After any auto accident, there can be multiple victims. From pedestrians to passengers to drivers, car accidents can leave many people needing compensation. Bus injuries have the potential to cause many many more injuries.
If you were hurt in a bus accident, you could be one of many people seeking a settlement for your injuries, and it is important to make sure that you work with a lawyer to avoid being just another payout from the bus company or their insurer. Our lawyers can help negotiate settlements and work to prove your damages for your specific injuries, fighting the case all the way to court if necessary.
For a free evaluation of your injury case, call Howe Law’s bus accident attorneys today at (844) 876-4357.
Fighting for Damages for Bus Accident Victims in Mableton, GA
If you were involved in a bus crash, it is possible that there could be dozens of other victims, all seeking damages for the same accident. Our bus accident lawyers can fight to help get you the damages you specifically need in your case and help you avoid being just one of a dozen other low-dollar settlements the bus company’s insurance provider pushes after a bus accident.
Getting Your Voice Heard
If there are other victims in the crash, the bus company and their insurance company might seek to end the case quickly by offering the same settlement to everyone involved in the accident. This might even be a slightly elevated settlement compared to what they might offer in another case, with the hope that victims will all agree and they will not have to defend the case any further.
However, your damages should represent the specific injuries and economic harm you faced from the accident, not the average or the damages that a less-injured victim faced. It is vital that you do not sign anything after a bus accident and you do not accept any payments from the bus company or their insurance company without reviewing them with a lawyer first. In Georgia, bus accidents work on an at-fault system, where any insurance offer from the at-fault driver could be considered a settlement that blocks your right to go back to court and get more compensation for the injuries you faced.
Working with our lawyers can help you prevent yourself from becoming just another settlement statistic for the bus company and instead get you the compensation you personally need for your bus accident injuries.
Calculating Bus Accident Damages
Bus accident victims often face medical care, lost time at work, and substantial pain and suffering from their injuries. These are the three major areas of damages you will claim in your injury case, and the specific amounts you claim can vary widely depending on the facts of your case.
Many injuries are treated and left to heal with no further care needed. In these cases, medical care bills could be low. In others, ongoing rehabilitation and physical therapy appointments or future surgeries and degrading conditions could leave you with ongoing care needs and costly treatments, all of which need compensation.
If you do not work, then you might not face lost wages. But if you do, then any wages you miss because of your accident and injury should be compensated. This means not only receiving compensation for the wages you lost while you were in the hospital recovering but also any wages you will miss going forward if you cannot work or must work in a reduced capacity.
Perhaps one of the most personalized areas of damages is pain and suffering. These damages pay you back for the physical, mental, emotional, and other intangible effects of an accident. There is no need to prove that these damages exist, as Georgia law presumes that any injury naturally results in these damages. Nonetheless, you might need supporting evidence of how serious these damages are, such as a journal of your recovery, your testimony about the effects of the injury on your life, or a therapist’s statements about your recovery. In many cases, serious injuries can result in pain and suffering damages that total above and beyond the other damages in your bus accident claim.
Who is at Fault for a Bus Crash in Mableton, GA?
Investigating a bus accident often means talking to witnesses, collecting any security or dashcam footage, and making a determination of what happened to cause the crash. In general, the driver who most directly caused the crash is the one at fault, and they are the ones ordered to pay for the victims’ damages.
In many cases, that will mean the bus driver. If the bus driver was driving tired or made serious mistakes behind the wheel that led to the crash, they will be found at fault for the crash. Then, their insurance policies and the bus company they work for, as well as the bus company’s insurance, will be the ones to actually pay for settlements and jury awards in most cases.
Other drivers could also share fault or be at fault in place of the bus driver. Bus drivers are often quite safe, given that their job is to drive, and they might have years and years of solid experience doing so. In many bus accident cases, the crash is caused by another driver who crashed into the bus and put everyone’s safety at risk. In these cases, the individual driver’s insurance might cover payments instead.
Even in accidents where another driver is at fault, bus companies often have additional insurance to protect their passengers and their business, potentially supplementing any damages you can claim from the at-fault driver’s smaller insurance policy.
Call Our Bus Accident Attorneys in Mableton, GA Today
To get a free review of your injury case, call (844) 876-4357 to speak with Howe Law’s bus accident attorneys.
