Transit Bus Accident Lawyers

The State of Indiana has 63 public transit systems that collectively support more than 36.6 million passenger trips annually, and the majority of these trips are taken on buses. A transit bus can be an effective and economical means of transportation, but it may not always be the safest one. There were 175 deadly bus accidents across the United States in 2021, and even the survivors of transit bus accidents may incur punishing injuries demanding prolonged treatment that could stretch their finances to the breaking point.

While you might have grounds for a personal injury case if you have been hurt on a transit bus through no fault of your own, success is never guaranteed, but you could tip the odds in your favor by reaching out to the Indiana car accident lawyers at Hensley Legal Group.

To learn what our dedicated Indiana transit bus accident attorneys can do for you, please call us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form now.

Why Do Indiana Transit Bus Accidents Take Place?

An Indiana transit bus accident could take place for a variety of reasons, though incidents of this nature are commonly the consequence of:

Excessive speed – Drivers who speed have less time to react yet need more time to stop, which could make a transit bus accident both more probable and more destructive.

Distraction – The second biggest contributor to traffic accidents of any kind is distraction, and it has grown into an epidemic with the advent of smartphones, which are currently linked to 12 percent of American collisions.

Distraction from passengers – There are many potential sources of distraction, including passengers, who are associated with 3.55 percent of auto accidents, and they could be particularly disruptive to transit bus drivers thanks to the sheer number of them who may be on board.

Drowsiness – Transit bus drivers could similarly be more susceptible to drowsiness since they spend nearly every moment on the job behind the wheel, in stark contrast to the typical motorist, who drives a mere 61.3 hours per day on average.

Drunk driving – On the other hand, the operators of transit buses are statistically less likely to drive drunk, though the same might not be said of the other drivers in their immediate vicinity, whose intoxication could put transit bus occupants in jeopardy.

Irregular maintenance – Because they accumulate four times as many miles per year as the standard car or truck, transit buses could experience a catastrophic malfunction without regular maintenance.

Insufficient training – Transit buses are complex machines whose drivers must undergo extensive training so that disastrous accidents can be averted.

Confusion over transit bus maneuvers – Other drivers who are confused by the highly specialized maneuvers that transit buses make in the streets could end up smashing into them during their routes.

Regardless of why a transit bus accident occurs, our Indiana transit bus accident lawyers will determine the wisest way to proceed against everyone who may be to blame for it.

Who Is to Blame for an Indiana Transit Bus Accident?

But exactly who is to blame for an Indiana transit bus accident? The truth is that it can frequently be challenging to identify each of the defendants for a transit bus injury claim because the list of candidates could be more substantial than you might at first think.

For example, the transit bus’s driver would generally be responsible for a single-vehicle transit bus accident, along with the agency or company employing that driver. However, a separate driver could be culpable in a transit bus accident between two or more vehicles, not to mention the owner of that driver’s vehicle and any company making commercial use of it.

Still others could be accountable too, such as an incompetent mechanic or the manufacturer of a defective part when a transit bus accident is the result of mechanical failure or a government body when the poor condition of a road under its control makes a crash with a transit bus inevitable.

Very often, multiple defendants will share varying levels of legal and fiscal liability simultaneously, and they must all be pursued within the time allotted by law, known as the Statute of Limitations. The Statute is usually two years for most motor vehicle accidents in Indiana, but it can be much shorter in cases against public transit systems, with additional requirements that may have to be satisfied.

If you don’t file a lawsuit or otherwise resolve your claim before the Statute expires, you could be forever barred from getting the compensation that you deserve – the sort of careless mistake that our meticulous Indiana transit bus accident attorneys won’t allow when they are on the case.

What to Do Following an Indiana Transit Bus Accident

To better protect that case, there are critical tasks that should be completed following an Indiana transit bus accident, such as remembering to:

Dial 911 – Though a transit bus driver is supposed to alert the authorities in the aftermath of an accident, you should be prepared to pull out your phone and dial 911 to request the presence of police and paramedics if that does not happen.

Seek medical treatment – Be prompt in seeking medical treatment, ideally from the paramedics at the scene if they arrive or at the closest hospital if they don’t, as delays in care could hinder the healing process and cast doubt on the causal relationship between the accident and your injuries.

Snap photos and shoot videos – A contemporary visual record of the transit bus accident could be invaluable in assessing guilt and cataloging your damages, so snap photos and shoot videos of your surroundings when you are able to do so.

Obtain witness information – If there were any independent witnesses, try to obtain their contact information and encourage them to tell the responding officers what they saw.

Avoid insurance and transit bus agency representatives – You may want to avoid representatives from the defendants’ insurance companies or the transit bus agency, since anything that you say to them could be exploited to undermine your claim, at least until you…

Talk to a lawyer – A seasoned legal practitioner can answer your questions and lay the foundation for a rock-solid case.

How Our Indiana Transit Bus Accident Attorneys Can Make a Difference

A transit bus accident could transform your life in an instant, burying you beneath an avalanche of expenses while making it harder to earn the money to dig your way out, but the skilled Indiana transit bus accident attorneys at Hensley Legal Group can make a difference.

If you hire Hensley, we will begin by launching a comprehensive investigation into your transit bus accident and the defendants who played a role in it, then establish valid claims against them and possibly file suit as well within the time permitted by law.

Our tenacious Indiana transit bus accident lawyers will also leave no stone unturned until the evidence necessary to shore up your case has been secured and a settlement has been negotiated that reflects the totality of your losses, including:

Medical bills

Lost income

Pain and suffering

Psychological trauma

Mobility restrictions

Scarring and disfigurement

Diminished quality of living

Loss of consortium

Punitive damages (if relevant)

And if an offer is not put forth that is worthy of your claim, we are not afraid to go to trial for a verdict that is, unlike many of our competitors, who seldom set foot inside of a courtroom.

You may be reluctant to agree to more expenditures when you can barely afford them, but our firm works on a contingency basis, which means that you won’t have to pay us anything until our Indiana transit bus accident attorneys win your case. 

At Hensley, we take on clients because we believe in them, and we are willing to take on every burden involved in making them whole again.

Get in Touch with Hensley’s Indiana Transit Bus Accident Lawyers

Hensley Legal Group has been standing up for the innocent victims of negligence since 1998. If you have been harmed by somebody else’s reckless actions in the Hoosier State, get in touch with Hensley’s Indiana transit bus accident lawyers to explore the remedies that may be available to you.

You can call us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form to schedule a free consultation with a knowledgeable Indiana transit bus accident attorney today.