What Happens If a St. Louis Bus Driver Hits My Car?

If a bus driver hits your car, you could end up with severe damage to your vehicle and health.

Between pedestrians, bicyclists, and other cars, you have enough to worry about when driving around in St. Louis. Unfortunately, there is one more vehicle that you need to pay close attention to, and it’s one of the most dangerous of all of them. Buses are involved in a surprisingly high proportion of collisions and often come with complicated legal consequences that are best handled by a St. Louis car accident attorney. As a driver, it is important to understand what steps to take after being involved in any sort of automobile accident.

Why Buses Frequently Hit Drivers

There are two reasons why bus drivers frequently hit nearby cars. The first is size and weight. If you’ve ever driven a big truck before, you know how odd and unnatural it feels to operate such a large vehicle. Buses are even bigger, making their operation exceptionally difficult. These control issues frequently cause bus accidents. The second reason is the fact that these vehicles are continually stopping and starting. Bus drivers need to pull over to the side of the road every few hundred feet, which means making lane changes and sudden stops throughout their drives. This unsafe movement pattern also leads to many collisions.

Bus Accident Injuries

Bus accidents come with the standard range of injuries. They can be as tame as a strain or as severe as a concussion or bone break. What makes them unique is the size and height of the vehicle involved. As you might imagine, a large and heavy bus is likely to do serious damage to a smaller car. Additionally, the height of the bus gives it more of a chance at injuring your head. Lastly, the size and strength of these vehicles put you at risk of rolling over, which often leads to incredible harm.

How They Could be at Fault

If you want to file a personal injury lawsuit, the bus driver must be at least partially at fault. The following are a few conditions in which that would be the case.

• Intoxicated driver
• Unsafe lane change
• Malfunctioning engine
• Fatigued driver

Legal Complications

When a private company owns the bus that hits you, the legality is not too complex. The most common example of this situation is when people hire party buses for nights out on the town. Under these conditions, you can pursue compensation from the driver or the company that sponsors him. Where it gets complicated is when the government employs the bus. Two examples of this are city and school buses. When an organization is run by the government or has their backing, bringing a lawsuit against them is much more complex.