Fort Lauderdale Bus Accident Lawyers

Bus Accidents in Fort Lauderdale Handled by Legal Professionals

A Fort Lauderdale bus accident can leave passengers and other victims with serious injuries. From school buses to city buses, the potential for severe injuries in a crash is very high. Whether your child was being transported to or from school, or you were on a city bus, shuttle, or another type of bus, you should not face this situation on your own.

Bus accident victims in Fort Lauderdale should choose the legal team that will take action and advocate for them every step of the way. The Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers won’t back down in the face of challenges. We fight for your legal rights and pursue compensation for the damages you’ve incurred as a result of someone else’s negligence.

Bus accident claims are more complex than other types of motor vehicle accidents. You can trust our legal team to work tirelessly to secure your compensation by applying our extensive legal experience and resources. Contact a Fort Lauderdale bus accident lawyer from our law office today to get a free consultation.

Understanding Bus Accident Law in Fort Lauderdale

Bus accidents are much more complicated than car accidents. This is because they tend to involve many injured victims and have the potential for multiple liable parties.

The complications continue with understanding the statute of limitations and how it can change based on the type of bus accident. Adding to the complexity, Florida is a no-fault insurance state. This means that bus accident victims must first submit an injury claim through their insurance carrier.

However, the cost of damages often exceeds the limits of the policy. This may mean you would have the chance to pursue compensation against the bus driver and other potentially liable parties.

Should your bus accident claim be against a government entity, you have to act quickly. The time frame you have for filing is much shorter in these circumstances. The situation could get out of control quickly. While you are understandably stressed from the situation and likely in severe pain, you should entrust your bus accident claim to the Fort Lauderdale bus accident attorneys at the Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers. You will then have a bus accident lawyer on your side to help you negotiate fair compensation.

Were you a driver or a passenger in a car that got involved in a bus accident on Fort Lauderdale’s roads? You can also pursue damages for your injuries and financial losses, but you must discuss your case with a bus accident lawyer. Florida has a pure comparative negligence model, meaning an injured driver can recover financial damages even when they are partially at fault for the accident. The bus companies have attorneys on their side, and you should too.

Another factor that makes bus accident cases much more complex is that there are often many injury victims filing claims at the same time. There are often multiple vehicles involved as well. Florida law allows bus accident victims to file claims against all parties bearing responsibility when injuries exceed the coverage of their PIP policies. The only contingency is that your injuries must be serious enough to warrant the additional requests for compensation.

In short, only a Fort Lauderdale bus accident lawyer has the knowledge and expertise to negotiate a proper settlement or take the case to court. When you need legal representation for your bus accident injuries, choose Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers to stand up for you. Discuss your Florida bus accident injury and discover your legal options at a free consultation today.

The Role of Fort Lauderdale Bus Accident Lawyers

When you are in an accident involving a bus, you may not know what to do next. All motor vehicle accidents leave victims feeling lost and overwhelmed. Choose Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers to have a Fort Lauderdale bus accident lawyer on your side.

Your bus accident case is going to be complex, so you need someone with experience representing bus accident claims. Most bus accidents leave victims with painful injuries that keep them hospitalized. By the time you get out, most evidence might be gone.

A Fort Lauderdale bus accident lawyer from our legal team will start gathering evidence on your behalf immediately. We will consult accident reconstruction experts and medical experts, negotiate with insurance companies and transportation companies, and fight for you. Likely, we won’t need to go to trial but rest assured, we will not stop until we find justice for bus accident victims.

You or your children may depend on the bus for daily transportation. You may have reserved a special coach bus for a trip or taken a shuttle ride provided to you by a hotel or other business. The bus drivers and the companies they work for owe you a duty of care to transport you and your loved ones to your destination safely.

When you are hurt in a bus accident, you are left dealing with expensive medical bills and lost wages. If your child has been injured, you are sick with worry over their recovery. Why should you be left to foot the bill when someone else’s negligence caused the bus accident?

At Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers, we offer legal services that help protect injury victims, especially those who are vulnerable children. We work hard to establish liability and negligence to pursue compensation from the responsible parties.

We do this by proving that:

• The at-fault party had a legal duty of care to uphold
• A breach of this duty occurred
• This breach caused your bus accident
• The bus accident caused by this breach led to your injuries and other damages

In the state of Florida, bus drivers are considered common carriers. They are subject to providing a heightened duty of care while behind the wheel. Beyond the negligence of a bus driver, other parties can be held liable, depending on the circumstances of your crash.

Government transit authorities, school districts, private bus companies, bus mechanics, bus maintenance companies, third-party motorists, and the manufacturer of defective safety equipment could all bear responsibility. If you are a bus accident victim, our Fort Lauderdale bus accident lawyer will help you find the evidence you need to prove liability and hold the parties responsible for their negligent actions.

