There’s a certain convenience to American buses. If your car is in the shop, city buses can help you run errands. If you’re traveling across the country, you can rely on corporations like Greyhounds to get you from point A to point B. That said, bus drivers are people, like anybody else. They can make mistakes behind the wheel, which can be deadly.
If you have recently been in a bus accident in Henrico County, your circumstances may give you the right to pursue legal action against the party responsible for your losses. With the Pendleton Law Team, we can help you determine who to hold liable for your accidents and what compensation a civil claim may entitle you to.
Acting Quickly After a Bus Accident
Our Henrico County personal injury lawyer team is ready to help when considering your losses in civil court. As such, you have limited time to request damages for your accident. Virginia specifically establishes its bus accident – and personal injury – statute of limitations in Code of Virginia § 8.01-243.
This code allows you and other victims of bus accidents in Virginia to take up to two years to compile evidence regarding your accident’s liability. You must bring your complaint forward within this time period, or else Virginia’s civil courts may have the right to waive your claim.
For a Free Legal Consultation
Call The Personal Injury Lawyer Hotline.
804-250-5050
How to Build a Bus Accident Civil Complaint
What is it that you have to specifically prove within that two-year period? When building a bus accident claim in Henrico County, both you and a bus accident lawyer in must elaborate on:
- The identity of the party liable for your bus accident
- The duty of care owed to you at the time the accident occurred
- Evidence of negligence and injuries resulting from misconduct
- An estimate of your bus accident case’s value
This information helps a county clerk and other related parties understand the severity of your accident and why you believe you should have the right to demand compensation for your losses.
Let the Heavy Hitters® Take On Your Case 804-250-5050
Evidence of Negligence and Bus Accident Liability
Presenting evidence of negligence after a bus accident helps you indicate to a civil judge that you deserve compensation for your losses. Specifically, this presentation of evidence allows you to name a particular party responsible for your accident and, thus, your financial support.
Bus drivers who fail to check their blindspots or maintain their vehicles can be responsible for their vehicle’s failures on the road. So too, can drivers who behave negligently. If the bus driver who allegedly causes your accident is an on-duty employee for a corporation, however, fault for your accident may fall on their employer.
That said, a bus driver may merge into your lane to avoid the negligent behavior of a private motorist or even a construction crew. Multiple parties may be liable for your losses if this is the case. Either way, you need to present evidence of negligence to bring your claim before a judge. This evidence can include:
- Video footage of the bus accident
- Testimony from passengers, other drivers, and witnesses
- Expert recreations of the accident
- Expert witness statements
- Physical debris, including evidence of a bus striking a victim
Independent Bus Drivers Aren’t Protected Like Employees
The agencies that support bus drivers and the companies that hire them don’t always want to take accountability for their drivers’ behavior on the road. That’s why some corporations today prefer to hire independent bus drivers, or independent contractors, over full-time employees. Independent contractors are legally responsible for their own behavior on the road.
This doesn’t mean that an independent bus driver won’t benefit from their client’s insurance policy – though there may be certain conditions a driver has to meet to receive these benefits. Rather, you should discuss the nature of a bus driver’s work with the driver allegedly responsible for your accident to determine how you should proceed when requesting support.
Central Virginia's Top Rated Personal
Injury Lawyers 804-250-5050
Our Team Can Calculate the Value of Your Bus Accident Claim
Once you’ve established liability, you need to determine what kind of compensation you want to request from an offending party. You can do this by calculating the value of the economic and non-economic losses associated with your bus accident. When you bring your case to a bus accident attorney, we can make sure that your calculations are accurate.
Your bus accident’s economic losses are tied up in the bills generated by your pursuit of recovery. In other words, you can request that the party responsible for your bus accident help you address your:
- Medical expenses
- Property damage
- Time lost from work
- Lost opportunities to accept or otherwise pursue employment
Once you have the sum of the bills tied to your bus accident in Henrico County, VA, you can calculate the value of your non-economic damages. Our team uses multipliers approved by the state of Virginia to modify the sum of your economic damages. These modifications allow us to represent losses like:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Stress, PTSD, and mental health concerns
- Wrongful death, if applicable
You can learn about the suite of damages applicable in your case during a consultation with the Pendleton Law Team.
Let Us Be The Heavy Hitters® For Your Case Speak To An Attorney Now
Schedule a Bus Accident Case Evaluation Today
Bus accidents run the risk of being significantly more deadly than your average car accident. Not only are you forced to contend with severe losses after an accident, but a signing liability for your accident can prove challenging. You don’t have to try and tackle these challenges on your own. You can request that a bus accident attorney help you instead.
The Pendleton Law Team can connect you with an attorney who can guide you through the process of filing a civil claim against the bus driver or company liable for your recent injuries from a bus accident in Henrico County, VA. For more information about our services, you can contact our office through our website or call to schedule your initial case consultation.
The Pendleton Law Team Is Here For You 804-250-5050
