Charter Bus Carrying Elementary School Students Crashes on the 118 Freeway

On Tuesday Morning, September 3, 2019, a charter bus transporting elementary school students on a fieldtrip to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was involved in an accident on the 118 Freeway in Simi Valley. The accident occurred at approximately 9:06 a.m. on the westbound lanes of the freeway at Madera Road. The charter bus was among the three vehicles involved in the crash.

The thirty-three students and the seven adults on board the charter bus were coming from Horizon Elementary School in Bakersfield. All injuries were minor – only four people had to be transported to a local hospital to address their minor injuries (including occupants of the other vehicles involved in the accident). Most of the students were able to get onto another charter bus to continue their field trip.

If the accident had been more severe, many innocent people could have lost their lives. Fortunately, most of the students were uninjured, and those who were injured only suffered minor injuries. Even if the injuries suffered were only minor, the victim and his or her family could find themselves dealing with expensive medical bills and a number of other consequences directly associated with the accident.

Was your child involved in the accident mentioned above? Was your child involved in a similar accident? If your child suffered any type of harm while on a school fieldtrip, you might be interested in learning more about the possibility of taking legal action against any party liable for the harm that your child suffered. If you would like to discuss the situation with a lawyer, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at Normandie Law Firm as soon as possible.

Normandie Law Firm is a personal injury law firm with many years of experience handling a number of claims – including auto accident claims and bus accident claims, for example. Our lawyers have successfully represented a number of victims (and their families) and helped them to recover the compensation that they deserve. If you would like our experts to evaluate your claim and guide you towards filing successfully, do not hesitate to contact our experts at your earliest convenience.

Liability in Bus Accidents

Many people believe that determining liability for an accident is simple. There was one party that caused the accident – that party will be at-fault for the accident. However, establishing liability is not always straightforward, and it could be affected by various details. Consider the following points that might be relevant to establishing liability for a bus accident like the one described above:

• The bus driver could have been negligent while driving the bus, resulting in the accident. In this case, the bus driver (and his or her employer through vicarious liability) would be liable.
• The charter bus company could have been negligent by allowing an unqualified party to drive the bus. The charter bus company could have also been negligent by allowing a charter bus with known mechanical problems to be driven. In this case, the charter bus company would be liable.
• The driver of another vehicle involved in the accident could have been negligent or reckless while driving his or her vehicle, causing or contributing to the accident. In this case, the driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident would be liable.
• The manufacturer of the bus could have negligently failed to identify and address hazards on the bus prior to making the bus available to the public; a defect in the charter bus could have contributed to the accident. In this case, the company that manufactured the bus would be liable.
• The mechanics who worked on the bus could have negligently failed to identify or address issues; they could have also created issues while they were fixing other issues. The unaddressed mechanical problem could have caused the accident. In this case, the mechanics who worked on the charter bus would be liable.
• The school could have negligently hired a charter bus company with a history of accidents, leading to the accident. In this case, the school would face liability.
• The city could have negligently failed to address hazards on the road which could have contributed to the accident. In this case, the city would be liable.

Although it is possible for only one party to be liable for the accident, it is also possible for multiple parties to share liability. Because establishing liability can be a complicated process, it is important to seek legal assistance immediately.

Can You Sue?

Do you have the right to sue? Whenever you or a member of your family suffers any sort of harm as a direct result of the negligent actions of a party or entity, it is possible to pursue a claim. If your child was harmed in the accident discussed above or any similar incident, your right to sue is based on a simple concept – your child wouldn’t have suffered any harm had parties or entities not been negligent. Because the parties or entity were negligent and breached their duty of care towards your child, your child was involved in an accident and was harmed. This gives you the right to sue for the harm that your child suffered.

Can You Receive Compensation?

Depending on the details of your claim, you might be eligible to receive monetary compensation for the harm that your child suffered. How much compensation could you receive? What type of compensation could you recover? Every claim is different; therefore, there isn’t a guarantee on the compensation that claimants could recover. The compensation available to recover will always depend on the specific details of the claim.

Some of the common compensation available for recovery includes the following:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of consortium
• Funeral and burial expenses
• Property damage
• Funeral and burial costs
• Punitive damages

In general, the suffering of severe harm is associated with recovering a higher amount of compensation. If you would like to learn more about the type and amount of compensation that you might be eligible to receive, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with our experts as soon as possible. When you allow the lawyers at Normandie Law Firm to handle your claim, you can be certain that our experts will always fight for your right to recover the maximum amount of compensation available for your claim. If you would like to learn more about the type and amount of compensation that you could recover, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with our experts immediately.

What is the Statute of Limitations?

If you are interested in filing a claim for the harm that your child suffered, you must be familiar with the statute of limitations that applies to your claim. A statute of limitations is a deadline that determines the specific length of time that claimants have to file their claims. When claimants fail to file their claims within the appropriate statute of limitations, they could lose their right to sue – and their right to receive compensation. Typically, injury claim in California are subject to a 2-year statute of limitations.

Depending on the circumstances, you might be thinking about pursuing a claim against the school district or even the city. If so, you must be aware that government claims are subject to stricter – and often shorter – deadlines. To prevent losing the right to sue because of the failure to file on time, it is essential that you discuss the statute of limitations that applies to your claim with the experts at our law firm immediately.

Contact Normandie Law Firm

If you are interested in pursuing a claim after your child suffered any sort of harm in a school-related incident, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with our experts as soon as possible. At Normandie Law Firm, we have many years of experience successfully handling claims and helping clients recover the compensation that they deserve. If you would like to discuss your claim with our lawyers, do not hesitate to contact us immediately. Our lawyers are available to you at all times.

We are dedicated to ensuring that all affected parties have access to the legal representation that they need to hold the liable parties accountable for their actions. Specifically, our firm offers free consultations and free second opinions – which allow us to provide you with all the information that you need whether you are interested in starting or continuing your claim. If you would like to benefit from our free legal services, do not hesitate to contact our law firm at your earliest convenience.

These free legal services are available as part of our Zero-Fee guarantee (you will never be required to pay any upfront legal fees). Our firm is also based on a strict contingency structure that ensures that our clients will never be required to pay anything until after reaching a successful claim outcome – if you do not win, you will not be required to pay anything.