Who Is Liable in a Fort Lauderdale Bus Accident?

When you or a loved one has sustained bus accident injuries, you must first determine who is legally responsible for bus accidents.

The Bus Company

If the injuries sustained were on a privately owned tour bus or charter bus, the bus company may be liable. These bus companies carry their insurance in the event of crashes and are also liable for the actions of their bus drivers.

The School

In a school bus accident, you may be able to hold the school responsible. The school must hire responsible drivers to operate their buses. The school must also make sure every school bus in the fleet is properly maintained. If any negligence results in a school bus accident, the school could be held liable.

The City of Fort Lauderdale

Bus passengers who suffered injuries on a public bus can file a lawsuit against the city of Fort Lauderdale. You must act quickly to file your bus accident claim against the local government if you were hurt in a city bus accident. Your initial administrative claim needs to be filed within six months.

A Third Party

Other third parties could be liable in your bus accident case. Another driver could have caused the bus to crash. The bus manufacturer or a product manufacturer could also be responsible for any defects in the bus or its equipment.

When it comes to finding all liable parties, Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers will investigate and pursue them in your bus accident case.

Types of Bus Accident Cases

Fort Lauderdale bus accidents may involve:

• Broward County Transit Buses (BCT)
• School buses
• Greyhound buses
• Charter buses
• Shuttle buses
• Commuter buses

If you or a family member suffered injuries in a bus accident, you should not wait to get the legal representation you need. Bus crashes can occur in many different ways. The bus can be involved in a single-vehicle accident, such as running off the road and rolling over.

Buses can also collide with other motor vehicles on the roads and highways of Fort Lauderdale. On city streets, buses can collide with pedestrians and bicyclists. Bus passengers can suffer injuries due to lack of seatbelts in buses, though even braking hard or turning sharply can lead to anyone depending on the bus for transport to suffer an injury.

Many other scenarios can occur in bus accidents that can lead to severe injuries or even fatalities. Regardless of the type of bus accident you were involved in, you can count on Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers to fight against the insurance companies of the bus companies for you.

Common Causes of Fort Lauderdale Bus Accidents

Most bus accidents can be prevented with the right safety precautions, driver training, and vehicle maintenance. In Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, and the rest of South Florida, it is important to investigate the cause of the accident before you file your personal injury claim.

The cause of the accident may be due to negligence of the bus driver, a defective bus, or defective equipment. Most of the time, bus accidents are due to driver error, just like in other motor vehicle crashes.

Speeding and Violations of Traffic Laws

Bus drivers must obey the speed limit and other rules of the road just like all other drivers. Sometimes, they might speed to make up for lost time when trying to stay on schedule. Buses can cause plenty of damage when they crash, even when the driver is doing everything right. However, when bus drivers break traffic laws, the results could be deadly.

Driver Fatigue

The long hours spent behind the wheel of a bus can lead to driver fatigue. A tired driver is more prone to delayed reaction times or impaired judgment.

Distracted Driving

Bus drivers can also get distracted while they are on the job. Using the phone, eating or drinking, or even conversing with passengers can all interfere with their ability to drive safely.

Lack of Training

One surprising reason for bus accidents is a lack of proper driver training. Often, many of the errors that are made while driving a bus are from drivers not getting enough supervised training, leading to huge safety risks for everyone on the bus and the road. 

Mechanical Failures

The bus company must make sure it maintains its fleet of vehicles with regular inspections and maintenance. Some companies try to cut costs by skipping these procedures, resulting in mechanical issues such as tire blowouts, steering malfunctions, and brake failure.

Common Bus Accident Injuries Sustained in Fort Lauderdale

Most buses, including school buses, do not have safety restraints. This can lead to serious injuries in the event of a bus crash.

Some common injuries that occur in these types of accidents include:

• Traumatic brain injuries 
• Bone breaks
• Spinal cord injuries
• Loss of limbs
• Severe burns
• Lacerations
• Disfigurement
• Neck and back injuries
• Paralysis

Unfortunately, many of the bus accidents in Fort Lauderdale result in fatalities when passengers succumb to their injuries. In those cases, a wrongful death claim can be filed by the surviving family members.

It is common for passengers on buses to sustain serious injuries in a crash due to the lack of seat belts, airbags, and safety features that are standard in smaller passenger vehicles. Drivers and passengers in smaller vehicles are also at major risk due to the greater size and weight of buses.

The costs of getting medical treatment for serious injuries can quickly spiral out of control. Contact Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers to speak with a Fort Lauderdale bus accident lawyer who has represented many personal injury cases involving bus accidents and will stop at nothing to protect your best interests.

