School Bus Accidents

On the morning of December 2, 2014, a passenger vehicle collided with the back of a school bus near the intersection of Promenade Drive and 18th Street in Boca Raton. Though two motorists from the car were transported to the hospital, fortunately none of the seven children on board the school bus suffered any apparent injuries.

Injuries in School Bus Accidents

Not all students are as lucky as these seven children were, as hundreds of children suffer injuries on school buses each year. Riding on a school bus is considered to be one of the safest forms of transportation to and from school, but statistics show that injuries on school buses do occur and can be serious. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that an average of 5 children die annually from such injuries. These injuries include broken bones, contusions, concussions and other traumatic brain injuries as well as soft tissue injuries to the back and neck.

A school bus does not even have to be involved in an accident in order for a child to suffer injuries. The following can cause injuries to passengers on a school bus:

• Collisions with vehicles or objects;
• Unsafe turning;
• Erratic driving or lane changes;
• Tire blow outs or other bus defects;
• Slip and falls due to unsafe conditions in the aisle or on the stairs;
• Faulty windows injuring hands or fingers;
• Pedestrian accidents involving a child who is entering or who has exited the bus; and
• Assaults by other students due to improper supervision.

There are a number of potentially negligent parties that may be held responsible for a child’s school bus injuries. These parties may include the school bus driver, a driver of another vehicle that caused the collision, the bus manufacturer or maintenance crew, the bus company, and others. In some cases determining which party is liable can be challenging and requires thorough investigation.

When you send your child to school on a bus, you should be able to trust that they will arrive at their destination in a safe manner. In the unfortunate event that your child sustains any type of injury on a school bus that is the fault of another party, you deserve to recover all of the injury-related losses you and your child incur. These losses can include expenses for medical treatment, physical pain and suffering, emotional trauma and more. School bus accidents can involve complicated legal issues, especially if the buses are owned by a public school district. For this reason, the assistance of an attorney with experience in this type of case is invaluable.

Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney for a Free Consultation

If you or your child has suffered injury in a school bus accident, the experienced Boca Raton personal injury lawyers of Lavalle, Brown & Ronan can help. We are committed to helping all of our clients receive the full amount of compensation they deserve for their injury related losses and we strive to make the legal process as efficient and stress free as possible. Call us today for a free consultation.

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