Trial in New York Bus Crash Case Highlights Victims' Rights

All bus drivers and bus companies have a duty to keep their passengers safe. When they don't uphold this duty, injured victims have a right to take action.

2012-11-08

November 08, 2012 (Press-News.org) New Yorkers are used to relying on different forms of alternative transportation. For trips close to home, they take the subway, a taxi or a city bus. For longer trips outside of the city, many choose trains or commercial bus services.

Unfortunately, those bus rides are not always as safe as they should be. Over the last several years, a string of high-profile bus accidents have resulted in catastrophic injuries and deaths in New York and all along the Eastern Seaboard.

Take, for example, a March 2011 crash on Interstate 95 in the Bronx that killed 15 bus passengers and left others gravely injured. The bus was returning to New York City from the Mohegan Sun casino when the driver lost control. The bus hit a guardrail, then tipped and crashed into a signpost. The force of the accident was sufficient to shear the roof off the bus.

An investigation after the accident showed that the crash was likely caused by the driver's high rate of speed. National Transportation Safety Board investigators say the driver's speed reached 78 miles per hour, which was the vehicle's maximum possible speed.

In addition, the evidence showed that the driver was likely sleep-deprived at the time of the accident. Making matters worse, he had been dismissed from at least two previous bus driving jobs and had his license suspended on eight occasions.

In the wake of the accident, the driver has been charged with a number of criminal offenses, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. His trial began in late September 2012. As of late October, a verdict had not yet been reached.

New York Bus Accident Lawsuits

In crashes as severe as this one, criminal charges are often brought by the government. However, it is important to recognize that the goal of criminal prosecutions is to punish crimes, not to compensate accident victims for what they have lost.

All commercial bus drivers have a responsibility to operate their vehicles safely. They are expected to drive at safe speeds and use a degree of care commensurate with the large size and inherent dangerousness of their vehicles. Part of this duty includes being well-rested, sober and free from distraction.

In addition, bus companies have a duty to make sure their fleets are safe. Companies have to maintain their buses to make sure that they don't malfunction on the road. In addition, bus companies have a duty to supervise their drivers and ensure that they are not allowed to drive if they are at risk of putting passengers in harm's way.

When accidents are caused because drivers and bus companies do not uphold these duties, injured passengers can seek financial compensation in personal injury lawsuits. Although nothing can make the accident go away, a personal injury recovery can give victims the resources they need to recover from their injuries. Some losses that victims can seek compensation for in a personal injury lawsuit include medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages and loss of future earning capacity, as well as loss of enjoyment of life and any disabilities they may be left with.

State and local law limits the time bus accident victims have to bring a lawsuit. In New York City, not only are you limited in any suit against a municipal bus owner (such as the New York City Transit Authority) to one year and 90 days, but in order to protect your rights to bring that lawsuit, you must first serve a Notice of Claim within 90 days from the date of the accident or you can lose your right to sue. This also holds true for most city- and state-run trains as well. New York state law limits actions against private bus companies to three years.

It is imperative that a person who is seriously injured in a bus accident consult an experienced, knowledgeable personal injury attorney. The quality of their future may depend on it.

Article provided by Dansker & Aspromonte Associates
Visit us at www.dandalaw.com

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Texting While Driving a Major Problem for Minnesota Teens

2012-11-08

Anybody who knows a teenager is acutely aware of the complex relationship between teens and their cellphones. The phone, it seems, is a constant presence -- popping up during family dinners, study time, church services and all sorts of other inappropriate moments. Most of the time, the worst consequence of teenagers' phone addictions is momentary rudeness. However, when teens bring out their cellphones behind the wheel, the results can be deadly. Auto accidents are the number one cause of death for teenagers in the United States. A lot of the risk comes from the fact ...

Quickly Documenting Evidence After an Accident Can Help Prove Fault

2012-11-08

After a motor vehicle accident, particularly when people have sustained injuries or there is extensive property damage, many people understandably do not consider the importance of preserving the evidence of the accident. Nevertheless, information documented and gathered shortly after the accident can aid accident investigators in recreating the scene and attorneys in establishing a strong case for the injured party. Different types of evidence can be helpful following a car, truck or motorcycle accident, much of which can be easily destroyed over time. For instance, ...

