors affect the value of a bus accident case, including the following:

The Severity of the Bus Accident Injury

One of the most critical factors in assessing the value of bus accident lawsuits is the severity of the injuries sustained. When pursuing legal action against a negligent party, it is crucial to provide medical bills as part of the evidence of injuries sustained and to help calculate the settlement value of the increased risk, etc.

The more severe the injuries are, the higher the value of the claim. For example, a traumatic brain injury can cost victims tens of thousands of dollars per surgery. Adding rehabilitation, therapy, and medication costs can go into hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses. 

The same is the case for spinal cord injuries, with Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation estimating up to 5 million dollars of lifetime medical costs, depending on the type of spinal cord injury sustained and the victim’s age.

A resourceful bus accident lawyer can bring in medical experts to assess the current and future medical expenses arising from the bus accident and incorporate them into your claim.

Disabled Care

Another factor affecting the value of bus accident claims is impairment, whether permanent disability or temporary impairment. A serious spinal cord or traumatic brain injury may lead to physical and cognitive impairment, affecting the person’s quality of life. They may require a caregiver or a home modification to help them cope with their daily routine. 

All these costs add to the bus accident claim, and an experienced bus accident lawyer can help assess the value of disabled care.

Loss of Income

After suffering serious injuries in bus crashes, victims often take time off work, resulting in lost wages. In some cases, they may never be able to return to work or work in the same capacity as before, which can affect their financial status. 

Negligent parties are responsible for all damages following the bus accident, including loss of income.

Experienced Los Angeles bus accident attorneys can bring in vocational experts to determine the loss or reduction of a victim’s future income.

Non-economic Damages

An accident can lead to physical injuries and financial burdens. It can also affect the victim emotionally, causing them pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, and other non-economic damages. Under personal injury law, victims can recover non-economic damages caused after their bus accidents. There may be other bus accident resources like criminal restitution or health insurance, depending on how the accident occurred.

It is challenging to estimate pain and suffering and other non-economic damages suffered by injured or killed bus occupants, as they are subjective. Juries and insurance companies use a multiplier or per diem method to calculate such damages. An experienced personal injury attorney can guide you in building a strong case and a convincing story for the jury.

You may have to maintain a journal where you describe how the injuries from such traffic accidents affect your daily life. An attorney can also arrange for medical experts to provide testimonies in court to strengthen your case.

Insurance Policy

It is important to note that no matter how much damage you incur, you may not be able to recover more than the limits of the negligent party’s insurance policy. 

An attorney at our law firm can better guide you on the insurance policy limits of the liable party. If your damages exceed those limits, they may be able to draw on other insurance policies to ensure you receive fair compensation for your loss. It could include the insurance policy of the negligent bus driver, your insurance policy, and any other that may be relevant to your case.

Ehline Law personal injury attorneys understand how complex bus accident injury lawsuits are and how bus companies and insurers bully victims into accepting lower settlements. 

We have the resources to conduct a proper investigation, get experts onboard to assess the value of your injury claim, and aggressively fight for maximum compensation.

Schedule a Free Consultation with Ehline Law

Would you like to receive a free case evaluation? If you are the victim of one of the many common causes of bus accidents, speak to a top Los Angeles bus accident lawyer before you blow your case. After you consult us, you will be able to decide how to pursue fatalities, and other types of cases and how to protect the deadlines to sue withing in the time limitations. Our best Los Angeles bus accident lawyers can help sue common carriers operating tour buses and other vehicles involved anywhere in Southern California.

No personal injury case is too large when it comes to helping injured passengers recover compensation from intercity buses and other liable parties. If you suffered serious injuries in a bus accident, contact us at (833) LETS-SUE for a free consultation to discuss the case and know your legal options in a personal injury lawsuit with our most experienced attorney on a contingency fee basis.