Every year, thousands of people take a bus to travel across the country, or even just across the city. Many people do this because they believe that buses are safer than air travel or driving themselves. While they are typically correct, the number of accidents involving buses or large trucks that cause injuries has been on the rise. In 2016, there were 125,00 large trucks or buses that were involved in injury crashes, up from 102,000 from 2015. Likewise, there were 4,213 fatal accidents involving a bus or a large truck in 2016, up from 4,074 in 2015.
The News-Observer reports on a deputy who was seriously injured when a Greyhound bus crashed into his SUV being awarded $7 million.
The accident happened on Christmas Eve 2014 as the deputy was traveling Interstate 40 in North Carolina.
The driver, an off-duty state trooper, Chris Justice, was investigating a fatal accident in Alamance County. The bus plowed into the scene, despite the presence of numerous emergency vehicles with flashing lights.
The trooper sustained serious injuries to his back and neck. He also suffers from mental injuries.
After a two-week long federal trial in New Bern, the jury awarded $7 million to Justice and his wife. Justice will never be able to rejoin the highway patrol and continues to suffer from his injuries.
The bus was traveling from Atlanta to Raleigh when it plowed into the back of the Tacoma that Justice was sitting in at the accident site. At the time, the bus was traveling at 70 m.p.h.
The bus driver was cited for the crash.
If you’ve been injured in Atlanta and you need quality representation, contact John Foy & Associates.