California Bus Accident Lawyer

For claims against a public entity, the California Government Claims Act requires a written claim to be filed with the agency within six months of the date of injury. The agency then has 45 days to act on the claim. Only after a denial (or expiration of the 45 days) can you file a lawsuit, and even then a separate, shorter statute of limitations applies. This rule cuts the usual two-year personal injury deadline to a fraction of its length, and there is no informal grace period.

Under California Civil Code section 2100, common carriers, including buses, owe the highest duty of care recognized in California law. That means jurors are instructed to hold the carrier to a standard of utmost care and diligence, not just ordinary reasonable care. Hard braking, abrupt lane changes, pulling away from a stop before passengers are seated, and failing to assist riders with mobility issues can each support liability under this heightened standard.

Sometimes, yes. If the bus was struck by an uninsured or underinsured at-fault driver, the uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on your personal auto policy may apply even though you were not in your own vehicle. We routinely identify multiple sources of recovery in bus cases.

The same common carrier and government claim rules apply. The advantage you have as a non-passenger is access to discovery into the agency’s training records, the driver’s history, prior complaints, and maintenance logs. The risk is the same six-month government claim deadline if a public agency is involved.

Public school district buses are subject to the six-month government claim rule. Private contractors operating buses for districts may need to receive a parallel claim. Children struck by motorists illegally passing a stopped school bus have claims against that motorist, and in some circumstances against the bus operator if signaling equipment was defective or warnings were not given.

That defense rarely works the way agencies and companies hope. California courts look at the realities of control, supervision, and the nondelegable duties common carriers owe their passengers. A carrier generally cannot contract its way out of its duty to operate its buses safely.

It depends on the severity of the injuries, the available policy limits, the number of defendants, and the strength of the liability evidence. Public transit agencies typically carry large self-insured retentions and substantial excess coverage. Private bus companies carry FMCSA-mandated minimums (often $5,000,000 for interstate passenger carriers) and frequently more. We give realistic case-value assessments after we know what coverage is actually available.

Bus drivers injured on the job typically have a workers’ compensation claim. If a third party (another driver, a defective road, a defective vehicle component) caused or contributed to the crash, a separate civil claim against that third party is also available, and the two systems coordinate through California’s lien rules.