Bus Accident Attorney in Montgomery County, MO

Bus Accident Attorney in Montgomery County, MO. If you or someone you care about has been harmed in a destructive bus accident, take control of your recovery by calling Burger Law today at (314) 500-HURT or by contacting us online.

Bus accidents hardly ever receive the same attention as plane or train accidents, even though the can often be just as harmful and fatal. In 2020, there were 964 bus accidents in Missouri that resulted in personal injury or death. We trust Montgomery County, MO bus drivers and bus companies to maintain our safety and respect the rules. When they eschew their obligations and do not respect the rules it can have terrible, sometimes lifelong outcomes for you or your loved ones. Your Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney at Burger Law will ensure that you recover the best possible compensation that you are owed for your injuries.

At Burger Law, our bus accident attorney team has more than 20 years of experience defending the injured in Montgomery County and throughout Missouri and fighting back against bullies like dishonest insurance companies and people who carelessly do not want to be held responsible for their careless actions. Our Montgomery County, MO clients have put their cases and their futures in our accomplished hands, and to date we have won them over $175 million in verdicts and settlements. Our bus accident attorney team uses their hard work, commitment, resolution, knowledge and experience to help right wrongs in personal injury cases and help Montgomery County, MO residents become whole again. You should not have to lose work, pay for sky-high medical bills and also handle the emotional trauma of your injury only because someone else broke the rules. If you or a family member has been hurt in a Montgomery County, MO bus accident, call the bus accident attorney of Burger Law today at (314) 500-HURT or contact us online for a free consultation. We get started on your claim straight away, and you do not owe us any fees until we win your case.

If you were injured in a bus accident in Montgomery County, MO because of somebody else's thoughtless actions, find out how much your damages may be worth by filling out our personal injury calculator.

Do I Need a Montgomery County, MO Bus Accident Attorney?

If you have sustained injuries in a bus accident, we know you are feeling especially powerless. After all, you were not the one driving and you got on board the bus assuming that the adequate safety protocols were adhered to. Montgomery County, MO bus companies and drivers have firm rules they have a duty to obey, but sometimes they fail in those responsibilities and they leave us to pick up the pieces. Because of the force that is generally caused by bus accidents, injuries can take years to really recover from, may have permanent consequences or in the most tragic cases can even result in wrongful death. The Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney at Burger Law will fight by your side so you do not have to face an uncertain future alone. When you hire us we get to work on on your case right away, and work tirelessly until you win the maximum compensation you are entitled to. We have made a claim for every type of bus accident case and know every trick insurance companies use to try and defraud injured Montgomery County, MO individuals and families into settling for a lower recovery than they are owed. Those Montgomery County, MO insurance companies fear us because they know our bus accident attorney team takes up – and wins – the hard cases. Call us today and let the passionate, accomplished and tenacious bus accident lawyers at Burger Law help you protect your family’s future and help make you whole again.

The legal process is complex and can be difficult to comprehend for Montgomery County, MO residents who do not have the litigation and trial abilities of an accomplished bus accident attorney. We have more than two decades of experience standing up to bullies and fighting the hard cases. When you hire our Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney team, we handle every facet of your claim. You can bank on a veteran and savvy bus accident attorney at Burger Law to:

• Investigate the accident site as soon as possible. When you call us, we can have a bus accident lawyer on the scene at any time during the day or night in order to obtain important evidence for your claim.
• Interview eyewitnesses who were either also received injuries in the crash or were nearby. As buses carry multiple passengers, there are almost always a lot of passengers who want the same answers and compensation you do. We will perform official depositions of eyewitnesses to help in your case.
• Collect further evidence such as tire marks, security footage, police reports, in additional to important details such as how long the driver had driven without taking a break or when the last inspection and maintenance was conducted on the bus. Several different factors contribute to bus accidents, and your Burger Law Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney will find out the "whys" of the accident and who needs to be held liable.
• Utilize our network of Montgomery County, MO accident and medical experts to determine negligence for your bus accident injuries and compute precisely how much your damages are worth. You deserve every dime of what you are owed and we will use our know-how and expertise to ensure you collect it.
• Fight back against resistant Montgomery County, MO insurance companies who care more about their bottom line than your well-being. We have seen every trick in the book that insurance companies use to try and devalue your claim. When you hire us, you can be sure those ploys will not work in your case.
• Take the fight to trial if the insurance company does not offer a fair settlement, we will use our expert litigation skills to secure you a full financial recovery for your injuries.

Additionally, our bus accident attorney team will be keeping you informed entire time. We handle all communication, documentation and litigation so that you can spend all of your energy on healing and making your family whole again. We collect no attorneys fees until you are fairly compensated. If you or a loved one has been harmed in a calamitous bus accident, contact an expert and committed bus accident attorney at Burger Law today.

