Charlotte Bus Accident Lawyer
Whether your child is traveling to school or an activity or you are commuting to work or taking a charter to an outing, you expect that you and your loved ones will arrive safely when traveling by bus. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Bus accidents happen more often than you may think. In fact, the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles reported 1,710 bus accidents in 2016, and the numbers are rising every year.
Bus accidents can be catastrophic to passengers and their families. The severe physical and emotional injuries often sustained by the riders involved can have a lasting impact, and may prompt or require you to seek compensation for your losses.
If you want to seek damages for injuries sustained in a crash, you may want the help of a Charlotte bus accident lawyer to assist you. An established injury attorney with experience in bus accidents could help determine the magnitude of your injuries and establish fault in the accident so you can recover much-needed damages – and recover your life.
How to Know if Someone Can File a Claim
Whether a bus accident is caused by the actions of the bus driver or another motorist, central to any bus accident claim in Charlotte is proof of negligence. A negligent defendant behaved in a manner that was careless, and the injuries that resulted were the natural and direct result of their conduct.
North Carolina is among just a handful of states that still adhere to the concept of contributory negligence. What that means is that in a suit brought on a basis of negligence, the plaintiff cannot recover damages if the injuries sustained were at all the result of their own negligence. However, the defendant has the duty to prove such contributory negligence under North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 1, Article 15.
Proving Negligence in Charlotte
To establish negligence, a Charlotte bus accident attorney could seek to establish that the driver at fault by proving:
- The driver owed a duty of care to the passengers on the bus, which means that the driver was under a legal duty to act as a reasonable, ordinary person would have acted in the same circumstances
- The driver breached that duty of care by failing to act with reasonable care to avoid causing injuries to others
- The breach directly caused the injuries sustained in the accident
- Damages resulted, either to one’s person or property, such as medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses, scarring and disfigurement, and pain and suffering
A Charlotte bus accident lawyer could help victims prove negligence in order to get the damages needed to restore them to the condition they were in before the crash.
Call an Experienced Charlotte Bus Accident Attorney
In Charlotte, the statute of limitations for commencing an action for injuries arising from a personal injury is three years, according to North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 1, Article 5. Do not miss your chance at fair compensation for injuries you suffer in a bus accident. While the crash may be in the past, its impact on your health and well-being can last well into the future. Speak with a Charlotte bus accident lawyer today for help getting the justice you deserve.
