Bus Accident Attorney in St. Louis, MO

Bus Accident Attorney in St. Louis and Missouri. If you or a loved one has been injured in a devastating bus accident, take control of your recovery by calling Burger Law today at (314) 500-HURT or by contacting us online.

Bus accidents almost never receive the same attention as plane or train crashes, even though the can often be equally as dangerous and deadly. In 2020, there were 964 bus accidents in Missouri that resulted in personal injury or death. We trust St. Louis and Missouri bus drivers and bus companies to keep us safe and follow the rules. When they break that trust and break the rules it can have devastating, sometimes lifelong consequences for you or your loved ones. Your St. Louis and Missouri bus accident attorney at Burger Law will ensure that you receive the maximum compensation that you are entitled to for your injuries.

At Burger Law, our bus accident attorney team has over 20 years of experience defending the injured in St. Louis and throughout Missouri and standing up to bullies like resistant insurance companies and people who selfishly do not want to take responsibility for their actions. Our St. Louis and Missouri clients have put their claims and their futures in our trustworthy hands, and in total we have secured for them over $175 million in verdicts and settlements. Our bus accident attorney team uses their hard work, dedication, tenacity, knowledge and experience to help right wrongs in personal injury cases and help St. Louis and Missouri residents on their road to recovery. You should not have to lose work, pay for exorbitant medical bills and deal with the emotional scars of your injury just because somebody else broke the rules. If you or a loved one has been injured in a St. Louis or Missouri bus accident, call the bus accident attorney of Burger Law today at (314) 500-HURT or contact us online for a free case evaluation. We get started on your case right away, and we do not charge any fees until we win your case.

If you were injured in a St. Louis or Missouri bus accident because of someone else's negligent behavior, find out how much your claim may be worth by using our personal injury calculator.

Do I Need a St. Louis and Missouri Bus Accident Attorney?

If you have sustained injuries in a bus accident, you are likely feeling especially vulnerable. After all, you are not the one driving and you board the bus assuming the proper safety protocols are adhered to. St. Louis and Missouri bus companies and drivers have stringent rules they are supposed to follow, but sometimes they neglect those duties and we are left to pick up the pieces. Because of the force that is often caused by bus accidents, injuries can take years to truly recover from, may have lifelong effects or in the most tragic cases can even result in wrongful death. The St. Louis-based Missouri bus accident attorney at Burger Law will stand by your side so you do not have to go it alone. When you hire us we start working on your case right away, and will not let up until you receive the maximum compensation you deserve. We have seen every type of bus accident case and know every trick insurance companies use to try and deceive injured St. Louis and Missouri individuals and families into accepting less money than they are owed. Those St. Louis and Missouri insurance companies fear us because they know our bus accident attorney team takes on – and wins – the tough cases. Call us today and let the compassionate, experienced and tenacious bus accident lawyers at Burger Law help you protect your family’s future and help make you whole again.

The legal process is complex and can be unforgiving to St. Louis and Missouri residents who do not have the litigation and trial skills of an accomplished bus accident attorney. We have over two decades of experience standing up to bullies and fighting the hard fight. When you hire our St. Louis and Missouri bus accident attorney team, we handle every aspect of your case. You can expect an experienced and talented bus accident attorney at Burger Law to:

• Investigate the crash site as soon as possible. When you call us, we can have a bus accident lawyer on the scene at any time of the day or night in order to secure vital evidence for your case.
• Interview eyewitnesses who were either also involved in the crash or were nearby. As buses carry a variety of passengers, there are usually many people who want the same answers and compensation you seek. We will take official depositions of eyewitnesses to help in your case.
• Collect further evidence such as tire marks, surveillance videos, police reports, as well as important details such as how many miles the driver had driven that day or when the last inspection and maintenance was done on the bus. A lot of different factors contribute to bus accidents, and your Burger Law St. Louis and Missouri bus accident attorney will determine why the crash happened and who needs to be held responsible.
• Use our network of St. Louis and Missouri crash and medical experts to determine liability for your bus accident injuries and calculate exactly how much your injuries are worth. You deserve every dime of what you are owed and we will use our knowledge and expertise to make sure you get it.
• Stand up to resistant St. Louis and Missouri insurance companies who care more about their bottom line than your well-being. We have seen every trick in the book that insurance companies use to try and weasel their way out of their obligation to compensate you. When you hire us, you can be sure those tricks will not work in your case.
• Take your case to trial if the insurance company does not offer a fair settlement, we will use our finely honed litigation skills to take the fight in front of a St. Louis or Missouri judge and jury to fairly compensate you for your damages.

Beyond that, our bus accident attorney team will be by your side the entire time. We handle all communication, documentation and litigation so that you can focus all of your energy on healing and making your family whole again. We charge no attorneys fees until we win your case. If you or a loved one has been injured in a devastating bus accident, contact an expert and dedicated bus accident attorney at Burger Law today.

Who is Liable for My Bus Accident Injuries?

Because it takes so many people to run a bus safely, from manufacturers, to bus companies to drivers, you will first need to determine the cause of the accident before determining who is liable. Thankfully, an accomplished and skilled St. Louis and Missouri bus accident attorney like those at Burger Law have seen every type of car accident, truck accident and bus accident case and will be able to determine who is liable for your injuries.

What Causes Bus Accidents? | St. Louis, MO Bus Accident Attorney

• Driver age and experience. A 2012 Journal of Safety Research study found that novice drivers under the age of 25, as well as more experienced drivers over the age of 55 were more likely to be driving when a bus accident occurred.
• Driver behavior. While the same study found that only 4 percent of bus accidents were caused by a serious offense such as the driver being intoxicated, a different study by the University of Michigan found that 31 percent of bus drivers in metropolitan area bus crashes had been cited with driving errors, such as speeding, being drowsy or distracted driving.
• Driver fatigue. Many bus drivers, especially those that work for commercial bus lines such as Greyhound that require drivers to drive hundreds of miles in the middle of the night, develop fatigue and can become drowsy or fall asleep at the wheel. While most busing companies have rules about how many hours a driver can drive during a day or how frequently they have to take a break, those rules are often not enforced or followed.
• Road conditions. Given buses’ size and the difficulty in maneuvering them, icy roads or St. Louis and Missouri construction areas can be especially hazardous for bus passengers. Sometimes a third party such as a construction company will be liable. Burger Law's bus accident attorney will help you decide if that is the case.
• Negligence by the bus company. Bus companies are regulated, but not nearly as much as other transportation industries. A 2011 study by the National Transportation Safety Board found that The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has only 878 personnel responsible for reviews for more than 765,000 motor carriers, or just 1.15 inspectors per 1,000 motor carriers. This means inspectors often cannot keep up with the amount of inspections required, and some St. Louis and Missouri bus companies do not properly maintain their vehicles, causing them to be less safe. Additionally, bus companies need to make sure that their drivers are properly trained and are not overworked.
• Dangerous roads. Faults in the road and road conditions can cause a driver to lose control and crash. Some common examples are:
  • Potholes
  • Cracked or uneven pavement
  • Faulty or missing traffic signals
  • Obstacles on the road, such as branches or vehicle wreckage
  • Inadequate lighting
  • Excessive grades

  The longer the dangerous condition has been on the St. Louis or Missouri road, the better chance you have of holding the negligent parties responsible. The liable party may be a local St. Louis or Missouri government, or a third party whom the government paid to repair the issue but either did not do so in a timely fashion or did not adequately repair it.

Once your expert St. Louis and Missouri bus accident attorney determines the cause of your crash, they will be able to determine who is responsible for your injuries and how to proceed with getting you maximum compensation. Below are some examples of parties who are often found liable in bus accident cases.

Commercial Bus Companies

Transport buses such as Greyhounds are considered common carriers under the law, which means they have a duty of care to ensure the safety of their passengers. Part of that duty of care is to ensure that their drivers are not being overworked. Despite saying that safety is a top priority, a CNN report in 2016 found that Greyhound is not following its own rules when it comes to driver fatigue. Drivers are technically obligated to stop every 150 miles and get out to inspect the vehicle to stave off fatigue. However, the rule is not enforced and is rarely followed as too many breaks could cause financial losses for the company. A 2012 government study found that 37 percent of all passenger bus crashes were due to driver fatigue. Furthermore, many Greyhound passengers have reported that their driver was eating during the time of an accident, which is an example of distracted driving.

Ensuring that St. Louis and Missouri buses are properly inspected and maintained and that safety equipment such as seatbelts are present and up-to-date are also the responsibility of the bus company. A bus accident could be the result of a bus company either failing to provide routine maintenance or neglecting to fix a broken part or component. Older buses are especially prone to breaking down and bus companies must keep their fleets updated.

Lastly, bus companies need to be vigilant in their hiring practices. All drivers need to be properly licensed and trained, and should only be allowed to drive after passing stringent background checks. Your St. Louis and Missouri bus accident attorney at Burger Law will conduct a full investigation into the bus company's hiring practices and the person who was driving when the accident occurred.