Who is Liable for My Bus Accident Injuries?

Since it takes so many people to operate a bus safely, from manufacturers, to bus companies to drivers, you will first need to learn the cause of the accident before determining who caused your injuries. Fortunately, an accomplished and skilled Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney like those at Burger Law have seen every category of car accident, truck accident and bus accident case and will be able to discover who is responsible for your injuries.

What Causes Bus Accidents? | Montgomery County, MO Bus Accident Attorney

• The age of the driver and their experience. A 2012 Journal of Safety Research study found that inexperienced drivers under the age of 25, in addition to more experienced drivers over the age of 55 were more likely to be driving when a bus accident happened.
• Driver error. While the same study stated that only 4 percent of bus accidents were because of a severe offense such as the driver being intoxicated, another study by the University of Michigan reported that 31 percent of bus drivers in metropolitan area bus crashes had been cited with driving errors, for instance, speeding, being sleepy or distracted driving.
• Driver fatigue. A large portion of bus drivers, especially those that work for commercial bus lines such as Greyhound that necessitate drivers to drive hundreds of miles in the middle of the night, become sleepy and can even fall asleep behind the wheel. While most busing companies have rules about how many hours a driver can drive during without a break or how often they have to take a break, those rules are often <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/23/us/greyhound-investigation/" target="_blank” rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener title="CNN"not required or complied with.
• Road conditions. Given buses’ mass and the intricacy of driving them, icy roads or Montgomery County, MO construction areas can be especially hazardous for bus riders. In some cases a third party such as a construction company is at fault. Burger Law's bus accident attorney will help you decide if that is true in your case.
• Negligence by the bus company. Bus companies are overseen by regulatory entities, but not nearly as much as other transportation industries. A 2011 study by the National Transportation Safety Board found that The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has only 878 people responsible for inspections of over 765,000 motor carriers, or a mere 1.15 inspectors per 1,000 motor carriers. This means reviews frequently cannot keep up with the number of inspections required. Some Montgomery County, MO bus companies do not adequately maintain their vehicles, causing them to be less safe. Additionally, bus companies are mandated to ensure that their drivers are correctly trained and are not overworked.
• Hazardous roads. Faults in the road and road conditions can cause a driver to lose control and crash. A Few typical examples are:
  • Potholes
  • Uneven pavement or cracks in the pavement
  • Defective or missing traffic signals
  • Obstacles on the road, for instance branches or vehicle wreckage
  • Poor lighting
  • Excessive grades

  The more time the dangerous condition has been on the Montgomery County, MO road, the better your odds of holding the at-fault parties responsible. The negligent party may be a local Montgomery County, MO government, or a third party whom the government hired to eliminate the problem but either did not do so quickly enough or did not sufficiently repair it.

Once your expert Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney confirm the cause of your wreck, they will be able to confirm who is at-fault for your injuries and how to proceed with getting you the best possible financial recovery. Below are some examples of parties who are typically found liable in bus accident cases.

Commercial Bus Companies

Transportation buses such as Greyhounds are considered common carriers under the law, which means they have a duty of care to their passengers to look out for their safety. One facet of that duty of care is to make certain that their drivers are not driving too many hours in a day. In despite of saying that safety is their top priority, a CNN report in 2016 found that Greyhound is not complying with its own rules concerning driver fatigue. Drivers are theoretically obligated to stop every 150 miles and get out to inspect the vehicle to inhibit fatigue. However, the rule is not enforced and is usually not obeyed as too many breaks could cause financial losses for the company. A 2012 government study reported that 37 percent of all passenger bus crashes were owing to driver fatigue. Additionally, many Greyhound passengers have reported that their driver was eating during the time of an accident, which is an example of distracted driving.

Making certain that Montgomery County, MO buses are correctly inspected and repaired and that they have safety equipment such as seatbelts are also part of the bus company's responsibility. A bus accident might be because of a bus company either failing to provide routine maintenance or failing to repair a broken part or component. Older buses are particularly vulnerable to breaking down and bus companies need to keep their fleets updated.

Finally, bus companies need to be vigilant in their hiring practices. All drivers need to be adequately licensed and trained, and should only be permitted to drive after passing strict background checks. Your Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney at Burger Law will carry out a complete investigation into the bus company's hiring practices and the person who was driving when the accident took place.

A Bus Manufacturer

Like car and other motor vehicle manufacturers, bus manufacturers have a duty to confirm the safety of their products and quickly issue recalls if a product is discovered to be faulty. If they approve an inherently flawed design or do not recall a component that they knew or should have known was not functioning correctly, they are guilty of product liability. While they may attempt to shift the blame to somebody else, your Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney at Burger Law has over 20 years of experience making sure reckless parties are held responsible for their actions.

