Bronx Bus Accident Lawyer
If the bus that hit you or the bus you were riding was operated by the MTA or NYC Transit, you have 90 days to file a Notice of Claim or you lose your right to sue permanently. Frekhtman & Associates has spent 25 years protecting that right for Bronx injury victims before the window closes.
A bus accident in the Bronx creates a legal situation most injury victims aren’t prepared for. If the bus was operated by the MTA or NYC Transit, you are not dealing with a private insurance company. You are filing a claim against a government entity, and New York law requires a Notice of Claim to be filed within 90 days of the accident. Miss that window and your right to compensation is permanently gone, no matter how severe the injuries, no matter how clear the driver’s fault. The MTA’s legal team knows this deadline better than anyone and counts on injured passengers and pedestrians not knowing it. A Bronx bus accident lawyer who handles MTA and NYCTA claims regularly knows how to move before that clock runs out.
At Frekhtman & Associates, Arkady Frekhtman, a veteran Bronx Supreme trial attorney, has spent 25+ years handling bus accident cases against the MTA, NYCTA, and private carriers. He knows what evidence disappears fastest after a crash, how transit authority defense teams build their cases, and what it takes to hold a government entity fully accountable in Bronx Supreme Court. The 90-day clock starts the day of the accident. We file the Notice of Claim, preserve the evidence, and build the case while the window is still open.
Before you sign anything or give a recorded statement, here is what we bring to your case.
- $900M+ total recovered for injured New Yorkers
- $69.25M largest single recovery in a motor vehicle case
- 25+ years trying cases on the Bronx Supreme calendar
- $1.2M bus accident settlement recovered for an injured client
- No fee unless we win
Call our Bronx office at (718) 733-9300 24/7 to find out if you have a case.
Common Causes of Bronx Bus Accidents
The most common causes of bus accidents in the Bronx happen due to the negligence of bus operators in:
- Failing to adequately check their side mirrors before merging
- Failing to make certain it is safe before initiating a turn
- Failing to see a pedestrian crossing the street
- Failing to see a motorcycle, bicycle, or another vehicle alongside the bus
- Failing to stop the bus in time resulting in a rear-end collision with a vehicle in front of the bus
- Causing a sudden stop or jerk, which is extraordinary and violent and can injure a passenger inside the bus
- Stopping the bus near a hole, curb cut, or other defective condition such that a passenger exiting the bus may step into the hazard and become injured.
- Failure to yield to cars, bicycles, or pedestrians sharing the road with the bus
Bronx Bus Accident Claims Attorneys
It is important for a plaintiff’s lawyer handling a Bronx bus accident litigation matter to obtain the following information in discovery:
- MV-104 report
- Video cameras inside the bus, dashboard cameras, and side cameras equipped on the bus (this will usually capture a video of the accident)
- Police Accident Report
- Bus Operator’s report about the accident
- Supervisor’s Accident Investigation Report
- SSD 1 Report
- Paddle Report for subject bus and bus driver
- Trip Sheet
- Fitness for Duty test results of the bus driver before the subject accident
- Bus Driver’s Claims Department file
- Copies of reports generated by the defendant bus company regarding the subject accident
- Bus Driver Qualification File.
- MCMS reports for the past 90 days before the accident.
- Schedule 4014 – current published schedule detailing scheduled stops.
There are many other vital pieces of information, including photographs and documentary evidence, that should be requested. Our firm requests over one hundred (100) items. It is also crucial to follow up on the requests until a meaningful response is provided by the defendant’s bus company. Very often the defense lawyers hired to represent the bus company will simply object or state they do not have the information demanded.
A strong plaintiff’s attorney representing a seriously injured individual against a bus company must demand the discovery in writing and exhaust all good faith efforts. If this still does not yield a substantive response, a motion should be made to have the court compel the production of discovery. This type of diligent follow through to very important as the comprehensive discovery demands often yield damaging information about the bus company’s safety practices. This discovery is very helpful for an injured person to win on the issue of liability at trial.
Bus Passenger Accidents
Ways a Bus Owner or Operator Can be Negligent:
You have rights if you are in an MTA bus, a private tour bus, or another Bronx transit authority accident. Here are the most common reasons for negligence when involved in an accident as a passenger on a bus:
- Careless, reckless driving
- Drunken driving
- Improper lane change
- Closing bus doors while passengers are entering or exiting the bus
- Stopping the bus in the middle of the street or another dangerous place to pick up or drop off passengers
- Driving long hours and becoming tired; falling asleep while driving
- Failing to check rearview or side-view mirrors
- Stopping short and violently jerking the bus, causing passengers to fall inside
- Failing to repair or maintain a bus
- Dangerous conditions inside the bus, such as a puddle, spill, or another tripping hazard
- New York City Transit Authority buses, MTA Buses, MABSTOA buses in Manhattan or the Bronx, and buses run by the MTA Bus Company are all public transportation buses.
