Commercial and School Bus Accidents

According to the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration, in 2009 there were 221 bus accidents causing death to either passengers of the bus or riders of other motor vehicles struck by the bus (www.fmcsa.dot.gov/facts-research/ltdbcf2009/tbl23.htm). In addition, there were approximately 9,000 injured in crashes involving buses. Statistics show that approximately 40% of the fatality and injury accidents involve school buses, approximately 37% of the fatality and injury accidents represent municipal or city buses, and commercial buses make up the remaining 30%. Bus accidents can be caused because the buses are so large and heavy that they can be difficult to drive, even under good road conditions. Inexperienced, unqualified or poorly trained bus drivers account for many bus accidents. In addition, bus drivers that are overly tired, distracted or are on legal or illegal substances can cause bus accidents. If a bus driver is negligent or reckless in operating the bus and the bus driver causes a crash to occur, the law in Kentucky and Indiana requires that the negligent bus driver pay for the harm to the person.

The following case summaries are bus accident cases we have personally handled and litigated and are provided for illustrative and informational purposes only and are not meant to offer legal advice or intend to take the place of consultation with a qualified attorney that has the requisite expertise and experience in these matters. These cases are only a sampling of the actual cases we have handled. While some cases may be similar, each case involves unique parties and specific facts, and the application of those facts to the controlling law may differ significantly depending upon the circumstances. No results or outcomes can be guaranteed in any case.

1. A Jefferson County Public School bus crossed the centerline on Wesport Road, and hit the vehicle driven by Betty C., a resident of Louisville, Kentucky. The impact forced her car off of the road and down an embankment. Her car, a 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora landed on its roof and crushed. The Lifesquad responded and employed the Jaws of Life to remove Betty. She was air evacuated to University Hospital where she was taken to emergency surgery. Seven pins were placed in her left hand. She also had a severely injured right eye, including sub orbital fractures. The eye itself was so extremely damaged that her ophthalmologist, Dr. Barr, Kentucky Eye Institute, told her she may lose all sight. Prior to the accident, she was completely independent. After the accident, Betty could no longer see clearly and had difficulty completing everyday tasks. The lawsuit was filed against the school bus driver and it was settled for a confidential high six figure amount at mediation.
2. 2. A 66-year-old bus driver was hired by Econo Travel, a bus company, to take a group of senior citizens on an organized gambling junket to casinos in Mississippi. On the way back from the Mississippi casinos to Detroit and while traveling through Dayton, Ohio, a fatal bus crash occurred. Specifically, the 66-year-old bus driver who wore bifocals and was on four prescription medications, was driving a 26,000 pound, 40 foot long Econo Travel cruiser within weeks of completing his training through Econo Travel. On this particular occasion, after driving approximately twelve hours, many of the bus passengers noted that the bus driver seemed “sleepy” or “tired.” In addition, the passengers recalled the weather conditions were such that the snow was coming down and various bus passengers described the weather conditions from wet and rainy from snowy to icy. At about 8:00 P.M., while driving in complete darkness on the interstate, and dealing with a front windshield wiper on the passenger side that was completely inoperable leaving half of the front windshield of the bus obfuscated by the snow, the elderly bus driver made what was described as an “abrupt” move into the fast lane by some passengers, and passing many of the vehicles that were on the snowy road at that point in time. The bus driver did not observe that an accident had occurred in the fast lane in front of him. Specifically, a Ford F-150 pickup truck with five teenage passengers had spun out on the ice after fishtailing for approximately thirty seconds. The sole survivor of the crash, Richard L. testified that when the truck finally came to a motionless stop perpendicular to the median divider with the bed of the truck extending into the fast lane the teenagers began to exit the truck. The testimony from the sole survivor was that it was likely approximately a minute from the time the car began to spin out to when it came to a complete stop before the Econo Travel bus crashed into it. All of the teenagers except for Richard L. were killed as a result of the crash. The bus driver initially gave a statement to the police stating that he saw the truck fishtail and spin out and hit the wall and stop. He later retracted this statement, stating that it had occurred instantaneously and that there was nothing he could do to avoid the crash despite the fact that after observing the crash he had time to yell out to the passengers on the bus, “We’re going to hit.”

All of the teenage passengers in the truck were killed with an exception of Richard L. who was treated at Miami Valley Hospital for one month and also received subsequent medical care, treatment and rehabilitative services at Five Oaks Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio. His injuries included a fractured right humerus, a right fractured fibula, a fractured left hip, a fractured right femur and a head injury. He required surgery including metal implementation into his right arm, left leg, pelvis and knee. He also has visible permanent scarring on his face and head, and he had medical bills in excess of $200,000. After the crash, the bus driver’s doctors told him that they did not believe he was qualified to be driving a bus due to health reasons.

Our office represented the survivor Richard L., as well as the estates of the four children that were killed. The insurance company of Econo Travel was unreasonable in negotiations and the lawsuit was filed and litigated in Dayton, Ohio. The case was settled with Econo Travel that had policy limits of five million dollars approximately three months before the trial on the matter was scheduled to begin at a settlement conference conducted by the Judge.