When you place your children on the school bus, you expect that they are going to be safe. You have confidence that the bus driver is going to get your child to school safely and bring them home safely at the end of the day.
Unfortunately, there are times when accidents happen and injuries are sustained. This can be heartbreaking and can damage a parent’s trust in riding the bus to and from school.
If your child has been injured in a school bus accident, you have the right to file an injury claim seeking compensation for the costs related to the injuries. You can also claim lost wages for the time you have spent away from work taking care of your child. With the help of a southern Minnesota personal injury attorney, you can recover this compensation either through settlement or trial.
Seeking Justice For Your Child
Sometimes there are criminal penalties associated with school bus accidents and other times there are not. Even if there are no criminal penalties against the bus driver, you can hold all responsible parties accountable.
Sometimes the negligence goes beyond the bus driver and may extend to the bus garage where the bus may not have been maintained well. Your attorney will investigate what happened and why so that all of the responsible parties can be held accountable. If it is found that the bus was poorly maintained and that led to the accident, then the claim goes beyond the bus driver. The school district could also be held liable in a bus accident case.
Statistically speaking, there are nearly 700 bus accidents every year on average in Minnesota. Of those accidents, approximately one percent of the accidents are fatal. Many accidents do not result in injury, but there is an average of 130 accidents per year that result in injury and there are nearly 250 injury victims in those accidents.
Helping You Move Forward
Since 1971, the Minnesota State Patrol was required to perform inspections on every registered school bus in Minnesota. These inspections are performed annually by inspection teams. These teams inspect around 14,000 buses every year. The drivers that drive these buses are required to submit to criminal background checks and physicals every four years. They are also subject to random breath and blood tests as well.
When you have an injury claim, your Mankato personal injury attorney will look for a breakdown that led to the accident. That way you get full and fair compensation for the injuries that your child sustained.
Contact A Southern Minnesota Personal Injury Lawyer
When we place our children on school busses, we expect that they are going to be safe. Bus drivers are professionally trained individuals who are to make children and safety their two top priorities. When your child is injured due to bus driver negligence, you have the right to hold them accountable. To learn more about your rights and options, call Farrish Johnson Law Office, CHTD at 507-625-2525 to schedule a free consultation.