The Montgomery County or Missouri Government or a Public Entity

Public transportation accidents can often be disastrous because of the number of people involved and because they often transpire in densely populated areas. While you can seek compensation from the Montgomery County, MO government, there are specific procedures for doing so. Missouri has stricter protections for governmental entities and government employees than for the average citizen in tort cases. If you seek to make a claim against a municipality or government employee, you must file it within 90 days of the accident with the Office of Administration’s Risk Management Division. That is why it is urgent to contact a Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney at once after your accident. There is no time to wait, call the trusted Burger Law bus accident injury lawyers now at (314) 500-HURT.

Missouri Revised Statute §537.600 grants sovereign immunity to government entities and employees except against a government employee who was driving a motor vehicle “within the course of their employment.” This means that you can sue or make a claim against an at-fault or careless public bus driver in Missouri.

The Bus Driver

Even a properly licensed and trained bus driver can cause a wreck because of driving mistakes. If they became distracted by eating or texting, did not stop when they were feeling fatigued, did not pay attention to the Montgomery County, MO road conditions and driving laws while they were driving or made the dangerous decision to drive drunk, they need to be held accountable just like bus companies sometimes have to be. When you get on a bus you trust that driver with your health and your life. If a bus driver does not take that responsibility to heart and causes you injury, you can be sure that the committed and aggressive bus accident attorney at Burger Law will make them pay.

The Other Driver

Like any type of auto wreck, there are frequently two or more drivers, and in some instances they each may be responsible for a percentage of the blame. Another driver’s recklessness, such as speeding, driving while intoxicated or pulling in front of the bus too quickly can hurt you. If you were injured in a bus crash where there was another driver or drivers involved, your talented and seasoned Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney will help you establish if they are liable and if you should make a claim against their insurance company.

School Districts

School bus accidents are the the type of bus crash we most typically see in Montgomery County and Missouri. Nationally, school bus accidents account for 40 percent of all fatal bus accidents. While often the driver, bus company or bus manufacturer is at fault, a school district in Montgomery County, MO may also be held accountable, for instance if they did not cancel school on a day when weather conditions were particularly bad or they did not perform sufficient background checks when hiring drivers.

Below are some helpful links and frequently asked questions for bus accident injuries and other types of injuries:

• Do I have to Talk to the Insurance Company Before I Talk to a Lawyer?
• How Much to Expect in an Auto Accident Settlement
• What Happens During Litigation?
• Does My Family Have a Wrongful Death Claim?
• Proving Negligence in a Personal Injury Claim

What Compensation Can A Bus Accident Attorney in Montgomery County, MO Recover For Me?

The compensation you are awarded in a bus accident case will usually be based on the severity of your injuries and the repercussions they have on your life. You may have sustained a sprained ankle that merely needed a quick trip to an emergency room in Montgomery County, MO and a short time off work. Or, you may have experienced a disastrous spinal cord injury that leaves you disabled and in need of special equipment for the rest of your life. When you hire a dedicated and accomplished Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney at Burger Law, we will make sure that you collect a great financial recovery for all of the pain and inconvenience your injury has caused and will continue to cause. Missouri Senate Bill 239 defines the damages you can receive as:

• Economic damages, including:
  • Medical expenses, such as hospital bills, physical therapy, assistive devices and medications
  • Lost wages
  • Lost earning capacity

  We work with our network of medical and economic experts to compute the exact dollar amount you are owed, accounting for inflation for future lost earning potential or future medical expenses.

• Noneconomic damages, including:
  • pain and suffering
  • mental anguish
  • inconvenience
  • physical impairment
  • disfigurement
  • loss of capacity to enjoy life
  • loss of consortium

However severe your injuries and however much they have impacted your life, Burger Law's Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney team will fight tirelessly to ensure that you recover the best possible compensation for all of your damages.

Learn more about our various practice areas by clicking the links below:

• Truck Crash Lawyers in Missouri
• Semi-Truck Accident Lawyer in Missouri
• Car Accident Attorney in Missouri

Call Our Montgomery County, MO Bus Accident Attorney Today

We have seen every variety of bus accident case and know the tremendous anguish and disastrous effect it can have on your and your loved ones. Your Montgomery County, MO bus accident attorney at Burger Law is compassionate, accomplished, straightforward and relentless and will use every bit of the knowledge and abilities we have obtained over the past 20 years to secure you the full recovery you rightfully deserve. If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus accident, do not wait another second. Call Burger Law immediately at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form for a free case review.