When Can a Missouri Parent Seek to Modify a Child Custody Order?

2012-11-08

As children age and their school, extracurricular and other interests demand more of their time, child support orders may become out of date. In other cases, one parent may struggle to provide proper care of the children because of addiction or mental health issues. Sometimes it is possible for parents to seek modifications of their child custody orders to reflect the changed circumstances and the best interests of the child. While it is possible to come to an informal agreement with a former spouse, filing a motion to modify a custody order ensures that the best interests ...

New Medical Examiner Standards for Commercial Drivers

2012-11-08

Across Illinois and the rest of the nation, interstate bus and truck drivers face challenges far above and beyond those of ordinary motorists. Operating these big vehicles is taxing work, and safe driving requires being in good physical condition. Drivers Required to Pass Physical Examinations At least once every two years, anyone who drives commercially is required to undergo and pass a medical examination. The particulars of the examination are set by the U.S. Department of Transportation and include a variety of assessments. Included in the DOT examination are ...

Greater Scrutiny Placed on Commercial Truck Drivers' Medical Examiners

2012-11-08

In order to ensure that commercial truck drivers are safe on the roads, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently implemented a rule that will require doctors who conduct medical examinations on truckers to obtain a special certification. In order to meet these new standards, healthcare professionals will need to receive training about the physical conditions that can affect truckers' ability to drive safely on the roads. In addition to familiarizing doctors with the health issues that affect truck drivers' performance, this new rule is designed ...

Workers' Compensation Benefits for On-the-Job Motor Vehicle Accident Injuries

2012-11-08

Many jobs require employees to do some driving as part of their job responsibilities. From truck drivers, whose duties almost entirely consist of driving, to those who drive sporadically, such as businesses that occasionally deliver their products -- all of these employees are at risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident while on the job. After such an accident, in addition to making a claim against the at-fault driver, the injured Nevada employee may also be eligible to receive workers' compensation benefits. On-the-Job Motor Vehicle Accidents Unfortunately, ...

Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Social Security Disability Program

2012-11-08

In times of political polarization and economic difficulty, government programs that benefit people who have endured hardships sometimes make easy targets for aspiring politicians. Nonetheless, a recent poll of likely American voters shows across-the-board support for continuation of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits at existing levels. In a recent survey of 1,000 American adults, the political research firm Lincoln Park Strategies found that 83 percent of those polled agreed that cuts to SSDI benefits would be unfair. Only eight percent of likely ...

Don't Wait to File Past-Due Federal Income Tax Returns

2012-11-08

As the end of the year approaches, it is time to start thinking about preparing your 2012 income tax return. But what if you are one of the thousands of people who have failed to file one or more previous years' returns? Will filing a tax return this year simply draw attention to your past omissions? Failing to pay individual income taxes or file a return is a serious violation of federal tax law, and continued failure to file will only make problems worse. With that said, it is important to talk with an experienced tax law attorney before filing tax returns or other ...

What paleotempestology tells scientists about today's tempests

2012-11-07

Boulder, CO, USA – Understanding Earth's paleo-hurricane record cannot be more timely and important in a light of Hurricane Sandy, which shocked the U.S. East Coast last week. Talks in this Wednesday afternoon session at the GSA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, integrate field, lab, and model analysis of past hurricanes and future scenarios, covering a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Session co-organizer Daria Nikitina of West Chester University says that "gaining understanding of past events provides the context for future coastal vulnerability. ...

New insight into why haste makes waste

2012-11-07

Why do our brains make more mistakes when we act quickly? A new study demonstrates how the brain follows Ben Franklin's famous dictum, "Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste." The research – conducted by Research Assistant Professor Richard Heitz and Jeffrey Schall, Ingram Professor of Neuroscience, at Vanderbilt University – has found that the brain actually switches into a special mode when pushed to make rapid decisions. The study was published Nov. 7 in the journal Neuron. "This is a question that is very basic to our experience as human beings, ...

Trial in New York Bus Crash Case Highlights Victims' Rights

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: