But sometimes, people charter private or even church-owned buses and end up in a catastrophic, Los Angeles bus accident. Some vehicle owners fail to inspect, maintain, or update the brakes and drive trains and hide behind the bible as an excuse to be evil. Other times, hydraulics and electrical problems arise due to neglect.
Many incidents remain possible when a bus stays in disrepair, leading to conditions like burn injuries, broken bones, or even a wrongful death claim. When this happens, worshipers may soon find their way onto a hospital gurney and in surgery. Crashing buses can cause mass fatalities and these bus accidents are typically all but ignored by the press.
Bad injuries to the bus passengers riding inside flipped or careening buses are not uncommon. Also, documented cases exist of people running over and hurt outside buses.
Without talented Los Angeles bus accident lawyers by your side who also respect your religion, you’ll be up the creek without a paddle for sure.
Let a World Famous Church Bus Crash Attorney Help You
Ehline Law Firm is a world-renowned personal injury attorney law firm. Our lead counsel has vast skills and experience in all types of Los Angeles bus accidents. Our staff and agents are experts when it comes to investigating, litigating, and running congregation injury claims from religious getaways.
Even though the church and pastor may be honest, often, their drivers hired commercial transports. Most of all, the insurance adjusters don’t have those same sentiments. Ehline Law Firm Personal Injury Attorneys, APLC in Los Angeles knows how to act as a velvet hammer, treating the church with respect, yet holding them accountable for damages and remuneration, making sure that you and the other hurt passengers are not left footing their bills.
The adjusters don’t care about you. And when it is not your fault, you have a reasonable expectation of being treated properly. Also, under California law, it remains the duty of a common carrier for hire to give SPECIAL CARE. Lawyers are able to help you get money for lost wages after a brain injury, and things like that from the negligent bus companies themselves (Greyhound Bus, etc.), without even suing your pastor.
You can’t let your family starve when it was no fault of yours. Our million-dollar advocates, the top personal injury attorneys in the world, patiently await your essential phone call and are standing by now!
Traveling on a Religious Transport Bus? Learn Your Rights
Churches are great places to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, and sometimes, churches will organize retreats and seminars for their church bodies. Some churches may even provide transportation, such as a church bus, or 10 or 15 passenger van.
These vans and buses may also pick up and drop off elderly congregants of the particular religious institution. But you may end up needing a church bus personal injury lawyer when you are hurt in a crash. For example, sometimes, the church will farm out the transportation to non-church members, or delegate the responsibility of driving to a non-qualified member of the church.
More and more bus collisions relating to churches occur each year. Many times the bus may have a broken air conditioner, no seat belts, and even bad brakes and under-trained bus drivers. In the Southern California heat, especially in areas like San Bernardino County and Riverside, this can lead to heatstroke, not unlike the case in Texas where those illegal immigrants died in a tractor trailer truck.
So deaths from Greater Los Angeles church bus accidents such as heat stroke, or a crash are a real possibility. In any event, these remain delicate issues for a congregant who is a member of a negligent church and who wants to be a good Christian.
How Else Can a Church Bus Collision Happen?
There are many ways these accidents can occur. As noted above, a poorly trained driver remains the primary cause of bus wrecks. But like a casino tour bus accident, a church bus accident could also be due to a third party. For example, a contractor may have negligently maintained the brakes, the tires, or the lights.
If the driver’s poor vision in rainy weather was a cause, faultily maintained windshield wipers could be the culprit. So it takes a well-honed lawyer to figure all this out and find those liable to pay. Ehline Law Firm is a highly experienced church bus accident attorney who can nail down the facts and law and explain everything to the insurance company.
As a matter of fact, he has assisted many consumers in Metro Bus, Metrolink, and tour bus accidents. Plus, he has many years of experience, first as a paralegal, and now he does so as a personal injury attorney.
Ehline Offers Solution to Bus Accident Problems
If you or anyone you know suffered a wrongful death, spinal cord injury, or brain injury from a church collision or accident, you will understand the problems. Also, you will want a solution to this delicate matter. Hire an attorney who was a U.S. Marine.
