What should you do if a school bus injures you? After getting medical attention, please contact us right away. We can help you with a personal injury claim and uphold your legal rights. For example, in today’s blog I want to review the details of a recent Rhode Island school bus accident settlement we obtained for our grateful client.
Each day, thousands of children in Rhode Island and Massachusetts ride the bus to school and back home. Parents, guardians, and teachers expect children and teens’ safety while using public transportation.
School bus accidents not only involve other drivers, but often involve pedestrians as well. The mornings and late afternoons on a school day tend to be dangerous, given the number of kids and teens that walk home from school.
Woonsocket, Rhode Island School Bus Accident Results In Personal Injuries
Our Woonsocket client has traveled the same route from Woonsocket to West Warwick for several years to get to work.
One morning, he was traveling on Providence Street. The early morning is often busy with school bus traffic and parents or guardians taking their kids to school.
As he was slowing down to traffic, a school bus that was following directly behind him failed to slow down on time and struck the back of our client’s vehicle.
Our client was in a small sedan at the time of the crash and the impact of the school bus totaled his vehicle. Generally, there are four types of school buses that range from 10,000 to 25,000 pounds when empty, and 14,5000 to 36,000 pounds fully loaded.
Luckily, at the time of this bus accident, there were no children on the bus. However, our client’s vehicle was completely crushed from behind!
School Bus Accidents, Generally
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines a school bus-related crash as any crash in which a vehicle, regardless of body design, used as a school bus is directly or indirectly involved. This includes incidents involving school children getting in or out of a vehicle.
School bus-related crashes killed 108 people nationwide in 2021, up 50% compared to the pandemic-related low number of 54 deaths in 2020, according to National Safety Council (NSC) tabulations of NHTSA data.
From 2012 to 2021, about 70% of the deaths in school bus-related crashes were occupants of vehicles other than the school bus, and 16% were pedestrians. About 5% were school bus passengers, 5% were school bus drivers, and 3% were bicyclists.
How Can Bottaro Injury Lawyers Help?
As our client’s vehicle was towed from the scene, he contacted Bottaro Injury Lawyers to get immediate help!
Not only was he in pain, but he was out of a vehicle. As a single father, he needed a vehicle not only for work but to transport his son.
When he called us, we offered to refer him to one of our go-to auto bodies in Providence. We also help him get into a rental as soon as we could get liability accepted. There was no doubt that the reckless bus driver would be at fault for the collision considering that she failed to stop and rear-ended our client.
We also helped him get the treatment he needed. He was later seen at Landmark Medical Center for an evaluation. He was in immediate pain and suffering from personal injures to the neck, back, and right knee.
We contacted the Warwick Police Department and obtained the police report records that clearly stated the bus driver failed to stop and rear-ended our client. We were able to obtain property damage photos of the client’s vehicle, the scene of the accident, and got the at-fault insurance company to accept liability.
The school bus had valid insurance coverage. As our client continued with treatment, we put together the evidence to win his personal injury case.
Remember to call Bottaro Injury Lawyers if you or a loved one are involved in any type of bus accident in Rhode Island or Massachusetts. We will fight for the settlement that you deserve!
It’s Good to Know Mike Bottaro – 24/7 Top-Rated Personal Injury Help
At Bottaro Injury Lawyers, we care for people. Attorney Mike Bottaro and his award-winning legal team handle all types of personal injury cases including school bus accident cases, and others throughout Rhode Island and other parts of Massachusetts. We can even help on cases in other states as well. We pride ourselves on our honesty, integrity, and results. Contact us 24/7 in any method you prefer for a fast, free, and confidential consultation about your case. Text or call us at 401-777-7777, or fill out our free and confidential online form. We are here to serve and help you!