Indianapolis Bus Accident Lawyer

Indianapolis Bus Accident Lawyer
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Fierce Protectors of the Injured™

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If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus accident it is crucial to contact an Indianapolis bus accident lawyer’s firm to begin building your case. An accident attorney in Indianapolis can assist in guiding you through the legal process and ensuring that your rights are taken care of.

Damages You Could Collect in a Bus Accident Case

Bus accidents vary in the injuries they cause and the ways they affect the lives of the involved victims. You and your family could be eligible to recover damages for losses like:

  • Medical bills
  • Pain and suffering
  • Mental anguish
  • At-home help, if you cannot devote time to cleaning while caring for your injured family member
  • Lost wages, benefits, bonuses, and tips while you are recovering

There is no way to know how much your case is worth until we analyze your injuries.

What Your Indianapolis Lawyer Taking Bus Accident Cases can do for You

Our team is ready to do these actions for you and your case:

  • Analyze your case
  • Valuate your losses
  • Write up and send a demand letter
  • Negotiate with the insurance company
  • Identify liable parties
  • Protect your rights
  • Inform you of your options
  • Stand by you in court, if the need arises
  • Gather evidence to support your case
  • Recruit medical expert witnesses and accident reconstructionists
  • Interview eyewitnesses to the accident
  • Fill out paperwork
  • Pay court fees for you
  • Keep you updated until the end of the case
  • Answer your questions and empower you with information and knowledge

Proving Negligence in a Bus Accident

During a bus accident, both bus passengers and car drivers on the road can be injured. The injured person must prove the bus driver operated their vehicle in a negligent way. Negligence is a legal term that requires the plaintiff to prove the defendant owed them a duty of care, and that this duty of care was broken.

In collisions, a plaintiff’s case can be made particularly strong if they prove the bus driver was violating a rule of the road at the time of the accident. This will almost always be considered a breach of their duty of care.

Bus drivers also have a duty to protect their passengers, since they are a common carrier—in other words, they take on passengers for a fare. If people are injured while riding a bus, the driver and the parent company are legally responsible. This can be the result of a collision with another vehicle, or simply due to reckless driving on the part of the bus driver.

Filing Suit in Indianapolis

In many personal injury cases, the defendant is the person who caused the accident. In bus accident cases, though, the situation can become more complex. If the bus is run by a municipal authority or agency, the city or county that operates it is the appropriate defendant.

If the bus is operated by a private company, that company will likely be a co-defendant along with the driver. The company itself is responsible for all the actions of its employees due to the legal concept of agency. As such, a defendant company may be held responsible for improper training programs or negligent hiring.

Indianapolis has its own specific procedures for initiating personal injury lawsuits that are significantly different from filing a lawsuit in a local court. Bus accident lawyers in Indianapolis examine every case to determine the proper defendant and the correct forum to hear the case.

How to Choose a Lawyer

When searching for a lawyer, keep the following in mind:

Your Legal Team Works for YOU

Make sure your lawyer is one you feel comfortable with. If you pick a firm that makes you feel bad for being involved in an accident or does not want to do its job, you might not expect a positive outcome.

Past Client Testimonials are Available Online

People leave reviews of their lawyers online. Sometimes, the firm will put these on their websites. Be sure to look through these to get an idea of how the firm operates.

You can Ask for a Free Consultation

Another way to scope out the morals and work ethic of your prospective firm is by reaching out to them for a free consultation. During these calls, the firm will ask you questions about your case to tell you what to expect from the case.

The team members you speak with at our firm, for example, can utilize their knowledge of past cases that resemble yours to get an idea of what is ahead for you.

Common Injuries in Bus Accidents

Because of its size and weight, a bus has the potential to crush smaller cars during an accident. Even if the accident is not so severe, passengers can be pushed around inside the vehicles, which can result in injuries.

Potential injuries suffered by passengers in cars involved in a crash with a bus include:

  • Concussions
  • Broken bones
  • Severe lacerations
  • Spinal cord injuries
  • Traumatic head and/or brain injuries

The injuries sustained by passengers in the bus can be almost as severe. Buses traveling forward carry a large amount of energy due to their large mass. A sudden stop—especially in vehicles without seat belts—can propel passengers forward into other seats or windows, possibly causing significant physical harm.

You do Not Have to Arrange Payment for Our Fee

The way our firm operates is that we select a percentage of your award before we get started on your case. This way, our clients who are having a hard time after sustaining accident-related losses do not have to worry about juggling medical and car repair bills, regular bills to pay for their everyday lives, and payment for legal representation.

Other firms force clients to pay hefty hourly fees or pay a large portion of the total fee before the case even begins. Do not expect this kind of behavior from our team.

Indianapolis School Transportation-Related Accidents

Accidents involving school transportation vehicles tend to be among the most devastating that Indianapolis bus accident attorneys deal with, as these often involve innocent children under the age of 19, who are either on their way to or from school.

According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), 1,214 school transportation-related accidents took place in the U.S. between 2004 and 2013. In these accidents:

  • 1,344 people, or an average of 134 per year, lost their lives.
  • 8 percent of the fatalities involved children and other occupants of school transportation vehicles, while 21 percent of the fatalities involved non-occupants, such as pedestrians and bicyclists.
  • In 71 percent of school transportation-related accidents, occupants of other vehicles were the ones who suffered fatal injuries.
  • Of the 106 school transportation occupants killed in vehicle-related collisions between 2004 and 2013, drivers accounted for 45 of them and passengers accounted for the remaining 61.
  • 116 school-age children were killed while pedestrians in collisions involving school transportation vehicles.

Bus accidents claim the lives of about a dozen school children every year in America, and thousands of other school-age children get hurt in bus accidents annually; for a total of more than 5.76 billion miles per year, this safety record may seem relatively good—particularly when compared with motorcycle and bicycle accident rates, which are much higher per mile traveled.

Other Kinds of Bus Accidents are Also Dangerous

Public transit buses, shuttles, private motor coaches, airport passenger vans, and commercial buses transport passengers over nearly 1 billion miles of road each year in the United States.

NHTSA statistics suggest that riding a commercial bus may be safer than riding a motorcycle (or even driving in certain cars and trucks). However, when bus accidents do occur, the number of victims—as well as the extent and severity of injuries—tend to be devastating.

Call an Indianapolis Bus Accident Lawyer’s Firm to Get Started

Bus accident claims can be unexpectedly complex. Not only does a plaintiff need to prove that the bus driver was negligent, but they may also need to choose the correct defendants and forum for their claim before they can bring it to court.

A bus accident lawyer familiar with codes relevant to Indianapolis can help you navigate these processes and work towards a positive result in your case. Contact Sevenish Law Firm, P.C. today to see how they can help you.

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