What You Should Know About Las Vegas Bus Accidents

Many a Nevada visitor and resident alike use buses and other mass transit systems to get around, especially in the bustling heart of Las Vegas. Buses are carefully maintained under each state’s mass transit regulations, Nevada’s included, but this can only go so far. Bus accidents in Las Vegas can and still do happen for a variety of reasons, so when they do, you should know a few things about how they differ from standard Nevada car accidents.

Differing Degrees and Types of Injuries

Well over 65,000 bus accidents occur annually, which is extremely significant when considering how few buses are on the road compared to any other type of vehicle. Buses lack many of the common safety features that other motor vehicles sport, such as seat belts, airbags, and a more confined, protective design. Furthermore, the high profile and long, narrow builds of most buses make them particularly susceptible to rollovers; somewhat paradoxically, this leads to injuries being more common and severe in the average bus accident, yet with a significantly lower fatality rate than those sported by other vehicles in crashes. In general, the damages caused by bus accidents also vary from a car crash somewhat:

• Whiplash isn’t as common in bus accidents, as without a seat belt, most passenger’s heads aren’t so forcibly whipped forwards; their body moves with them. However, whiplash is the most common auto accident injury already, so even while being “less” common, it still makes up a significant portion of injuries in bus crashes.
• Without a seat belt or other restraint device, bus passengers are more frequently ejected from their seats, which leads to significantly more head injuries, internal bleeding, broken bones, lacerations, and bruises as victims collide with windows, other passengers, and hard surfaces within the bus.

Insurance Claim Considerations

If another driver struck your bus or was otherwise at fault for the collision, then, from your perspective, things are simple. You can exchange insurance information with that driver, open a claim with their insurance company, and pursue compensation like normal (conversely, that driver might have to contend with an entire busload of injured passengers trying to get compensation from them, so the process is likely to move slower than normal). 

If your accident was caused by the bus driver or the company employing them (such as by an error in dispatch or distracted driving), things get slightly trickier. In the case of privately owned bus companies, you can file a claim with their insurance company, just as you would in a car crash. Under Nevada’s statute of limitations, you’ll have two years from the date of the crash to file a legal claim. However, most buses are owned by government entities instead (school buses and mass transit lines in particular). Government entities are not immune to lawsuits, and while the statute of limitations is the same regardless of whether you sue the government or a private entity/ individual, the exact process of filing a claim differs slightly; to learn more, it’s best to talk to an accident attorney in Nevada.

A Specialized Bus Accident Attorney is Vital

If you’ve been hurt in a Las Vegas bus accident, we strongly advise consulting one of our local bus accident attorneys by giving us a call at (702) 550-1111. While they do share similarities to other accidents, bus accident cases have a variety of unique considerations to take into account. Hiring a generally good attorney is a good first step, but if they don’t possess bus-specific experience and knowledge, they’ll likely struggle to maximize your compensation to as great a degree as a specialized lawyer could.