School Bus Accidents
If your child was injured in an accident involving a school bus, retaining a bus accident lawyer College Park MD families recommend may make all the difference in getting the compensation you deserve. Without such compensation you may be unable to afford the medical treatments that your child needs in order to fully recover from his or her injuries. The legal firm of Cohen & Cohen is highly experienced in recovering damages for our clients who have been injured in vehicle accidents. When you need a bus accident lawyer in College Park MD, think of Cohen & Cohen
Injuries as a Result of School Bus Accidents
When your child boards the bus, your expectation is that they will be safely transported to and from school. Unfortunately, school bus accidents occur all too frequently; and sometimes children are injured or killed as a result. As a top bus accident lawyer College Park MD has to offers might explain, when a child is hurt or fatally injured in a school bus accident, you deserve the help and guidance of experienced counsel.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 1,500 people died between 1995 and 2005 in school bus-related accidents. That number includes deaths of people in other vehicles, but an average of 16 children die annually in school bus accidents. In most cases, the children were fatally injured almost immediately after exiting the bus at the end of the school day. As almost any bus accident lawyer College Park MD might attest to, many school bus accidental deaths can be prevented.
Non-fatal injuries from school bus accidents include:
- Closed head injuries
- Spinal, disc, and back injuries
- Lacerations, sprains, bruising, and scarring
- Broken bones
- Neck and head injuries
- Emotional and mental suffering
How Bus Accidents Can Happen
School bus accidents occur for any number of reasons, but here are some common scenarios that a bus accident lawyer College Park MD offers might be very familiar with:
- A driver who doesn’t obey a school bus’s flashing red lights hits a child crossing the road to or from the school bus
- When the bus and another vehicle collide, children onboard may be injured or killed, especially if not wearing a seatbelt
- If the bus stops or slows unexpectedly, a child may be injured when they make contact with another child, a seat, the floor, or any other hard surface
- A child can experience a slip and fall accident in the bus aisle
Recovering Damages for Your Child’s Bus Accident Injury
An experienced bus accident lawyer College Park MD turns to for help can determine what costs are recoverable. A Cohen & Cohen attorney can review medical costs to date and into the future as well as other damages such as:
- Counseling services
- Physical rehabilitation
- Surgery
- Hospitalization
- Emergency care including ambulance service
- Medications
- Mental anguish and suffering
How a College Park MD Bus Accident Lawyer Can Help Your Family
An experienced personal injury attorney from Cohen & Cohen can protect your rights by seeking financial restitution from anyone responsible for the bus accident. While you focus on helping your child recover from his or her injuries your attorney can do the following:
- Prepare a settlement or lawsuit based on accident scene evidence, witness statements, the police accident report, and receipts from your out-of-pocket expenses related to the accident.
- Communicate with the at-fault insurance company on your behalf.
- Negotiate a settlement agreement.
- File and pursue a lawsuit if necessary.
Determining Who is At Fault
A child can be injured because of negligence on the part of the bus driver. If the driver is distracted, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or in some other way negligent, you may be able to seek compensation. The driver can also be responsible for accidents that occur when the child is still onboard such as a slip and fall resulting in injuries.
Third parties, like a school district or bus charting company may be held responsible as well. While discussing your case during a free consultation, a Cohen & Cohen attorney may be able to give you an idea of who can be held liable and included in the settlement agreement or lawsuit if it goes to trial.
Safety Tips to Minimize the Risk of School Bus Accidents
Though your child’s safety is not always in your control, you can decrease the odds of injury when you’re not there to protect them by encouraging your child to do the following when they ride the bus:
- Wait for the bus in a safe location that’s not located on the road or shoulder and where traffic is less likely to cause injury.
- Do not approach the bus until it has come to a full and complete stop and the driver signals that it’s safe to approach the bus door.
- Use the stair handrails when getting on or off the bus.
- Make eye contact with the bus driver before crossing in front of the bus to be sure he or she sees you.
- Before stepping out into the road, lean forward and peek to see if any traffic is coming. Sometimes cars don’t stop for school buses.
- Avoid standing while the bus is in motion.
- Sit properly and facing forward.
- Listen to the school bus driver and follow their directions.
Cohen & Cohen
Any accident involving a child may be traumatic for parents as well as the child. It can be emotional and difficult to process and seeking legal recourse may feel overwhelming. The attorneys of Cohen & Cohen will fight for your rights and the rights of your child so that you can concentrate on being a parent. Our legal team has a wealth of experience when it comes to handling even the most complex personal injury cases. Call us today at (703) 548-4529 for a bus accident lawyer College Park MD parents can be grateful for.
