If you or someone you care about has been in an accident while riding a METRA Transit System bus, a charter bus, or a school bus in Columbus, you can recover financial compensation. You’re entitled to recover a settlement for all your costs, and a Columbus, GA, bus accident attorney can help you get paid.
John Foy & Associates is one of the biggest and best-known injury law firms in the state. Helping injured people recover money is the only thing we do. Call or fill out our online contact form to get your free consultation today. A Columbus personal injury lawyer can handle your legal needs.
What Types of Bus Accidents Can I File a Claim for?
Buses make travel more efficient by ferrying dozens of people to destinations and events throughout Columbus. However, buses are far larger than passenger cars, and this means two things in an accident.
First, buses are capable of causing significant damage to other vehicles. Second, bus accidents often cause far more injuries than ordinary car accidents because they carry so many people. Bus accidents can occur due to many reasons:
- Tipping over: The height of a bus makes it prone to tipping over due to a maneuvering error, taking a curve too fast, high winds, or other factors.
- Distracted driving: The large number of passengers creates additional distractions for bus drivers.
- Unqualified drivers: Bus companies are supposed to screen their drivers before hiring them and make sure they have the training they need to do their jobs well. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen, and the consequences can be disastrous.
- Pedestrian accidents: School and transit buses frequently encounter pedestrians as they board and leave the bus or cross the street. An inattentive driver can easily cause an accident. A Columbus pedestrian accident lawyer from our team will help you hold the negligent driver accountable.
- Maintenance issues: Buses should be inspected and undergo regular maintenance. When this doesn’t happen, buses can have accidents caused by such things as malfunctioning tires or brakes or a missing mirror.
- Drivers who violate traffic laws: Both the bus driver and other motorists on the road are expected to follow traffic laws, including staying within the speed limit and maintaining a safe following distance.
Regardless of how your crash happened, rest assured you can file a bus accident claim against the negligent party responsible. But, remember, even though the law allows you to file a claim, that doesn’t mean that it’ll be easy to do so.
How Our Columbus, GA, Bus Accident Lawyers Can Help You
When you retain one of our Columbus, GA, bus accident lawyers, they can help you in many ways. We can:
- Gather evidence for your claim
- Consult with experts to support your claim
- Speak with witnesses and obtain their testimony
- Help you understand all the merits of your case and what your legal options are
- Fight hard on your behalf with the insurance company to ensure you get the maximum amount of compensation available
- Calculate all your damages accurately
- Take your claim to trial if needed
If you don’t understand the ins and outs of personal injury law or bus accident law, it will be extremely challenging to try and fight for your claim alone. So, allow us to assist you during this difficult time. You have nothing to lose by contacting us. We only get paid if we win. A contingency lawyer in Columbus gets paid a set percentage from the settlement or award.
What Damages Can I Recover After a Bus Accident in Columbus, GA?
Bus accidents often cause more severe injuries than a similar accident involving a car. This is because cars are equipped with many of the latest advances in safety equipment, while buses are not.
Buses don’t have airbags, and many don’t have seat belts. Even if a bus has seat belts, passengers frequently don’t wear them. Instead, passengers’ belongings are usually kept on laps or in overhead or freestanding racks, meaning they can get flung around and strike passengers in a collision.
In the aftermath of a bus accident, injured people can usually receive:
- The cost of their medical treatment, including emergency medical care, follow-up treatment, tests, surgery, and ongoing physical therapy
- The cost of prescriptions
- The cost of car repairs, if you were driving a car involved in a bus accident
- A paycheck to replace the money you lost if the accident caused you to miss work
If your injuries are more serious, there may be additional financial help available. You may be eligible for non-economic damages that can far exceed the total of your financial losses. For many victims of bus accidents, the money they received has given them hope and allowed them to see a way forward after a devastating loss.
Punitive Damages
As defined by the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) § 51-12-5.1, punitive damages exist to punish the negligent party responsible for your accident. This punishment usually comes in the form of a monetary reward that you can recover. You can only receive punitive damages in instances where the at-fault party:
- Was extremely negligent in their actions
- Intended to harm you
- Was committing a crime when they hurt you
Not all cases will qualify. However, if your bus accident case in Columbus, GA, qualifies, we will ensure that you get properly rewarded.
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Why do I Need a Lawyer to Help Me?
While you don’t explicitly need a lawyer to pursue financial compensation, not having one makes it harder to win a settlement. For example, if you have been in a bus accident, this may be the first time you have had to make an insurance claim. Or you may be overwhelmed by your bus accident and feel you don’t have time and energy to fight with an insurance company.
Both of these put you at a serious disadvantage because insurance companies are eager to settle your claim on the cheap. They will make you a low offer, and they can be very persuasive. Unfortunately, if you don’t know how to spot their tricks or feel low on stamina, you may end up taking their offer and giving up your right to money that should legally be yours.
We’ve talked to many people who thought they were getting a great deal until they found out how much their treatment was really going to cost. By then, it was too late.
Focus on Your Recovery
A Columbus, GA, bus accident attorney takes the annoyance of dealing with the insurance company off your plate. We can sort out the complex question of who is liable. We know how to drive a hard bargain at the negotiating table or pursue your case in the local courts.
A lawyer lets you relax, confident that you’ve got someone on your side who knows how to get you the best financial recovery possible.
You Have Only Two Years to File a Claim in Georgia
The statute of limitations for bus accidents is two years, according to OCGA § 9-3-33. Two years is plenty of time for you to get all the evidence you need to build a strong case. But, unfortunately, many people wait until the last minute to do so.
Even though rushing to file your claim is bad, this doesn’t mean you should take all the time in the world to get started. On the contrary, the sooner you contact one of our bus accident attorneys to help you, the better your odds are at getting the total amount of compensation you deserve.
Talk to a Columbus, GA, Bus Accident Lawyer
At John Foy & Associates, we have 20 plus years of experience recovering money for people who have gotten injured in bus accidents. We’d like to put our “Strong Arm” to work for you, and we’ll only charge you for our services if we win money for you.
Call our bus accident attorneys in Columbus, GA today, or fill out our online contact form to get your free consultation. We are available 24/7 to assist.
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