Common Causes of Bus Accidents in Indiana
There are multiple reasons why a bus accident may occur. Certain factors could apply to any type of crash, while others are more specific to collisions involving buses. Common causes of bus accidents in Indiana include:
● Speeding – Traveling too fast is the leading factor in motor vehicle accidents, playing a role in more than 15,000 Indiana crashes every year. Speeding drivers have less time to respond yet need more time to stop, increasing the frequency and severity of collisions.
● Driving under the influence – Intoxicated driving is a significant problem in Indiana, where law enforcement agencies make an average of one DUI arrest every 11.98 hours. While your bus driver is statistically unlikely to drive drunk, the same may not be true of other motorists on the road, and the results can be catastrophic, with 124 people killed in alcohol-related crashes in Indiana just in 2020.
● Fatigue – Drowsy driving can be as dangerous as drunk driving. One study found that a driver who has gone more than twenty hours without sleep may have the same level of impairment as a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent, the legal limit for intoxication in Indiana. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that fatigue causes approximately 100,000 collisions, 50,000 injuries, and 800 deaths nationwide each year. Bus drivers may be more prone to fatigue because their shifts behind the wheel are over eight times as long as the typical motorist’s.
● Distraction – Distracted driving is the second most common cause of motor vehicle accidents, with phone use being one of the worst sources of distraction. Cellphones are involved in about 12 percent of all collisions, even though Indiana and other states have made it illegal to hold mobile devices while driving.
● Distraction from passengers – Passenger-based distraction has been linked to an estimated 3.55 percent of traffic accidents. Given how many passengers could be riding in a bus, their distracting behavior may be more likely to contribute to a bus accident.
● Insufficient training – Drivers must undergo extensive training before the State of Indiana officially certifies them to operate buses. When that training proves insufficient, a bus driver may have trouble doing the job without causing a crash.
● Confusion about bus operations – Even the best trained bus driver may encounter drivers who do not understand the unique way buses interact with traffic, resulting in otherwise avoidable accidents, such as rear-end collisions at designated stops.
● Inadequate bus maintenance – While all vehicles need to be kept in roadworthy condition, this need is even more pressing for mass transit buses, which accrue nearly four times the mileage of cars, light trucks, and vans. Buses that do not receive adequate maintenance could suffer disastrous malfunctions while they are in use.
Regardless of the cause of your bus accident, our Indiana bus accident attorneys are ready to advise you of the best course of action if you are contemplating a claim.
