Family of fatal bus crash victim files wrongful death lawsuit

When a bus gets into a fatal accident, the results can be devastating. Often, busses are carrying number of individuals and the number of injuries and fatalities can be high. Just last month, there was a terrible bus crash on the East Coast. A father of one of the victim’s filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the bus company.

The father and several other parents who have lost children in bus crashes are hopeful that a wrongful death lawsuit against the bus company will impact the bus industry. Many are hoping that changes will be made to the safety standards that busses adhere to.

Losing a loved one in an accident is difficult to deal with, but knowing that the death could have been prevented adds an element of frustration. According to statistics, in a 10-year period, almost 200 people were killed in fatal bus crashes. But many of these deaths and other injuries may have been avoided if busses were equipped with safety features such as seatbelts.

In fact, there have been Senate subcommittee hearings recently that have been focused on whether new laws addressing bus safety are necessary. Though many safety features are required in cars, trucks and vans, the bus industry has thus far been slow to implement some of the safety recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Some of these safety recommendations include:

• Seat belts for bus passengers
• Stronger roofs
• Stronger windows
• Stabilizers to reduce the risk of rollovers

Though it may take a few years for these recommendations to become standard requirements, family members of bus crash victims are strong advocates of stricter laws. Many realize that they will never be able to get their loved one back. But keeping the bus industry accountable through awareness and even civil lawsuits can help prevent these types of accidents from occurring in the future.

Source: Sacramento Bee online, “Fatalities put a new focus on bus safety,” Paul Nussbaum, 24 April 2011