The Legal Process for a Bus Accident in Fort Lauderdale

One of the steps you should take after being injured in a bus accident is to contact your insurance company. However, it may soon be evident that your insurance policy coverage is inadequate to cover all your medical bills and financial losses related to your bus accident in Fort Lauderdale.

With Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers, you will have a team ready to take legal action on your behalf. This includes investigating the accident to determine liability. It also includes gathering evidence to support your claim.

Tracking down witnesses can be difficult without the right resources, especially when you’re recovering from serious injuries. Our South Florida personal injury attorneys will be meticulous when it comes to putting the pieces of the puzzle together to prove whether one or several parties are to blame.

Once the parties are identified, we will send them a demand letter and negotiate for maximum compensation. We will also fight against any claims that try to place the blame on you and will take your case to trial if that becomes necessary. 

While we will do our part to win, we strongly encourage victims of bus accidents in Fort Lauderdale to follow these tips to recover the maximum settlement amount:

Get a Report of the Accident

If you were a passenger on the bus or in another vehicle involved in the bus crash, you should call the police immediately. They will respond to the scene and create a police report that serves as valuable evidence in your case.

Seek Medical Attention

Many accident victims do not realize the severity of their injuries until later. Some injuries are not obvious on the outside, which is why you must seek medical attention immediately. You will need to document these treatments when you claim compensation.

Gather Evidence

The police will take photos and note anything relevant in their report. It never hurts to have more photos or videos of the accident scene. These details may be extremely telling and can serve to strengthen the basis of your bus accident claim.

Contact Our Law Firm

Bus accidents are far more challenging than other types of crashes. Let a bus accident lawyer from the Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers fight for you. 

Compensation and Damages in Personal Injury Cases Involving Bus Accidents

If you are wondering how much compensation you can get in personal injury cases such as bus accidents, the answer is that it will depend on the details of your case. You can claim compensation for economic damages and non-economic damages.

Economic damages refer to the financial expenses you’ve incurred from the accident, which may include:

• Current medical expenses
• Future medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Reduced earning potential
• Nursing care
• Rehabilitation
• Property damage

Non-economic losses are intangible and hard to quantify, but with the help of our law firm, you can prove that you require compensation for:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Physical disfigurement or scarring
• Lost enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Post-traumatic stress disorder

In some cases, punitive damages may apply, though this is awarded in rare circumstances when gross negligence or malicious conduct is involved. If the driver of the bus was intoxicated and caused the accident, this would be an example of when the courts would likely award punitive damages.

If you were hurt in a bus accident, you must act quickly to file your claim. For bus accidents with private carriers, you have four years from the date of your accident to file a claim. However, you only have three years to file if the bus was operated by a government entity.

If you are filing a wrongful death claim due to losing a loved one in a bus accident, you only have two years. Since the physical, mental, and financial impacts can be extreme, it is ideal that you choose legal representation that demands only the best for you. Contact Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers today for a free consultation.

Factors That Impact Your Compensation in Bus Accidents

Other factors can play a role in determining compensation for your economic damages and non-economic damages. For instance, the severity and overall impact of your injuries will factor into your calculated damages.

Compensation can also depend on whether the bus operator works for a private entity or a public one. Claims against private entities tend to result in larger awards because Florida law caps the amount of damages you can recover from government entities.

Your case must be strong and backed by evidence and unwavering legal representation. The stronger the case, the higher the compensation tends to be. Ultimately, it can also come down to how much money is available. The insurance company and its policy can factor into how much you get for your bus accident claims.

Find out more about what you can do to recover financially after a bus accident injury. Contact Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers today to discuss your case.

Why You Need a Fort Lauderdale Bus Accident Lawyer

Securing compensation on your own isn’t easy after a bus accident. It requires the legal assistance of lawyers experienced in representing the victims of bus accidents. The skilled personal injury lawyers in Fort Lauderdale at Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers are fully committed to aggressively pursuing the compensation you deserve.

Many injury victims fear the cost of hiring an attorney but we work on a contingency basis. This means there is no upfront cost to you for our representation. The trauma that you or a loved one have endured during a bus crash may be something that affects the rest of your life.

You may not realize it now, but settling for a lowball amount may mean you will further sink into debt, all because someone else was negligent when operating a bus in Fort Lauderdale. Get a free initial consultation with our attorneys today to find out more about your rights to compensation.

Abogados para Latinos - At Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers, we understand the importance of having legal representation that speaks your language and understands your culture. That’s why we have a dedicated team of native Spanish-speaking attorneys and staff who are ready to assist you. We are proud to serve Miami's vibrant Hispanic community, offering compassionate and culturally sensitive legal services in both English and Spanish. Whether you're more comfortable speaking Spanish or simply want a Spanish-fluent lawyer who understands the unique challenges faced by Latinos, our team is here to provide you with the support and expertise you need to navigate the legal system with confidence.