Having your child injured in a school bus accident is an accident that parents never want to endure. This is most likely to occur when a school bus is hit by a car or truck causing a bad accident. Families all across Kentucky transport their children in school buses both to and from school and on special field trips.
Kentucky does not require safety restraints for children in school buses. In Kentucky school buses must meet standards established by the Kentucky Department of Education for safety, cleanliness, and usage. Such activities like use of a cell phone while driving a school bus is prohibited by law. Not only does Kentucky not require seat belts on school buses, but neither does federal law and such safety features are absent in a majority of buses nationwide.
In a serious school bus accident, any number of devastating injuries may result, including back, neck, and spine injury, bone fractures, head trauma, and soft tissue injuries. Even those children who escape serious physical injury may suffer lasting psychological trauma resulting from the collision and from seeing their peers seriously injured – and of course, children who sustained serious physical injuries may also bear psychological scarring, which isn’t always as easy to diagnose as a broken bone. All of these children deserve the best possible chance of recovering fully from the physical and emotional trauma of a school bus accident, and that often requires ensuring that their families obtain the compensation necessary to pay for any medical treatment they need without threatening their financial stability and quality of life.
Seeking that compensation means understanding how liability works in a school bus accident. Because school buses are either owned and operating by a municipality or contracted by that municipality from a commercial transportation company, matters of liability and damages are more complicated than they would be in a collision between two vehicles. It is necessary to identify all parties who may bear a portion of liability or fault, to ensure that you are not denied fair compensation when blame for the accident is dumped on whichever party you failed to include in your lawsuit. Because of how complex a school bus accident can be, it is wise to work with an experienced personal injury attorney who can navigate these questions of liability for you, while you focus on caring for your injured child.
If your child has been injured in a school bus accident, your first job is to make sure your child receives the best medical care. In addition, giving your child the best possible chance of recovering fully from the accident, by following all the medical instructions given by your child’s doctors and making all recommended follow-up appointments for additional care, you are strengthening your child’s eventual claim for compensation for their injuries. It is also important to consult with a personal injury attorney with extensive experience handling child injury and school bus accident cases. You need a lawyer who is familiar with the intricacies of pursuing a lawsuit against a government body if it turns out that the school bears any liability for your child’s accident.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car, truck, or school bus accident, you can call our Flora Templeton Stuart Injury Accident Lawyer any time at 888-782-9090 for a free consultation.
