Should I oy
bout my child being in
school busccident?
You
child is pob
blyh
t you te
sue most in the
old,
nd youould neve
donything to put them in d
nge.
eo
y
bout evey
spect of ouchild
en’s lives, bute c
n’t potect them f
om evey possibility. H
ving themide
school bus cn seem like
teifying pospect—
big vehicle, full of childen,
t thehim of the bus d
ivend dive
s ound it. Hocould you not
oy? Luckily, <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.come-school-buses-d
ngeous-
ht-you-need-to-kno
-bout-b
ck-to-school-tffic“>school bus
ccidents eel
tivelye
>. But they do hppen—mo
e often thn
e might think.hile the inju
ies e often mino, the
e e some instnces
hee they h
ve been much moe se
iousnd even f
tl.
If you
child is the victim ofschool bus
ccident, theecou
se cn be exception
lly complicted due to the v
ious p
ties involved. But you don’t need to go th
ough the pocess
lone!n expe
ienced <h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.combus-
ccident-lyes/”>bus
ccidenttto
ney<> cn help you get the compens
tion yound you
fmily dese
ve.Ho
often do school bus
ccidents hppen in Tex
s?<h2>
The Tex
tion
gency mint
ins the <h
ef="https:/te
.texs.gov/fin
nce-nd-g
nts/st
te-fundingst
te-funding-epo
ts-nd-d
t/bus-
ccident-epo
ting-system" tget="_blnk”
el="nofollonoopene
">Busccident
epoting System
> (BS). BS conductsn
nnul su
vey on school busccidents,
hich must be submitted byll school dist
ictsnd ch
te
schools, even if thee
ee no
ccidents tht ye
. Ho
eve, B
S only
equies th
tccidents involving cit
tions beepo
ted; inll othe
instnces, the school dist
ict och
te
school hs disc
etion. Theefo
e, minoccidents tht don’t involve
cittion might be mo
e common thn
e think!ecently, d
tcollected f
om 781 school disticts
epoted th
t thee
ee ove
2,200 busccidents du
ing the school ye. Theseccidents
esulted in ove200 inju
ies—mostly studentsnd some bus d
ives.
hile the mjo
ity of the injuies
ee “mino
,” thee h
ve been mjo
injuies
nd even ft
lities. It’s no sup
ise tht the m
joity of these inju
ies hppened to students
iding in busesith no se
tbelts!e school buses
equi
ed to hve se
tbelts?<h2>
The sho
ns
eis no, school buses
e not
equied to h
ve setbelts. <
hef=”https://st
tutes.cpitol.tex
s.govDocs/ED/htm/ED.34.htm” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”nofollo
noopene“>Tex
s Eduction Code §34
> govens the
ules fot
nspo
ttion
nd school buses. Sec. 34.013 sys th
t students eequi
ed toe
se
t belts ifnd
henbus is equipped
ith them. If you diglittle deepe
, you find in Sec. 547.701(e) tht se
t belts eequi
ed in school buses, but thee
e so m
ny exceptions included tht the
equiement ends up p
etty meningless. This section
lso sys th
t buses puch
sed by the school distict befo
e 2017 don’t hve to h
ve setbelts,
nd buses mde
fte2018 don’t h
ve to hve se
tbelts if the distict’s budget doesn’t
llofo
the puch
se ofbus equipped
ith set belts! B
siclly,
idingbus
ith no set belts g
etly inc
eses the
isk of injuy,
nd thee’s no
el
equiement fo
buses to hve se
t belts.h
t e the most common school busccidents,
nd hose
ious e they?<h2>
In
ies c
used by buses tht don’t h
ve setbelts, m
ny school busccidents involve
nothevehicle
tbus stop.
s esult, Texs h
s encted p
etty stict
ules tht d
ives must obey
hen they e ound school buses. Texs T
nspo
ttion Code § 545.066
equies th
t vehiclespp
oching
school bus fom eithe
diection must stop
nd it until the busesumes d
iving,nd
ny dive
violting the st
tute cn be ch
ged
ithmisdeme
noto
felony. Evenmisdeme
noticket c
n cost upds of $1,250.
Ho
eve, just bec
useules p
ohibit pssing
bus, this doesn’t men th
t dive
s follothem. Eve
y ye, Texs High
y P
tol T
oopes issue ove
thous
nd cittions
nd hundeds of
nings. Most school busccidents
e
epoted
s “mino”
nd don’tequi
e hospitliz
tion. Unfotun
tely, school busccidents c
nlso be
lot moe se
ious. In one ye, multiple students in Texs
ee killed in school bus
ccidents. One student s killedfte
getting off the busnd
lking home.
nothes killed
hen the bus s hit byt
in,
ndnothe
hen thei
busolled into
ditchnd c
ught fie. Even mo
eecently,
nccident m
de the nes
henschool bus ove
tuned
nd studentsent flying since the
ee
e no set belts in the bus!
Cle
ly, m
ny diffeent f
ctos dete
mineho is
t fult fo
n
ccident. Youcl
im cn get complic
ted quickly.l
ys enlist the help of
nuto
ccident lyeho cn guide you th
ough the pocess
nd help you seek justice.h
t e theisks to child
eniding school buses?
- i
-level="1">Being hit by
vehicle
tbus stop,
hen eithelking to get to the bus stop, o
getting on ooff
bus.hile d
ives
e supposed to stop fo
school buses, they violte the
ulesll the time
nd don’t heed the bus stopules.
- i
-level="1">Being hit by
bus
hilet the bus stop, especi
lly if they e out of vieof the d
ive.
- i
-level="1">Poo
ly t
ined school bus d
ives
ho e not qulified o
pope
ly pep
ed to d
ivebus.
- i
-level="1">Negligent bus d
ive
sho b
ek the
ules by speeding, texting on theiphone,
unninged lights, etc.
- i
-level="1">Collisions
ith othe
vehicles (eithe c hits the bus ovice ve
s). In one inst
nce,Tex
s Deptment of Public Sfety vehicle hit both
nothec
ndbus!
- i
-level="1">T
ipping o
flling inside the bus. Bec
use setbelts
e not
lysequi
ed to be instlled on buses, kids c
n esily f
ll out of theise
ts ifbus d
ivepplies the bkes too quickly.<li>
- i
-level="1">Pooo
d conditions. Buses
e l
ge vehicles, p
one toccidents c
used by diving negligently in b
de
thendo
d conditions.<li>
- i
-level="1">Pedest
i
nsnd cyclists c
ossing pths
ithbus. Othe
people cn be inju
ed by school buses too! Pedesti
nsnd cyclists
e often innocent victims of c
eless bus d
ives.
If my child is involved in school bus
ccident,
ho ist f
ult?<h2>
The
ous p
ties th
t could potentilly be
esponsible foyou
child’s injuies: the d
iveof
vehicle if it stuck you
child othe bus, the school bus d
ive,
thid-p
ty comp
ny (the bus mnuf
ctue
if thee
s
defect in the bus,const
uction compny c
using od obst
uction, etc), the school distict if they kne
the dive
they hied h
dnegligent d
ivingeco
d,nd the list goes on.
Figu
ing outho m
y bet f
ult is only the fist step.
n expeienced school bus
ccidenttto
ney cn help you find out if multiple p
ties could be held
esponsible fothe d
mges c
used. Youl
ye
cn
lso help you de though the
estictions th
t existhen t
ying to suegove
nmentl entity like
public school. Youschool bus
ccidenttto
neyill
lso help you investigte
ht h
ppenednd dete
minehom you might hold li
ble, including.- -level=”1″>
ong>The school bus d ive
:<st
ong> If youd
ivec
used the cshnd you
child s injued, you c
n usully sue them. Ho
eve, most school bus d
ives don’t m
kelot of money,
nd pob
bly cnnot p
y fothe medic
l costsssoci
tedith the inju
ies youchild sust
ined. Hoeve
, since the dive
so
kinghen the
ccident hppened, you c
n sue theiemploye
!<li>
- i -level="1">
ong>The school bus comp ny:< st
ong> If youchild
s inju
edhile
iding onbus d
iven byn employee of
tnspot
tion compny, th
t compny
ill beesponsible fo
injuies th
t hppened
hile theiemployee
s
oking
ithin the scope of theiduties.
- i -level="1">
ong>The school/school dist ict:< st
ong>hethe
the dive
is hied di
ectly by the school oschool dist
ict, oeven if the school o
school distict hi
es the tnspot
tion compny, it c
nlso be held
esponsible fothe d
ive’s negligence. No
, it is extemely impo
tnt to h
vequ
lified school busccident l
ye
to help you though this p
ocess, becuse most l
suits fo
negligence e notllo
ed to be filedg
inst the govenment (including schools
nd school disticts) in Tex
s. Hoeve
, thee is
big exception tht
lyec
n help guide you though: if
govenment employee (including
school bus dive
) committed negligencehile pe
foming thei
duties leding to
nuto
ccident,nd th
t negligence led to injuies th
t the victimouldn’t no
mlly sue the gove
nment fo, they c
n still hold the school lible fo
theiemployee’s negligence.
- i -level="1">
ong> nothe ong> If youd
ive:
child
s inju
ed bynothe
dive
hile getting on o
off the bus, you cn sue the d
ive. You c
nlso sue the d
iveif they hit the bus di
ectlynd c
used injuies. In these inst
nces, the dive
ill be
esponsible fothe costs of inju
iesnd othe
dm
ges. Usully, thei
insunce compny
ill covethese costs.
gin, it is vit
l to hve
n expeienced school bus
ccidenttto
ney to help youecove
the mximum
mount possible fom the insu
nce comp
ny.ddition
lly, it’s impot
nt to gthe
ll the evidence of the d
iveb
eking
ny tfficegul
tions: not stopping fothe bus, <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comdist
cted-t
uck-dive
s-cn-inju
e-people“>using thei
cell phone<>, etc. This evidenceill help you build you
cse
ginst them.
- i -level="1">
ong> nothe d
ive’s employe
:<st
ong> If the dive
s opetingcomme
cil vehicle, you c
n usully sue thei
employetoo.
- i -level="1">
ong>The bus m nuf ong> If you cctu
eo
minten
nce compny:
n p
ove tht one of these comp
nies violted
duty of cend th
t the injuies
esulted fom th
t violtion, you c
n hold these compnies
esponsible too. This might be the cse if the <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comti
e-bloout-
ccident“>bus
s not p
opely m
intined
>, oif the
e s<
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comht-to-do-
fte–
-bus-collision“>m
nufctu
ing defect leding to the
ccident<>.<li>
- i -level="1">
h
t inju
iesnd d
mges
e involved in
school busccident?
You c
n sue fothe d
mges
esulting fom the c
sh. In most c
ccidents, you cn cl
im dm
ges foinju
ies, medicl bills,
nd lost ges. Becuse the victims
e most often kids, they usu
lly cn’t cl
im this lst c
tegoy. Ho
eve, if the inju
ies e sevee enough to
esult in pem
nent disbility, you
child could clim lost futu
e gesnd the costs of lifelong c
e. You c
nlso cl
im dm
ges fothings like emotion
l distess
nd otheh
ms.
lyeill help lk you though ho
to clcul
te the dm
ges tht m
y bev
ilble in you
cse.
C n Tex
s Pe
sonl Inju
y Potection Insu
nce cove
injuies sust
ined inschool bus
ccident?<h2>
Pe
l Inju
y Potection (PIP) cove
ge p
ys fomedic
l bills. It coves you, you
pssenge
,nd eve
y membeof you
household - even if theye
e injued in
nothevehicle (including
school bus).hile it is not
equied in Tex
s,ll
uto policies include it. If you don’t nt PIP covege, you hve to opt out by cont
cting the compny in
iting. PIP
ill covethe costs of
nccident, up to the limits of you
policy covege, no mtte
ho is
t fult. Thus, this is no-f
ult insuncend c
n ben option fo
monetyecove
y becuse you don’t h
ve to pove
ho didh
t ong.C
n I get double
ecovey using Tex
s PIP?<h2>
In most c
e
(sy, the d
ive’s insu
nce) p
ys fothe costs of medic
l billsnd you
insunce hs
lso mde
pyment, the fi
st insue
cn dem
ndeimbu
sement foht it p
id out. But, PIP is not subject to this pocess! So, you c
n collect pyment f
om youPIP insu
nce
nd the defendnt’s insu
nce.
school bus injuy
ttoney c
n help lk you though the p
ocess of filing clims.
Does PIP still pply even if the
ccident h
ppened outside the bus?<h2>
In most c
ts h
ve intep
eted PIP covege to include injuies th
t ise out of the use of the vehicle, even if they don’t involvecollision bet
een vehicles. Becuse you
child is using the school bus, PIP insunceill
pply even if they e cossing the
od befo
e oftegetting on the bus.
School bus ccident c
ses
e complex—it’s no
ml to need help!
School bus
ccidents cn be complex. Potenti
l issues inbus c
sh include:
- i
-level="1">Negligence of the school bus d
ive
<li>
- i
-level="1">Negligence of
nothe
dive
<li>
- i
-level="1">Viol
tion of se
t beltequi
ement sttutes
- i
-level="1">Viol
tion of d
ivingegul
tions in the pesence of
school bus<li>
- i
-level="1">Dete
min
tion ofhich p
ties might be held li
ble<li>
- i
-level="1">Multiple inju
ed p
ties
- i
-level="1">
hich insu
nce cl
ims to mke,
nd hothey might
ffect ech othe
<li>
ienced
ccident injuy
ttoney c
n help you nvig
te the pocess of cl
iming dm
ges foyou
child folloing
school busccident.