Causes and Compensation in Texas School Bus Collisions

Texas school bus accident lawyer notes that the Tuesday morning rush hour witnessed a very serious collision between a Lowe’s delivery truck and an Academy I.S.D. school bus near Temple, Texas. 32 people were injured by the collision, some of them critically. Heavy fog is being blamed as a cause of the wreck.

Although school buses are statistically a pretty safe mode of travel for the state’s schoolchildren, numerous school bus accidents occur each year. Some of the usual causes include:

• Driver distraction,
• Driver fatigue,
• The many large blind spots on a school bus,
• An overloaded school bus,
• Poor maintenance of the school bus and resulting mechanical or tire problems,
• Defective or missing safety equipment such as warning signs and reflectors,
• Speeding, and
• Driver inexperience or lack of adequate training.

Driver fatigue, inattention, or inexperience might apply to the school bus driver or to the driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision. Other motorists are required by law to stop if a school bus has its lights flashing to indicate students getting on or off the bus. Motorists often fail to heed this warning and continue to drive past the bus. Sometimes these vehicles hit students emerging from the bus.

When you or your child have been injured in a school bus accident, you might be entitled to full financial compensation for your injuries from the parties whose negligence caused the accident. You might be able to recover compensation for:

• Medical expenses incurred,
• The costs of future medical care required because of the accident,
• Lost wages,
• The value of your reduced earnings capacity because of disabilities from the accident,
• Vocational rehabilitation and retraining,
• Disfigurement,
• Pain and suffering, and
• Punitive damages.

If the accident resulted in the loss of a loved one, you might be entitled to file a wrongful death claim and survivor claim. Our experienced Texas school bus accident lawyers could help you determine the extent of the monetary damages to which your case entitles you, as well as your legal options for obtaining that compensation for your injuries. Our knowledgeable attorneys could conduct a thorough investigation of the accident to determine its true causes and to identify all liable parties at fault for the school bus accident. We could help you hold them financially accountable to the full extent of your accident losses. Contact us today for your free consultation.