A Bus Manufacturer

Like car and other motor vehicle manufacturers, bus manufacturers have a duty to ensure the safety of their products and swiftly issue recalls in the event of a defective product. If they approve an inherently flawed design or do not recall a component that they knew or should have known was not functioning properly, they are guilty of product liability. While they may try to shift the blame to someone else, your St. Louis and Missouri bus accident attorney at Burger Law has over 20 years of experience making sure negligent parties are held responsible for their actions.

The St. Louis or Missouri Government or a Public Entity

Public transportation accidents can often be devastating because of the amount of people involved and because they generally take place in densely populated areas. While you can file a suit against the St. Louis or Missouri government, there are special procedures for doing so. Missouri has stricter protections for government entities and government employees than for the average citizen in injury liability cases. If you seek to make a claim against a municipality or government employee, you must file a claim within 90 days of the injury with the Office of Administration’s Risk Management Division. That is why it is imperative to reach out to a St. Louis and Missouri bus accident attorney immediately after your injury. There is no time to wait, call the trusted Burger Law bus accident injury lawyers now at (314) 500-HURT.

Missouri Revised Statute §537.600 grants sovereign immunity to government entities and employees except against a government employee who was operating a motor vehicle “within the course of their employment.” This means that you can sue or make a claim against a negligent or reckless public bus driver in Missouri.

The Bus Driver

Even a properly licensed and trained bus driver can cause an accident through negligence. If they allowed themselves to become distracted by eating or talking, did not pull over when they were feeling drowsy, did not pay attention to the road and St. Louis and Missouri driving laws while they were driving or made the terrible decision to drive drunk, they need to be held accountable just like their employers sometimes have to be. When you board a bus you trust that driver with your safety and your life. If a bus driver does not take that responsibility seriously and causes you injury, you can be sure that the dedicated and tenacious bus accident attorney at Burger Law will hold them accountable.

The Other Driver

Like any type of motor vehicle crash, there are often two or more drivers, and in some cases they each may share a portion of the blame. Another driver’s negligence, such as speeding, driving while intoxicated and pulling in front of the bus too quickly can injure you. If you were hurt in a bus crash where there was another driver or drivers involved, your knowledgeable and experienced St. Louis and Missouri bus accident attorney will help you determine if they are at fault and if you should make a claim against their insurance company.

School Districts

School bus accidents are the most common type of bus crash in St. Louis and Missouri. Nationally, school bus accidents account for 40 percent of all fatal bus crashes. While often the driver, bus company or bus manufacturer is at fault, a St. Louis or Missouri school district may also be held responsible, for instance if they did not cancel school on a day when road conditions were particularly bad or they did not perform adequate background checks when hiring drivers.

Below are some helpful links and frequently asked questions for bus accident injuries and other types of injuries:

• Do I have to Talk to the Insurance Company Before I Talk to a Lawyer?
• How Much to Expect in an Auto Accident Settlement
• What Happens During Litigation?
• Does My Family Have a Wrongful Death Claim?
• Proving Negligence in a Personal Injury Claim

What Compensation Can A St. Louis, MO Bus Accident Attorney Recover For Me?

The damages you recover in a bus accident case will typically depend on the severity of your injuries and how they have affected and will affect your life. You may have received a sprained ankle that just needed a quick trip to a St. Louis emergency room and a week or two off work. Or, you may have sustained a devastating spinal cord injury that leaves you disabled and in need of assistive devices for the rest of your life. When you hire a dedicated and accomplished St. Louis-based Missouri bus accident attorney at Burger Law, we will make sure that you are fairly compensated for all of the pain and inconvenience your injury has caused and will continue to cause. Missouri Senate Bill 239 defines the damages you can receive as:

• Economic damages, including:
  • Medical expenses, such as hospital bills, physical therapy, assistive devices and medications
  • Lost wages
  • Lost earning potential

  We utilize our team of medical and economic experts to calculate the exact dollar amount you are owed, accounting for inflation for future lost earning potential or future medical expenses.

• Noneconomic damages, including:
  • pain and suffering
  • mental anguish
  • inconvenience
  • physical impairment
  • disfigurement
  • loss of capacity to enjoy life
  • loss of consortium

However severe your injuries and however much they have affected your life, Burger Law's St. Louis-based bus accident attorney team will fight relentlessly to ensure that you receive full compensation for all of your damages.

Call Our St. Louis Bus Accident Attorney Today

We have seen every type of bus accident case and know the immense pain and devastating effect it can have on your and your loved ones. Your St. Louis and Missouri bus accident attorney at Burger Law is compassionate, capable, trustworthy and tenacious and will use every bit of the knowledge and skills we have gained over the past two decades to get you the full recovery you rightfully deserve. If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus accident, do not wait another second. Call Burger Law today at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form for a complimentary consultation.