As parents, keeping our children safe is our #1 priority. We put our trust in schools and their staff to fulfill that duty when our children are in their care. Unfortunately, children are injured in school bus accidents in Connecticut every year.
If your child was injured boarding the bus, while riding the bus, or when crossing the street at the bus stop, contact D’Amico & Pettinicchi, LLC. It can be terrifying when your child is injured in a bus accident, and there’s no need to go through the accident claim process alone. We can help you determine who is at fault for the accident so they can be held accountable.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is responsible for establishing safety regulations for buses, and it requires that buses weighing less than 10,000 pounds be equipped with three-point safety restraints. It does not require that of large school buses, most of which are over 10,000 pounds. The NHTSA transferred the responsibility for large bus standards to state and local authorities. Connecticut has not mandated that school buses weighing over 10,000 pounds have seatbelts.
Overall, school buses are safe modes of transportation. According to the NHTSA, school buses are statistically the safest way for children to travel to school. This is due to the typically lower speeds at which they travel, the weight of the bus, the elevated position of the seats, the highly visible yellow exterior, and the flashing lights. Additionally, the compartmentalization of the seats offers a passive type of protection thanks to the close, high-backed seats that create a compartment around passengers.
Despite the numerous safety features that school buses are already equipped with, the National Transportation Safety Board believes that seatbelts are needed. The Board states that three-point belts are the best way to protect students in side collisions and rollover accidents and that buses currently do not offer adequate protection in these types of accidents.
School bus accidents involving other vehicles often occur due to driver distraction, speeding, and failure to yield. However, collisions and crashes while students are on the bus are not the main cause of fatal school bus accidents. Almost two-thirds of fatal accidents occur while children are outside of the bus.
Connecticut law requires that drivers stop their vehicles at least ten feet away when a school bus has its flashing signal lights on. Despite this requirement, vehicles passing a bus cause around 66 percent of fatal loading and unloading accidents.
Liability in motor vehicle accidents, including school bus accidents, is determined based on who is mostly at fault for the collision. Connecticut uses a system called modified comparative negligence, which means that injured victims can still pursue compensation even if they are partially responsible for the accident as long as their percentage of fault is less than the combined fault of the other parties. Liability will depend on whether your child’s school bus accident was caused by another driver, the bus driver, the school system, or, at times, your own child.
Schools in Connecticut are immune from certain types of lawsuits, so it’s recommended that you speak with a school bus accident attorney to determine how to proceed with legal action.
For over 100 combined years, families in Connecticut have trusted D’Amico & Pettinicchi, LLC, to advocate for them in their school bus accident cases. Contact us to schedule your free consultation.