School bus accidents shouldn’t happen, but the truth is that they do take place and for a number of reasons. Sometimes bus drivers haven’t slept enough; other times they’re distracted. Sometimes other drivers cause the accident. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration estimated that there were 1,214 fatal bus crashes involving school transportation vehicles between 2004 and 2013.
When your child is involved in a school bus accident, you may have a number of questions about what happens next. The first thing to do is to determine fault. If the driver was negligent, for example, you may be able to sue the school bus driver or the school. The school or school district will likely be responsible for the employee’s actions if he or she was responsible for the crash. If the bus malfunctioned and led to the crash, you might be able to sue the manufacturer.
Can you seek compensation from the at-fault driver, school or bus driver?
If the bus driver was not at fault, you may have to pursue compensation from the driver who was at fault. For example, if a semi-truck pulls out in front of the bus and leads to your child suffering a concussion, you may be able to seek compensation from the driver of the truck instead of from the school district. If there was shared fault in the accident, you may be able to seek compensation from the school and the driver, depending on the circumstance. In any situation where your child is injured, you should be compensated from at least one party.
Source: FindLaw, “School Bus Accidents: What You Need to Know,” Christopher Coble, Esq., accessed Oct. 06, 2016