Every year hundreds of people are injured or killed in bus accidents. In one day in Southern Minnesota, near Rochester and Austin Minnesota, there were two accidents involving buses. One injured 8 children on a school bus and one resulted in 2 fatalities and 21 serious injuries when a tour bus, or motorcoach owned by Strain’s Bus Lines overturned on I-90.
A bus company and its driver have a duty to exercise the highest degree of care for the safety of its passengers. They are required to take every reasonable precaution for their passengers safety and are bound to the highest degree of care and diligence. Bus operators must hire fit drivers alert enough to avoid danger. Most bus companies are required to do background checks and know the medical history of their drivers.
A defense of medical emergency or sudden medical blackout (like the aneurysm it is claimed the driver had in the I-90 bus accident) must be proven by the bus company to have happened before the crash and not during the collision. Furthermore, the driver and bus company will be responsible to have been aware of the drivers medical history and to have taken every precaution against having a medical emergency while driving. A common carrier, like a bus company, is responsible for even the slightest negligence of its drivers.
If you or a loved one have been involved in a bus accident resulting in injury or death please contact the Injury Lawyers at Patterson Dahlberg.