Protect Yourself After a Bus Accident Injury

If you’ve been injured in a crash involving a public transit bus, long-distance carrier bus, or a school bus, our hearts go out to you. Each day, millions of adult and child passengers (and even their canine helpers) rely upon public and private bus transportation to complete their California commutes. These large and powerful commercial vehicles, also known as common carrier vehicles, are an essential part of our transportation culture. But when something goes wrong, the accidents can be devastating, causing enduring injuries and even wrongful death.

mta bus accident lawyer - david azizi

Your First Steps After a Bus Crash

After a crash with a bus or any large commercial vehicle, safety and medical treatment is always your top priority. Our job as a Los Angeles bus accident law firm is to take up your cause and fight to bring you justice and compensation in the form of a financial settlement or winning a verdict in court. If you need immediate assistance, call the Law Offices of David Azizi at 800-991-5292. David and team will walk through the details of your claim in a free case review to determine your strongest move and how much compensation you might be owed as a result of the negligence of the bus driver and the bus company who employed the bus driver.

Visit our Long Beach Bus Accident Lawyer page.

How Much Is My Bus Crash Case Worth?

Knowing how much your bus accident claim is worth becomes very significant when you consider the immense costs these crashes inflict on injured victims. While every bus accident is unique, these cases can sometimes run into the millions.

Los Angeles Bus Crash Lawyer Discusses Settlement of $2,600,000

In the video below, David discusses a case in which a Los Angeles MTA bus driver struck a pedestrian because the bus driver was not giving proper attention when making a left-hand turn and caused injuries to a pedestrian within the crosswalk.

For a closer look at what your claim might be worth, we invite you to visit our bus accident injury calculator page.

For 25 years, Los Angeles-area bus accident victims have called upon lawyer David Azizi to represent them in commercial bus and truck crash cases. With a 98 percent success rate in winning financial compensation for injured victims, our law firm knows how to take on the big bus companies when their drivers harm others due to negligence.

Negligence: The Most Common Lawsuit Against Bus Drivers

Drivers of buses, trucks and large commercial vehicles in California are held to higher safety standards than regular passenger vehicles. So much so that they are required to get additional training and pass exams to issue a commercial drivers license (CDL). This is especially true when transporting people in massive vehicles that require someone to stand and others to sit without safety restraints. When a bus driver fails to live up to the duties of care expected of them, that means they have acted negligently.

The California Civil Codes regulating the transportation of passengers on a bus or similar commercial vehicle includes the following legal safety guidelines which have been in place since the year 1872:

Carriage of Persons / Carriage for Reward

  • A carrier of persons for reward must use the utmost care and diligence for their safe carriage, must provide everything necessary for that purpose, and must exercise to that end a reasonable degree of skill.
  • A carrier of persons for reward is bound to provide vehicles safe and fit for the purposes to which they are put, and is not excused for default in this respect by any degree of care.
  • A carrier of persons for reward must not overcrowd or overload the bus.
  • A carrier of persons for reward must give to passengers all such accommodations as are usual and reasonable, and must treat them with civility, and give them a reasonable degree of attention.
  • A carrier of persons for reward must travel at a reasonable rate of speed, and without any unreasonable delay, or deviation from his proper route.1

Common Types of Bus Accidents Our Law Firm Handles

Injury-causing bus incidents almost always involve one of the following:

We handle cases that include crashes with buses involving another passenger vehicle, a walking pedestrian, people hit while riding a bicycle or motorcycle, and passengers inside the bus that may be injured due to a collision, driver error or other similar issues.

What causes these accidents? It almost always involves negligence on the part of the bus driver. Forms of negligence we see very often include:

  • Ignoring safety and maintenance schedules for critical repairs to tires (cause of tire blowout wrecks), brakes (rear-end accidents), and incorrect mirror placement (blind spot accidents)
  • Driver fatigue due to lack of sleep, working more hours than legally allowed and accidents caused by drivers actually falling asleep at the wheel
  • Distracted bus drivers who text, eat, talk excessively to passengers, or otherwise do not pay attention to road hazards
  • Driving violations like speeding and driving aggressively

School Bus Interior - Bus Accident Lawyer David Azizi

Get Your Medical Expenses Covered After a Bus Accident

A bus crash can cause physical, emotional, and financial harm to those involved. An experienced bus crash law firm will know how to pursue justice and compensation for victims in order to cover these types of medical costs:

  • Ambulance transportation to the emergency room or hospital
  • Extended inpatient hospital care as needed for recovery
  • Multiple surgeries to fix damaged bones or to save limbs from amputation
  • Outpatient visits and treatment by medical specialists and doctors
  • Physical therapy visits to rehabilitate ailments and injuries
  • Wheelchairs, walkers and other required medical devices

The Law Offices of David Azizi recently helped a family where a little girl had her finger caught in the door of a bus when the driver closed it without realizing she was not fully out of the vehicle. As a result, the young bus passenger had her finger amputated. David and the bus crash team stepped in to bring justice to the girl and her family after this difficult event.

Financial Compensation For a Damaged or Destroyed Vehicle

The clients we represent often have been put in the difficult position of losing the use of their vehicle either for a time as it undergoes repairs, or worse, when it is damaged to such an extent that it requires a complete vehicle replacement.

We keep loss of vehicle at the forefront of our legal strategy and always include these factors when calculating the damages we will demand for you after a bus crash.
Our team will assess the market value of your car when a vehicle needs to be acquired.