Ehline is someone who understands real America, not the elite America most trial lawyers seem to desire. Michael Ehline wants to help you in your church bus crash case.
The NHTSA Says Churches Use 15 Passenger Vans
The NHTSA has cautioned church groups using 15 passenger vans and provided the following public information as follows: NHTSA said that it is directing this advisory to religious groups, other non-profit organizations, and colleges that may be keeping older 15-passenger vans in service longer than usual because of tight transportation budgets.
Pre-primary, primary and secondary schools should not use 15-passenger vans for transporting students, as they do not provide the same level of safety as school buses. It is also against federal law for schools to buy new 15-passenger vans for school transportation purposes.
Here are some safety tips for anyone planning a church trip in 15-passenger vans:
- If you are an owner, make sure the vehicle is properly maintained.
- Owners should make sure drivers are fully trained and experienced in operating a 15-passenger van and are properly licensed.
- 15-passenger vans are very sensitive to loading and should not be overloaded under any circumstances. Agency research shows overloading not only increases rollover risk but makes the vehicle more unstable in any handling maneuvers.
- Owners should ensure that appropriately sized tires are being used on their vehicles.
- Before every trip, drivers should check the tires for proper inflation and make sure there are no signs of wear. Correct tire size and inflation pressure information can be found in the owner’s manual.
- If you are a passenger, make sure you buckle up for every trip. Additional information on 15-passenger van safety can be found here.
Most buses like tour buses are usually not equipped with seatbelts. At least one California case says it’s a jury issue as to whether or not buses like tour buses, should be equipped with seatbelts. “. . . therefore, the question of negligence and proximate causation for failure to equip the vehicle with seatbelts is a triable issue of fact for the jury.” (Greyhound Lines, Inc. v. Super.Ct. (Chisefski) (1970) 3 Cal.App.3d 356, 359-360.).
Make Sure You Hire a Lawyer
Failing to wear a seatbelt can spell disaster for a bus passenger. For example, an impact can jostle and throw passengers out of their seats as they thrash about violently. Of course, luggage and objects like laptops may be flying around too. So people can get impaled by items during the jostle or even need to retain a burn injury lawyer.
Also, if the bus was rolling down a hill, or rolled over, the people are stuck. Their bodies fly around the cabin. In fact, videos on Youtube show some passengers flying around like rag dolls in bus collisions.
In any event, a passenger could get thrown out of a breakaway window and ejected on to the pavement at high speed. These are called ejections and partial ejections.
A church bus accident attorney in Los Angeles can help evaluate your case and assist you in negotiating a full and fair settlement with the church bus insurance company. If required, our severe injury lawyer can take the at fault party to court on behalf or your or a loved one.
Bus accident victims face a long road to recovery, including painful medical treatments after such an event, and must also figure out how they will be able to support themselves and their family members.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Caring and Sophisticated Church Bus Accident Lawyer in Los Angeles
A financial burden beyond reason and convention like this can prove to be too great – so avert this result by reaching out to a personal injury attorney. If you or a loved one has been seriously hurt in a bus accident that was not your blunder, contact Ehline Law for a free consultation. Injured passengers can learn about getting compensation for property damage and their severe injuries. Our lawyers can help you get medical attention on a lien, while assuring at fault parties are held liable on a contingency fee basis.
Our professional Los Angeles church bus accident attorneys are ready to pugnaciously represent your legitimate interests. If we are fail to reach a fair settlement through intensive negotiations, we are completely geared up to take your case to federal or state superior court. At Ehline Law, our chief concern is fighting to help your receive an award of full and fair compensation. This is what you deserve. Call (213) 596-9642 for a FREE CASE REVIEW with one of our veteran Los Angeles church bus accident attorneys today!
Michael Ehline
Michael is a managing partner at the nationwide Ehline Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, APLC. He’s an inactive Marine and became a lawyer in the California State Bar Law Office Study Program, later receiving his J.D. from UWLA School of Law. Michael has won some of the world’s largest motorcycle accident settlements.
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