Houma Bus Accident Lawyer
Bus accidents can be fatal or cause extremely serious injuries. These types of accidents can involve two buses, a bus and a pedestrian or a bus and another vehicle. Individuals may have expensive current and future hospital bills. Injuries can range from serious head injuries, spinal damage, broken or fractured bones to other types of injuries. There can be extensive property damage if a vehicle has been totaled. There are usually multiple options that are available but speaking to a Houma bus accident lawyer can provide you with valuable information on your case. Speak to an experienced personal injury attorney at Kopfler & Hermann as soon as possible about your case.
Bus Laws in Louisiana
For school buses when they are picking up or dropping off children, all other drivers must stop at least thirty feet in front or behind them. While driving a school bus, drivers are prohibited from using a cell phone. All school buses must be painted yellow with a white roof and yellow or black hood. If the bus is being used for reasons other than bussing children it must be painted a different color. However, yellow school buses may be used for church travel activities.
All buses must have additional equipment on them such as two clearance lamps on the front and back. Also, they must have two side marker lamps on each side. For the front and back side, they have to have two reflectors. Charter buses are required by law to carry a minimum amount of insurance. Companies also have to apply and fill out a form to become a charter bus company.
Louisiana Negligence Laws
In proving negligence, a Houma bus accident attorney will have to show that the other side acted in a negligent way. There are four main elements of negligence, each of which must be met. The first element is showing that there was a duty of care owed by the other person. People generally have a duty towards other people to act in a reasonable manner.
This duty is breached or broken when a person does not act in a reasonable way considering the circumstances they were in. For example, if a bus hits someone’s vehicle when it had other reasonable options, then that driver breached their duty to act as a reasonable bus driver.
Next, the negligent conduct must have caused the injuries. Causation has two parts, actual cause, and proximate cause. Actual causation means that the conduct was the specific reason for the injury. Proximate causation means that there were no intervening causes between the negligent party’s actions and the injuries. Also, the injuries should have been foreseeable. The last, but still necessary, element is damages. There must be actual injuries, physical injuries to the person or property damage to the vehicles involved.
Get Help From a Houma Bus Accident Attorney
An attorney can help give you options on how you want to move forward. Your first option is to litigate this matter in court. You also have the choice of having your attorney meet with the other side’s attorney and reach a compromise.
If there are insurance companies involved you may be able to speak with them directly through your lawyer to negotiate a settlement. In any of those scenarios, a Houma bus accident lawyer can help you make your case and prove negligence so that you get everything you need and deserve to move forward with your life. Call today to learn more.