Nearly 70,000 bus accidents occurred in 2014 alone.
When you think about safe ways to travel, buses might be near the top of the list. After all, they transport school children nearly every day, take people to work, and take groups of people on tours. Bus drivers have to have specialized licenses, and the buses themselves are subject to specialized inspections. That should make buses safer than other types of transportation, right?
It turns out that the number of bus accidents has actually risen in the past 20 years. According to the United States Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics, there were 69,000 bus accidents in 2014 alone (the last year the bureau compiled stats for this type of accident). This number represents accidents for all types of buses, including public transportation, tour buses, and school buses.
Common causes of bus accidents include driver fatigue and distracted driving. The increased use of electronic devices by all drivers — including bus drivers — can lead to accidents. Mechanical failures are also a common cause of bus accidents, along with violations of the rules of the road, such as speeding or failure to obey road signs. Finally, drunk or impaired driving has been a factor in a number of bus accidents.
Public transportation buses are the type of buses that are most frequently involved in collisions in the United States, with thousands of people — including bus passengers, pedestrians, and drivers and passengers in other vehicles — injured and even killed in crashes with public transportation buses. Tour bus accidents are less frequent that public transportation bus crashes, but have the potential to be more deadly. That is because tour bus crashes often occur on highways or while traveling at high rates of speed. In recent months, there have been several incidents involving tour bus crashes where multiple people were killed due to drivers speeding.
Fortunately for parents of school-aged children, school buses are considered one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Yet the agency reports that an average of 6 children are killed each year in school bus accidents. That is out of approximately 450,000 school buses in operation in the United States. Children who have been injured on school buses may be entitled to compensation from the bus company, school district, or another entity for their damages. An experienced bus accident lawyer can assist you if your child has been hurt in an accident.
Bus accidents are still relatively rare in the United States, but given their size and the number of people on board, when they do occur, they have the potential to be devastating. The complex issues involved in bus accident cases make it all the more important that you hire an experienced bus accident attorney if you or a loved one has been involved in a bus collision. The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker has helped more than 100,000 clients get the money they deserve for their injuries, including victims of bus accidents. Contact us today at 800-333-0000 or info@larryhparker.com to schedule a free initial consultation. We never charge a fee unless we recover money for you.
