Commercial Vehicle AccidentsMaryland Bus Accident Lawyers

Bus accidents require a detailed knowledge of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act Regulations, common carrier law, and industry standards. Bus drivers and motor carriers are subject to numerous safety rules that are meant to prevent accidents for the protection of the public. Some bus accidents that appear to be unavoidable are still preventable. A preventable bus accident is one that the bus company or driver could have prevented by taking or not taking a particular action. For example, a bus company under the FMSCA should not permit or order a bus driver to drive through an ice storm at highway speeds. If the bus company violates this rule and strikes a car that loses control on the icy roads the bus company may still be liable for the injuries caused in that crash. The Federal Carrier Safety Administration has sponsored a manual on Bus Safety Management Techniques.

If you were injured while a passenger in a bus you may have a claim even if your injury was due to the actions of a passenger. Common carrier law places a high duty of care on bus drivers to protect passengers from foreseeable attacks or injuries caused by other passengers. The bus driver must have notice of the potential danger and a reasonable opportunity and means to protect the passenger. George Patterson has successfully handled cases against bus companies on behalf of customers assaulted by passengers.

Bus accident cases involving buses that cross state lanes will be subject to many of the federal regulations discussed in the page about truck accidents. In cases where a passenger on a bus or limo is hurt in an accident or by another passenger the applicable duties under Maryland law are very different from those imposed on personal passenger cars. There is also a regional pact that governs bus travel in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Our bus accident lawyers can identify the standards that the bus company and bus driver were supposed to follow.

Call 301-888-HURT to schedule a free consultation with a Board Certified Truck Accident Attorney to discuss your bus accident case. Patterson Law has offices in Annapolis and Bowie, Maryland.

Bus companies and their drivers are held to a higher duty as common carriers under Maryland law than the owners and drivers of most passenger cars. A common carrier owes its passengers the highest degree of care to provide safe means and methods of transportation. The common carrier has a duty to use the utmost degree of care, skill and diligence as to matters concerning their passengers’ safety. This duty begins when the passenger enters the bus and/or property owned, controlled or maintained by the common carrier and ends when a passenger reaches a place of safety after exiting the bus. The Maryland Courts have also held that a bus driver has a duty to take reasonable actions to prevent a foreseeable attack by one passenger against another.

Call 301-888-4878 to schedule a free consultation with a Top 100 Maryland Super Lawyer since 2013 to discuss your bus accident case.

Maryland bus accident lawyer, George Patterson has recovered over a million dollars against bus companies for injuries sustained by their customers due to vehicle accidents and as a result of intentional attacks by other passengers. Bus drivers that are on notice of dangers to their passengers have a duty to safeguard their passengers from those dangers. Party buses frequently provide or permit alcohol. Alcohol increases the dangers that customers are exposed to by other passengers and being dropped off at unsafe locations.