Ventura Bus Accident Lawyer
If you were injured while riding a bus in California, contact experienced Ventura bus accident lawyer Craig Murphy for a free one-on-one consultation.
There are many great reasons to rely on buses to take you to and from work or run your errands. Especially with the heightened concern for the environment, reducing your carbon footprint is a huge benefit. Taking the bus is also an excellent form of transportation because, if you chose not to own a car, you don’t have to worry about paying for gas, repairs, or worry about traffic. You can even get some extra work done on the bus because you don’t have to watch the road. While this is a cost-efficient and seemingly great way to get around, it can also be dreadfully dangerous.
When an accident happens in a bus, you might not have even seen it coming and had no time to physically prepare for the collision. You might get thrown from your seat, crash into something and hurt yourself. Now what might have been an average, even boring, commute to work is a day of pain and sitting in a hospital room. If you’re seriously injured, you might even need emergency surgery. It only takes one moment, one mistake to cause serious hurt.
If you are suffering after being involved in a Ventura bus accident, you probably have a million questions and worries keeping you up at night. The stress can even slow down your healing time if you cannot relax and rest. This is when hiring an experienced and caring Ventura bus accident lawyer will benefit you. They will be able to take away the burden of dealing with rude insurance adjusters and let you focus on getting healthy.
Our office offers free consultations for those hurt in a bus accident. You don’t have to wait, you can call us today. We would be glad to meet with you, even come to the hospital if need be. Your recovery should be your priority. Let us make your case our responsibility.
Ventura Bus Accident Steps
Perhaps you weren’t a passenger on the bus, but driving on the road and collide with the bus. You absolutely can still file a claim against the bus. After getting everyone to safety and calling the ambulance if needed, the most important thing that you can do, whether you were on the bus or were hit by the bus, is to collect evidence. This is the most critical step that you can do immediately. If you are taken away by an ambulance, the police will gather this information for you. If you are not critically injured and have the ability to gather information, get as much as you can.
Take as many pictures as possible from as many angles as you safely can. You can video the road and show the skid marks and the state of the vehicles. The more detail, the better. The pictures that you take will be evidence that you can use in your claim in order to show who was at fault and how badly things were damaged. You also want to be able to get statements from witnesses. If someone saw what happened and can help your case in any way, get their name and contact information. This can make all the difference when trying to prove that the bus driver was negligent.
Bus Driver’s Responsibility to Protect
California law has what is called a common carrier code. This exists for public transportation to follow in order to provide safe carriage for everyone. It is like an ethics code. The driver must operate the bus in a safe manner, and the company that maintains the bus must ensure that the vehicle is safe. If either of these two parties fail to do this, they will be liable for resulting injuries. For example, if the driver of the bus is distracted by a phone or swerves into another lane of traffic without signaling, they would be liable for your injuries. Also, if the bus collides because of a brake failure, then in some instances, that would also make them liable for your injuries.
Compensation You Are Entitled To
When you’re injured in a bus accident in Ventura, you may be worrying about what you can get compensation for. The insurance companies probably don’t want to give you much, and your Ventura bus accident lawyer will be able to help you figure out if what they offer you will cover what you’re entitled to. You might be hurting financially and feel like you have to take your first settlement offer to make ends meet, but going to trial might prove to be the best choice. You can recover for a few things that might be bogging you down financially.
You can get compensation for:
- Medical bills
- Co-pays for doctor’s visits, procedures, and prescriptions
- Property damages to your car (if you were not a passenger on the bus)
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
If you have been badly hurt, these costs can really stack up. Being so hurt that you cannot work and had to take vacation time to heal or unpaid time off can make all of the bills you’re piling up even more of a burden. That is why you want an experienced Ventura bus accident lawyer that will get you all that you are entitled to. You don’t have to suffer financially because of a mistake someone else made on the road.
Common Types of Injuries
If you are lucky enough to walk away from a bus accident, you might only have suffered some minor bruising. That is usually best case scenario. Injuries can get as bad as broken bones, internal organ damage, and in the worst instances, death. In those cases, a family member or loved one can file for wrongful death. For those who are seriously hurt, these injuries can take months to recover from. Even the most minor injuries can cause you to miss work.
Only a Ventura bus accident lawyer can get you your rightful compensation from the insurance companies who will want to give you pennies on the dollar. If you want a strong and dedicated Ventura bus accident lawyer to guide you through this process, please call our office today to get a free consultation with Craig Murphy.
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