Megabuses are an excellent way to see the United States for very little money. If you don’t have a huge travel budget, a Megabus can get you where you want to go at an affordable price. But the problem with Megabuses is that when they are in an accident, the injuries and damages can be catastrophic and include fatalities. While a megabus can be a great way to transport a whole lot of people at one time, they might not be as safe as you think. If you are injured in a Megabus accident, then you need to know how to hold the right company responsible so that you have your injuries covered.
Whether you are the injured party or you lost a loved one due to a crash, there are many people who may be held financially responsible and therefore liable for your Megabus accident. Who you sue and who is held liable depends on how the accident happened and the logistics of what happened to cause the accident.
If the driver was at fault for the accident, then you might be able to hold the driver of the bus liable. The bus driver doesn’t just have to follow the rules of the road; they are also responsible for making sure that the vehicle is in good working order. If the driver’s negligence is to blame, then you can sue them directly to recover your damages. “Negligence” is a legal term that indicates that either someone did something to directly cause an accident – like they were speeding or they pulled out in front of traffic – or that they failed to act, and that failure of action directly led to the accident. An example of failure to act would be if they didn’t stop at a traffic light.
The bus company might also be held liable in a Megabus accident. The company can be responsible through vicarious liability. “Vicarious liability” means that if you let someone drive your car or operate a vehicle that you own, then if they are at fault in an accident it becomes your responsibility to pay for any damages or injuries. So even if the bus driver was at fault, if they were directly employed by any Megabus company, then you do have the right to hold the company responsible for your damages and injuries through vicarious liability,
In addition, there are times when you can hold the maintenance yard housing the Megabus accountable. Since the maintenance yard is responsible for ensuring that the vehicle is fully operable and safe, you may be able to hold them liable if you can prove that they failed to maintain the bus properly. However, the maintenance yard can only be held liable if their job was to keep their Megabuses in safe operational order. Otherwise, the maintenance would still be the responsibility of the bus company, not of the yard that stores the buses.
If the accident is due to a manufacturer defect of the bus or the way that it was constructed, then the manufacturer might be held liable through product liability. The way Megabuses are constructed can make them highly likely in product liability cases. If some part of the bus was faulty and it was that fault in design that caused the accident, then those who are injured might be able to hold the maker of the bus liable.
If you are in a megabus accident, then there might be many people or companies along the way that can be held liable and responsible for your injuries and damages. To ensure that you get all that you are entitled to, it is imperative that you know how the accident happened, who was negligent, and if there was a defect that led directly to the accident. To ensure that you receive all that you should, make sure to hire a personal injury lawyer who specializes in the many complexities involved in Megabus accidents.