A bus crashed killing one and injuring five on the New Jersey Turnpike Saturday, November 30, 2019. According to police, the accident happened around 8:40 p.m. at mile marker 57 in Mercer County. Authorities are unsure what caused the crash, and it’s not certain how many other vehicles were involved.
Bus Crashes
Each year, around 24,000 people are injured in bus accidents and 140 are killed, according to a report from the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration. Fifteen percent of the injured were passengers and the rest were struck by the bus either as an occupant of a car or as a pedestrian.
Bus crashes can be especially dangerous to those inside and to occupants of other vehicles on the road. A bus loaded with passengers can weight up to 44,000 lbs which vastly outweighs typical passenger vehicles on the road.
If a bus rolls over or catches fire, the results can be horrendous depending on how many passengers were inside. Most buses don’t have seatbelts which can add to the risk of injuries and death.
Who’s at Fault in a Bus Crash?
Statistics show that in accidents involving a bus, it’s more likely that the driver of the other vehicle is to blame. Of course, this isn’t true in every case. New Jersey law requires that before compensation is paid for injuries, there must be a determination of who is at fault.
For a bus passenger injured in a crash, the fault could be the other driver of the bus driver. In either case, the insurance company for the bus company or the other driver will pay for the damages. In some cases, even when the driver of the other car is at fault, the bus driver might be partially at fault.
If so, this will allow the injured person to tap into the higher coverage that a commercial bus company will have.
Bus Crash Injuries
Compensation is based on injuries and other financial losses. Bus crashes can produce some serious injuries that can be devastating to the injured victim. Some of these injuries are:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries
- Broken Arms/Legs
- Fractured Ribs
- Severe Burns
- Thoracic Spine Injuries (Whiplash)
- Lower Back Injuries
Contact a South Jersey Personal Injury Lawyer.
After any accident involving a serious injury, contact a South Jersey Personal Injury Lawyer such as Edith Pearce. Unlike the huge firms with dozens of attorneys and many different attorneys handling different aspects of your case, Edith Pearce is personally involved in every case that we handle. She genuinely cares about her clients and you will not be treated like just another case or file.
Contact The Pearce Law Firm, P.C. at (856) 354-5688 for a free consultation and case evaluation. We handle clients in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.