Who can be sued after a bus crash causes multiple injuries in Annapolis?
Bus accidents can be problematic because of the sheer number of passengers and injuries that occur due to the mistakes made by the driver. The civil law does provide remedies for victims through lawsuits that make the parent company pay for property damage or medical expenses caused by the fault of their drivers or their managerial oversight.
A bus crash at Annapolis Junction in Maryland was responsible for multiple injuries and extensive traffic delays.
Bus crash on Annapolis Junction causes over a dozen injuries
A number of emergency calls were placed to local authorities after drivers noticed a bus drove off of the side of the highway before the Route 32 Interchange. A spokesperson from the Anne Arundel County Fire Department confirmed fourteen injuries that were caused by the crash and required medical treatment. None of the reported injuries were fatal or serious enough to require an airlift from the crash site. An ultimate cause of the crash was still undetermined at the time of the news reports.
The wreckage was cleared and emergency crews were able to leave the area a few hours later that same afternoon.
Drivers can be made to pay for their errors
Most bus accidents occur because of some kind of driver error or misjudgment. Bus drivers are supposed to receive special training, work limited hours, and routinely get tested for drugs and alcohol to prevent these crashes and comply with transportation regulations. When an accident occurs it usually means that the driver or the transportation company breached their duty of care to the passengers. Regardless of the reason for this oversight, the company or government agency that owns the bus can be sued and made to pay for all related injuries that their passengers sustain.
Negligence cases against transport companies
A lawsuit against a bus company follows a similar format to most other automobile and personal injury accidents. The attorney will essentially argue that the driver was not careful enough, which resulted in things like injuries and property damage. This is the basic format of all negligence cases that are common in the civil courts.
Cases involving multiple injuries and plaintiffs
In cases like the story above, multiple passengers will be injured and they may all want to file lawsuits. It is important that they each speak with their own attorney and most of the cases will be filed separately. This is because they have all experienced different kinds of harm due to the same accident. There are also conflict of interests rules in many cases that prevent lawyers from representing multiple clients at once if their lawsuits are based on the same set of facts. Maryland has its own laws regarding these issues just like every other state, so it is important to speak with an attorney to get advice related to your specific accident.
Talk with an attorney who knows how to handle bus accidents now
There are lawyers who serve Annapolis, Baltimore, and the Washington D.C. metro areas who can speak with you about a recent accident. Murnane and O’Neill Attorneys at Law have over 28 years of experience helping victims of automobile crashes.