Were you injured in an accident while on a bus or shuttle that was chartered through CharterUp? Was a member of your family killed in an accident on a charter bus or shuttle? If so, you might have many questions, like can I file a lawsuit? You might have grounds to file a lawsuit based on the specific details surrounding the incident. If you are interested in learning more about the legal options available to you after a CharterUp incident involving a bus or a shuttle, do not hesitate to contact us immediately. Our lawyers can help you.
Here at Normandie Law Firm, our bus and shuttle accident attorneys are ready to help you in every way possible. Whether you want to just explore your legal options, start a claim, or redirect a claim after starting it elsewhere, you can trust that our attorneys can help. Our experts have decades of experience handling all sorts of injury lawsuits and are not afraid to take on your case and help you recover the compensation that you are owed.
Contact us today to speak with our lawyers about your rights.
What is CharterUp?
CharterUp is a company that has created an online marketplace for charter services – specifically charter buses and charter shuttles. Essentially, the online CharterUp marketplace connects those looking for charter services with those offering charter services. CharterUp offers their marketplace services in multiple states, including California. The Californian cities included in the CharterUp service area consist of Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Irvine, and San Diego. Overall, the CharterUp serves over 50 cities around the country, working with more than 1,000 separate bus companies for a total of over 4,000 buses.
The CharterUp services include the following:
- Charter buses for travel agents, emergency services, schools, teams, airlines, government, religious grounds, etc.
- Charter shuttles for university/campuses, corporations and their employees, hospitals and their workers, religious groups, airports, private events, etc.
Accidents Can Occur
Without a doubt, accidents are possible on any bus or shuttle chartered through the CharterUp marketplace. The most common types of accidents are auto accidents (bus accidents, shuttle accidents, any type of vehicular accident). These accidents, specifically, can happen due to the following:
- Sudden mechanical issues
- Defective roads and dangerous road conditions
- Defective vehicles
- Negligence of the drivers of other vehicles on the road
- Negligence of the bus/shuttle drivers
- Negligence of the charter bus/shuttle companies
Let’s further discuss the negligence of the bus/shuttle drivers and the companies that hire them. Drivers can potentially drive under the influence of drugs/alcohol, drive sleepy (long hours without any breaks), drive distracted (by phones or things outside the vehicle), etc. Any of these actions can potentially cause an accident. How can the charter bus/shuttle companies be negligent? Most often, bus/shuttle company negligence is based on negligent hiring and training – essentially failing to ensure that their drivers can actually safely drive the vehicles. However, they can also be negligent by failing to repair their vehicles, for instance.
Can any other incidents occur? Besides crashes, other types of incidents can occur that could leave the passengers of charter buses and charter shuttles injured. Some of these other incidents include the following: slip and fall accidents, trip and fall accidents, falling object accidents, sexual assault, and assault and battery, for instance.
All of these incidents can potentially lead to significant harm.
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Some of the Injuries that Passengers Could Sustain
Regardless of the specific type of incident, unsuspecting passengers are likely to suffer injuries. Some of the most common injuries resulting from these incidents include the following:
- Head injuries (including concussions)
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Neck injuries and back injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Crushing injuries
- Fractures
- Severed limbs
- Lacerations
- Burn injuries
- Nerve, ligament, and muscle injuries
- Strains and sprains
- Scrapes and bruises
The severity of the injuries can vary significantly based on the details of the accident. However, these injuries can potentially be critical; in some cases, injuries can even be fatal. Regardless of whether you sustained injuries or a member of your family died in a charter bus accident or charter shuttle accident, it is important that you explore your legal options immediately.
Understanding Liability for Charter Bus and Shuttle Incidents
Who is liable for the injuries that you sustained or the death of a loved one due to an incident on a charter bus or shuttle obtained through the CharterUp marketplace? This is very good question. Although some might assume that CharterUp is automatically liable for any incident, this is not the case – in fact, liability is more often to fall on the specific charter bus company offering services through CharterUp.
So, how can these charter bus and charter shuttle bus companies be liable? These companies can be liable for collisions and any other incident that occurs on their buses/shuttles based on the fact that they are Common Carriers. What are common carriers? A common carrier is a company whose primary business consists of transporting people or property in exchange for a fee. All of the charter companies that offer services through the CharterUp marketplace are common carriers.
Common carriers have a duty towards their passengers. Some of these duties include the following:
- The duty to drive safely and diligently (and not drive dangerously or recklessly)
- The duty to provide their passengers with a safe vehicle (i.e., ensuring that the vehicle is free of any mechanical issues, for example)
- The duty to warn all passengers of existing dangers on the vehicle
- The duty to protect passengers from any harm (this includes harm by other passengers on the bus or shuttle)
- The duty to screen all prospective employees and train all new and existing employees to ensure that they do not pose a danger to passengers
These responsibilities could result in the charter companies being found liable for any harm that passengers suffer in a collision or any other incident that occurs on the bus or shuttle.
Is there any situation in which CharterUp could be liable for the harm resulting from incidents? Although CharterUp might be quick to argue that they are only a marketplace connecting those looking for a charter service to those offering a charter service therefore they are not responsible for any incidents, the company could in fact have some liability. CharterUp offers a marketplace. The company has significant control over this marketplace – they can add and remove companies from their marketplace at any time. What does this matter? When specific charter companies chartered through the CharterUp marketplace have been involved in multiple incidents and been the subject of multiple reports, CharterUp can effectively remove them from their listing. If CharterUp ignores all existing reports and continues to allow these charter companies to be on their marketplace, then they can have some liability for any new incidents.
If you have any more questions about liability or your right to file an injury claim or wrongful death claim, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our law firm immediately. Our Charter Up accident attorneys are ready to provide you with the guidance that you need.
Recovering Compensation
If your lawsuit is successful, you could be eligible to recover compensation for the harm that you suffered. In fact, you could even receive compensation for a wrongful death claim. What could you recover? For injury claims, claimants could recover compensation for some of the following: medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, punitive damages, and legal fees. For wrongful death claims, specifically, claimants could recover compensation for some of the following: medical costs incurred before death, loss of support, loss of consortium, and funeral/burial costs.
For more information regarding the type and amount of compensation that you could be awarded if your lawsuit is successful, do not hesitate to contact us today to speak with a shuttle bus injury attorney as soon as possible. Our shuttle bus lawyers are ready to evaluate your case and fight for your right to a fair settlement.
File Your Claim on Time
In California, all claims are subject to a statute of limitations which establish the time that claimants have to sue. Both injury lawsuits and wrongful death claims are subject to a two-year statute of limitations. This means that claimants will only have two years to take action. Unfortunately, failing to take action within the allowed statute of limitations could result in losing the right to sue. For more information about the time that you have to sue after a charter bus accident, contact us today.
Normandie Law Firm
We are proud to offer free consultations and free second opinions. No matter whether you want to start or continue your claim, we can help you. Our experts have decades of experience and are ready to provide you with the guidance that you need to win your case. These legal services are available as part of our Zero-Fee guarantee, which ensures that you will not pay any upfront costs to speak with our attorneys. In addition, we work on contingency; therefore, you will not be responsible for paying any legal costs until after you win – if you don’t win, you will not pay anything.
Contact us today to speak with our experts and start working on your charter bus accident lawsuit.
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