lawyer for school bus injury in San Francisco Tag Archives

School bus accidents are among the most devastating, especially when young children are injured. Recent school bus accidents in the news highlight the importance of school bus riders and drivers taking proper safety precautions. Recently, a school bus in Tennessee careened off the road, flipping before hitting a tree, killing six children and injuring many more. Another bus carrying cheerleaders was involved in a highway accident with an 18-wheeler. These accidents caused serious injuries, and likely could have been prevented.

Seat Belts on School Buses

Most school buses are not equipped with seat belts. There is some disagreement as to whether seat belts help or hurt in school bus accidents. Seat belts can certainly prevent kids from flying out of their seats if the bus flips, or comes to a sudden stop. However, some people think that it may be more difficult to get children out of the vehicle should it be involved in a serious problem, such as a fire. The school bus involved in the Tennessee accident was not equipped with seat belts.

The yellow school bus is an iconic symbol of childhood in America. Many of us waved goodbye to our parents as we headed off to school on the bus and then grew to become the parents waving goodbye our own children. They transport our most precious resource, our children, so we should be able to trust they are safe. A recent lawsuit calls attention to the issue of school bus safety and caught the attention of our San Francisco school bus accident attorney.

Settlement Calls Attention to School Bus Safety

According to SFGate, a school bus company agreed to pay $11.5 million in order to settle a lawsuit claiming the company used unsafe buses to take San Francisco students to and from school. The lawsuit claimed that from 2006 through 2011, the company provided buses to San Francisco United School District that had threadbare tires, worn brakes, and other maintenance-related problems. Although the California Highway Patrol inspected the buses annually, they did not identify the problems at that time. The two mechanics who led the lawsuit say that company records show the bus company misrepresented the safety of the vehicles. The case alleged that company records showed 300 cases where the company violated a requirement that buses be inspected every 45 days and also ignored complaints from drivers and mechanics about the buses including reports of “metal-on-metal” sounds during braking.

Articles Tagged with lawyer for school bus injury in San Francisco

Preventing Deadly School Bus Accidents

School Bus Safety: Protecting Our Most Precious Resource