Californians rely on reliable transportation to get around. We will investigate all options for rental vehicles, often covered by an insurance policy, to make sure that our clients are taken care of. A car rental is an additional expense that escalates with each day, so we fight to make sure these financial costs are included in the money damages we demand for you.

File a Bus Accident Lawsuit Against The Driver & Company

Buses carry insurance as other motor vehicles do. When another driver is responsible for the bus accident, that person’s insurance will most likely pay. However, obtaining maximum compensation is another matter.

A Los Angeles bus crash lawyer will get very specific with your claim to make sure we are pursuing the maximum compensation you are entitled to. The insurance company may offer an inadequate amount, and whether it’s a public transit bus wreck or a local school bus crash, our law firm will communicate with the bus company and take the following actions to fight for your justice:

  • We will send a letter of representation and/or a claim form to the bus driver and company – this shows that you have retained a bus crash lawyer and have a dispute that requires their attention. It’s the first communication we have, before the court system is officially involved, and shows them that you are ready to pursue legal action if a resolution is not quickly and fairly met
  • We will file a legal “complaint” with the court – After a bus crash, the first official move to open a case is by drafting and submitting this legal document to demonstrate that you have been injured in a crash, that we believe the fault (liability) is with the bus driver, and that you have specific demands for financial compensation in order to restore justice and make you whole again in the eyes of the law.
  • We will review the “answer” from the bus company – The “answer” is the legal response that the defense will submit and file with the court. We will review this answer, which will either admit liability and agree to the compensation you demand, or they will not agree to our terms and we move forward with the litigation/lawsuit.
  • We will pursue your case all of the way to trial is necessary – It’s of course easiest when we get a quick and fair settlement from the bus company and can end the dispute. But as it often the case, they will not go down without a fight. When they do not offer a settlement, or when the terms are clearly unfair, we’ll pursue the lawsuit to trial. That means we are taking the bus driver and company to court for a judge and jury to make a decision. The result we will go after is a favorable verdict that gets you the money damages you deserve.

School Bus Interior

Deadline For Filing a California Bus Accident Lawsuit

A clock is ticking from the very moment you are involved in a crash with a bus or other commercial vehicle. This is known commonly as the statute of limitations. In most cases, that time period is two years from the time of the incident. However, if the lawsuit is filed against a government entity, such as a city or state, the time is reduced to six months. Since most public transportation buses are city-owned, this reduced period would apply. We urge all injured victims to take immediate action so by contacting an experienced Los Angeles bus accident attorney so that this deadline is not missed.

Recover Lost Wages With A California Bus Accident Lawyer

If you’ve had to miss work as a result of your injuries after an accident with a school bus or public transit bus, there is a positive path forward. The bus crash claim we pursue for you includes lost wages. Even when you are self-employed, California law allows us to pursue financial recovery for lost income.

Our bus accident law firm works with a forensic expert who paints an overall health and outlook for your injuries. Armed with that information, we can pursue any money damages connected with missed promotions and raises, bonuses you were not in office to receive, retirement contributions you didn’t have a chance to make or where reduced in connection with reduced income, and even earning capacity that might be affected when your injuries force you into another line of work.

Determining Fault After a Bus Crash

In all of these circumstances, our job is to demonstrate fault. Keep in mind, even if you hold partial responsibility for the crash (maybe you didn’t use your turn signal and the truck collided with you) you can still make a financial recovery. California follows guidelines known as “Pure Comparative Negligence” laws.
Put simply, this means that if it’s determined by a judge or jury that you hold 15 perfect responsibility for the accident, you can still pursue a legal claim and money damages, but at the end of the case, any award you receive would be reduced by that 15 percent of fault you hold.

Here’s an Example:
If you are a pedestrian and were hit by a school bus and the total damages awarded to you equal $1,000,000 but you were also 10 percent at fault, you’d receive $900,000 (the full award minus 10 percent ($100K) for your partial fault).

Keep in mind that bus accident lawsuits can sometimes involve millions of dollars. So even if you hold a significant amount of fault, you can still have a financial recovery that will help to restore justice. We will also pursue pain and suffering damages in many circumstances, a category that could bring additional compensation.

 

Begin Your Case With a Proven L.A. Bus Accident Law Firm

Your next step is to let us hear your important story. We provide access to David right away through a free case review. He will go through the essential case details with you so you can be on the same page with a strategy to win compensation and get justice.

When David takes your case, he will also provide you with his personal cell phone number because he knows that you’ll have additional questions. And, you won’t pay him until after he has won your settlement. He’ll get right to work on it, mobilizing his team to leave no stone unturned.

They will investigate and research every possible aspect of the accident, the vehicle’s and companies involved, and the likely costs and expenses that you deserve to recover from the parties responsible. A six-time Super Lawyers selection with an Avvo rating of “Superb,” we believe that David Azizi is the top bus accident lawyer in Los Angeles.

Payment for services is using a contingency fee structure which is the popular, “No win, no fee,” contract. This means that our Los Angeles bus accident law firm foots the bill for your case for anywhere in California, and only when you win do we get paid a percentage. If we do not win, you pay nothing. With a 98 percent case success rate, David’s track record is one of continued victory for clients in these complex bus crash cases.

We urge you to call 800-991-5292, use the chat function, or fill out the request form on this page to begin your legal road to recovery.

1.California Civil Code, Chapter 2, Article 2100-2104↩