- Private Tour Buses, including Greyhound, Trailways, Mega Bus, Bolt Bus, Wade Tours, and others
- Sightseeing Buses attract up to fifty million tourists in NYC each year, including double-decker buses including Big Bus New York, Gray Line, City Sightseeing, Skyline Sightseeing, THE RIDE, and Open Tour New York (Sightseeing buses are not regulated and do not have to report accidents to any NYC agency which is dangerous since there is little penalty for their negligence)
- School buses are a mix of public buses operated by the NYC Department of Education and private buses.
Injuries Following a Bronx Bus Accident
Whether a bus is involved in an accident with a passenger vehicle, a pedestrian, or a bicycle, the resulting injuries are often very serious due to the size and weight of the bus causing tremendous impact and force. According to a recent article, a typical New York City Transit bus weighs 31,000 pounds as a curb weight. Passenger weight that a bus can hold increases the weight up to 60,000 pounds. This is a tremendous force even when traveling at low speeds like 25 mph.
Common injuries sustained after a bus accident include:
- Herniated disc
- Torn meniscus, torn ACL, or other knee injuries
- Torn supraspinatus tendon or other shoulder injuries (this often happens to passengers on a bus standing and holding onto an overhead grab bar who are violently jerked or thrown as a result of impact)
- Fractures
- Need for surgical intervention
- Pain management
- Many other types of injuries
Proving Damages After a Bus Accident
The elements of damages a Bronx bus crash lawyer can prove at trial include:
Noneconomic damages:
- Conscious pain and suffering from the date of the accident up until the date of trial (past pain & suffering)
- Conscious pain and suffering from the date of trial and continuing for the rest of the person’s life (future pain & suffering)
Economic Damages:
- Lost Earnings (often proven with the help of experts like an economist who will project future earnings losses based on economic data and past salary)
- Vocational Rehabilitation
- Loss of Household Services
- Future Cost of Medical Care
- Past Medical Expenses
The totality of all of the types of damages above can result in very significant compensation to the injured plaintiff if all aspects are properly pled and proven with the use of experts.
How to Prove Liability Against a Bus Company
One way to prove liability against a bus company is to ask the bus driver at his or her deposition about their training, including any classes they took, manuals they have to abide by in the course of their job, as well as driving or maintenance regulations with respect to the bus they operate. Once the bus driver establishes that there are rules, regulations, and/or guidelines in place, the driver will agree that the regulations must be followed. A deep understanding of the applicable rules, regulations, laws, and guidelines will allow the lawyer representing an injured victim to show the bus driver violated the rules he himself said were so important to follow. This is powerful evidence in front of a jury.
The same type of questioning can be done with industry custom and practice. A reasonably safe bus driver should know the bus driving industry’s customs and practices with respect to the safe operation of a bus in the City of New York County of Bronx. For example, one industry custom and practice in both truck and bus drivers are the Smith System of Driving which is briefly explained here. The Smith System of Driving briefly summarized has five (5) key principles:
- Aim High by looking 15 seconds or more into your future not solely at the vehicle directly in front of your bus
- Look out for the Big Picture including hazards
- Always keep your eyes moving without staring at one spot too long
- As a bus driver always leave yourself a way out; leave a cushion of space around your vehicle
- Always make sure others can see your vehicle. Use your signals.
Now if a bus driver testifies at a deposition that his conduct failed to abide by the above five rules that conduct is more likely to be deemed negligent conduct by a jury. Negligence is the lack of ordinary or reasonable care. Someone who violates a well-known industry standard like the Smith System which has been around since 1952 is more likely to be negligent.
Speak With a Bronx Bus Accident Lawyer Today
Visit our Bronx Office
Frekhtman & Associates
20 E 205th Street
Bronx, NY 10468
Contact For A Free Case Review
While it’s possible to handle a personal injury case on your own, having an experienced attorney by your side significantly increases the likelihood of a favorable outcome. According to studies, victims represented by a personal injury lawyer receive higher settlement amounts compared to those who handle their cases independently. For a free case evaluation: