Indiana Charter Bus Accident Lawyers

Renting or chartering a bus can be an ideal way to transport a large group to a private function or a public event, but it is not necessarily the safest mode of travel, with Indiana recording 290 bus accidents in 2024, nearly a third of which resulted in injury and four of which resulted in death.

Indeed, a charter bus accident can be physically and economically catastrophic, though you may have grounds for a personal injury case if somebody else is responsible for yours. But because a successful outcome is rarely guaranteed, many victims decide to partner with the seasoned car accident lawyers at Hensley Legal Group, PC, a dedicated Indiana personal injury law firm whose experienced attorneys have been fighting on behalf of the wrongfully injured since 1998.

You can arrange a free consultation with one of our knowledgeable Indiana charter bus accident lawyers by calling our office at (317) 472-3333, chatting with us online, or filling out our contact form today.

Why Do Indiana Charter Bus Accidents Take Place?

A charter bus accident could take place for a host of reasons, but it most often arises out of driver error. Among the most common driver-related causes of charter bus accidents in Indiana are:

• Driving too fast – Speeding drivers need more time to react yet have less time to stop, a combination that could increase both the probability and the severity of a crash.
• Distraction – Trailing directly behind driving too fast as a contributor to motor vehicle accidents is distraction, which is currently associated with 12 percent of collisions. Charter bus drivers may be more prone to inattention than other drivers because they routinely carry many more passengers, whose disruptive behavior has been linked to 3.55 percent of accidents across the United States.
• Intoxication – Stiffer criminal penalties and massive advertising campaigns have made a considerable dent in contemporary drunk driving rates, but this despicable practice hasn’t completely disappeared in Indiana, where law enforcement makes a DUI arrest every 11.98 hours. And while professional bus drivers may be statistically less likely to drive under the influence of alcohol, that might not be true of other drivers in traffic with them, and their intoxication could put everyone riding in a charter bus in jeopardy.
• Fatigue – Research has shown that driving while drowsy can produce the same level of impairment as driving while drunk. Moreover, charter bus drivers may be particularly vulnerable to fatigue because of how much more time they spend behind the wheel than the average motorist, who only drives about 61.3 hours per day.

While mistakes by drivers are usually at the heart of Indiana charter bus accidents, there are external elements that might play a role as well. Some of these hazards could apply to any type of vehicle, like poor roads or inclement weather, which could hinder traction and visibility and lead to a disastrous loss of control, but others may emerge from qualities that are specific to charter buses, such as:

• Restricted maneuverability – Because buses are heavier than most vehicles, they can be much harder to maneuver without incident.
• Higher centers of gravity – Similarly, buses are higher off the ground and thus have higher centers of gravity, making them more susceptible to tipping over or shifting if they swerve or brake abruptly.
• Irregular maintenance – Buses and other mass transit vehicles tend to accumulate quadruple the annual mileage of most passenger cars and trucks and could be at an elevated risk of a dangerous breakdown if regular maintenance is not provided.
• Inadequate training – Charter bus drivers are required to train extensively before they can operate such complex machines, and a tragedy could be inevitable if that training is inadequate.

No matter how the accident that harmed you ultimately occurred, our Indiana charter bus accident attorneys will put together the strongest case possible against everyone who may be at fault.

Who Is at Fault for an Indiana Charter Bus Accident?

This raises an important question: Who is at fault for an Indiana charter bus accident? The answer will depend upon the circumstances under which it happened, though the list of candidates could be bigger than you might initially think.

For example, the charter bus’s driver would generally be liable for a single-vehicle accident, as would the owner of the charter bus (if separate from the driver) and the company employing that driver (if separate from the owner). On the other hand, if two or more vehicles are involved in a charter bus accident, the driver of another vehicle might be liable, along with the owner of his or her vehicle and any business deploying it commercially.

Additional defendants might include an incompetent mechanic, a manufacturer of a defective component, a government body in charge of a street or highway in disrepair, and potentially other individuals and entities too. In some instances, multiple parties could share varying degrees of liability simultaneously, and they must all be pursued within the window set by law, known as the Statute of Limitations, which is normally two years for charter bus accidents in the State of Indiana. Nevertheless, the Statute can be significantly shorter in civil actions against the government, with further conditions that may have to be addressed, and you could be barred from full fiscal recovery if you haven’t filed suit or brought your claim to a resolution before the Statute runs.

Fortunately, you can rest assured that our team of laser-focused Indiana charter bus accident lawyers will dot every “i” and cross every “t” to prevent a careless oversight from grinding your quest for justice to a halt.

How Hiring Hensley Legal Group Can Help

A charter bus accident can turn your world upside down, overwhelming you with mounting medical bills while undermining your ability to pay them. Very quickly, you could find yourself struggling to make ends meet, much less meet the new demands on your finances, but hiring the Indiana charter bus accident attorneys at Hensley Legal Group can help.

Once retained, your lawyer will begin by carrying out a comprehensive investigation to unearth the defendants who are to blame for your Indiana charter bus accident, then establish valid claims against them before the Statute expires. If the situation warrants it, a lawsuit could also be filed in a court with the authority to issue a binding judgment.

After moving swiftly to amass the evidentiary materials to shore up your case, your attorney will enter into exhaustive negotiations with the defendants’ insurance carriers in order to get you compensated for the totality of your losses, including your:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Pain and suffering
• Mental and emotional trauma
• Diminished mobility
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Reduced enjoyment of living
• Loss of consortium

When confronted with irrefutable proof of your damages and the insured’s wrongdoing, a sensible insurer may put forth a healthy settlement so that a worse verdict at trial can be avoided, but we aren’t afraid to go to trial if we do not receive an offer that reflects what your claim is really worth. This sets us apart from many of our competitors, who seldom set foot inside of a courtroom.

Though no two charter bus accident cases are exactly alike, Hensley’s tenacious Indiana charter bus accident lawyers will always strive to maximize the value of yours.

You Won’t Owe Us Anything Unless We Win

We imagine that you are probably reluctant to agree to more expenditures when you may be least able to afford them. However, Hensley Legal Group works on a contingency basis, which means that you won’t owe us anything unless our Indiana charter bus accident attorneys win your case.

What might have started out as a brief trip to a pleasant outing has become a harrowing ordeal with apparently no end in sight, but we promise to do everything in our power to guide your journey to a satisfying conclusion.

Reach Out to Our Skilled Indiana Charter Bus Accident Lawyers

Hensley Legal Group has been making a difference in the lives of honest Hoosiers like you for over a quarter century. If you have no idea how to proceed after being badly hurt in a charter bus accident in Indiana, reach out to our skilled Indiana charter bus accident lawyers to explore your legal options.

To schedule a complimentary case review with an accomplished Indiana charter bus accident attorney, just call our office at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form now.