ALEXANDRIA, VA BUS ACCIDENT ATTORNEYS

Bus Accidents in Virginia

Have you or a loved one been injured in a bus accident? If you have, you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation for the injuries that you have sustained. The team at Blaszkow Legal has decades of experience helping those injured in bus accidents get the justice they deserve.

There are a lot of different kinds of buses on the road. We have all seen big yellow school buses crisscrossing Northern Virginia, but they are not alone. There are also city buses like DASH, regional transit buses, and Long-Haul buses like the large Greyhound buses we see on I-95. These buses occupy the same roadways as other vehicles, and are just as likely to be involved in car accidents as everyone else.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a bus accident, these injuries can range from minor to severe, and occasionally catastrophic. You should never wait to speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer. A dedicated bus accident attorney can help you recover your damages.

Contact the experienced bus accident lawyers at Blaszkow Legal, PLLC for a free consultation. 703-879-5910

Hiring a Bus Accident Lawyer

It is absolutely essential to call a lawyer as soon as possible. You have to remember that the insurance companies have adjusters and defense lawyers working hard from the minute the accident happens. These people are not working hard for you! Their job is to minimize your claim, and give you as little money as possible for what happened. Our job is completely opposite: we work very hard from the first moment you become our client, to maximize your recovery under the law.

If you have been involved in a bus accident, the bus companies are only looking out for their own interests. They recognize that they can sometimes throw a little bit of money at someone, and make their claim go away. Most people don't recognize that the moment you accept this money, and the moment you sign a settlement release, you have settled your claim, and lost away your ability to claim for the other damages that you are experiencing. Never accept money from an insurance company, and never sign anything, until you have spoken to an attorney

The sooner you get a lawyer, the better. As soon as you hire Blaszkow Legal, we will step between you and the predatory insurance company. It is our job to provide them with the full and comprehensive listing of your damages, to make sure that they don't take advantage of you. Insurance companies know that a person represented by an attorney is likely to have the value of their claim tripled, because the attorney knows what can and cannot be claimed - and what information the insurance companies aren't entitled to.

Types of Bus Accident Cases

We have handled many cases over the years, against many operators of buses on DMV roadways. If a bus company, including its personnel, have been negligent, and that negligence has injured our clients, we fight hard against those companies, and their insurance. Here are some examples of the company's that we have filed claims against, and won, for our clients:

• Arlington Transit,

• Bay Transit,

• DASH,

• Fairfax Connector,

• Fredericksburg Regional transit,

• Greater Richmond Transit Company,

• Greyhound,

• Megabus,

• Newton's Bus Service,

• Omni ride (for Prince William Counties and Manassas)

• Potomac Mills Outlet,

• Transportation Association of Greater Springfield,

• Virginia coach company,

• Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)

• Shuttle Buses

• School Buses

Some of these cases have the potential to become Federal cases! This is because the bus companies are not always located in Virginia, and claim diversity jurisdiction. Make sure that you hire an attorney who is a member of the bar of all of the federal courts in the area, and who will assist in making your claim, wherever it needs to be filed.

What You Can Claim if You Have Been Hurt in a Bus Accident

If you have been involved in a bus crash in MD, DC, or VA, you have the ability to recover for your damage. Damages is a legal term that means all of the things that you have a right to claim, both economic, and non-economic. These damages include:

• Medical bills,

• Future medical expenses,

• Lost wages,

• Damage to personal property,

• Pain and suffering,

• Scarring,

• Disfigurement,

• Permanent Injury,

• and more.

Are Bus Crashes Frequent?

According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, in 2022, there were 158 bus accidents in the Commonwealth that resulted in injuries -that is 1 bus accident every 2.3 days!

In Maryland and DC, the rate of occurrence is similar based on our estimates, but there is no direct data released by those states.

Bus Accidents and Negligence

Just because you were a passenger on a bus, and there was an accident, does not mean that the bus company is automatically at fault. The driver of the bus, and indeed the bus company itself, may not have done anything wrong. It is very important to engage the services of an experienced bus accident lawyer, because the negligence of someone outside the bus can cause these accidents. One of the biggest problems that you encounter in these situations is the reality of insufficient insurance coverage.

Minimum car insurance laws in Virginia confirm that if a person with minimum car insurance were to hit a bus, that car insurance would only have a maximum of $30,000 of coverage per person, and $60,000 total (to cover all people). If 10 people were hurt, there is simply not going to be enough money to go around. You need an experienced car accident lawyer who knows how to pursue uninsured and underinsured motorist benefits in these situations.

Statutes of Limitations for Virginia Bus Accidents

A claim for damages where the bus driver/company was liable are going to fall into distinct categories: government owned buses, and privately owned buses. These claims are very, very different.

• Claims Against A Government-Owned Bus: A bus that is owned and/or operated by an arm of the government is going to fall under various tort claims laws, either local, state, or federal. If you claim is against a city owned bus, such as DASH or ART, then you have 6 months to provide written notice of the claim. If the bus was owned by the state, then you have 1 year.

• Claims Against A Privately-Owned Bus: If your claim is against a bus that is privately owned, and not on government business (such as county-hired shuttle), then the regular Virginia statute of limitations applies - you have 2 years to file the underlying lawsuit.

What an Alexandria Bus Accident Lawyer Can Do for You!

At Blaszkow Legal, our team of attorneys, paralegals, and investigators work hard to get you the compensation that you deserve. This involves a lot of activities, often behind the scenes. Here's an overview of how we handle your claim, and how we fight to get you your compensation:

Initial Investigation

We set out team to work figuring out what happened, and who was responsible. We have to hold the negligent parties accountable, but that requires a good bit of leg work. Especially when companies are involved, as ownership can often be layered in corporations and shell companies.

Investigating and Determining Fault

It is our obligation to prove fault, or negligent. We cannot just point fingers. As our staff assembles the evidence, we figure out just who we have to file the claim against, and see if there is more than one party. Is there a maintenance issue, meaning we have to look for maintenance companies and contractors? Was the dispatcher barking at the driver, pushing him on, and thus a dispatching company who was negligent?

Filing the Claim

Claims Notices have to go out as a matter of course, but there is always a question of where to send it - city, county, state, local entity, etc. These notices are not just forms, but have to meet the requirements of various laws, so that procedural hurdles aren't encountered later on.

Overseeing Medical Treatment

We are not doctors, so no attorney should ever make a medical determination for you. However, it is our obligation to get all of the pertinent records in, and evaluate you them. Medical treatment that forms part of your claim has to be not only medically necessary (a medical judgment), but also causally linked to the accident, which is where medicine and law intersect.

Negotiations

Once our client is discharged from medical treatment, we assemble a settlement demand package. This is designed to give information to the insurance companies' computers systems (variations of the Colossus software) that they need to make their own valuations. We then oversee the actual negotiations, and work hard, day by day, to maximize our clients' claims. The client is heavily involved at this step.

Going to Court

Sometimes lawsuits have to be filed (though they don't in 80% of our cases!). This is done for one of two main reasons: 1) the insurance company has denied the claim, or 2) the insurance company has accepted liability, but is not giving our client fair value for his or her claim.

Contact a Bus Accident Lawyer in Virginia

If you have been hurt in a bus accident, you need to make sure that you get the justice and compensation that you deserve. Whether the negligence lies with the bus driver, or some other party, you have rights, and you want someone who is willing to fight for those rights at all times. Blaszkow Legal has been helping injured people for decades, and there is a reason we are one of the most highly reviewed law firms in the DMV. Get Justice with Joe, and call us today for a free consultation - 703-879-5910