Bus accident lawyer in Houston: claims for passengers, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians

A bus crash raises questions an ordinary car wreck does not: who owns the bus, whether a government unit is involved, and which records exist about the driver and the vehicle. As a bus accident lawyer in Houston, we answer those first, because the answers set the deadlines and decide where a claim can be made.

Automobile Accident Lawyers Houston belongs to LAWBOSS – Harris, Nelsen & Uvalle, PLLC. Bus cases from this site go to the firm’s Houston attorneys at 5300 Memorial Dr Ste 810, and the attorney responsible for the site is Jonathan Harris, Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law – Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Who gets hurt when a bus crashes

A bus carries many people, and it shares the road with many more. The people we hear from after a bus crash usually fall into four groups:

• Passengers who were seated, standing or getting on or off when the bus braked hard, turned sharply or was hit.
• Drivers and passengers in other vehicles struck by the bus, or hurt when a bus pulled out, changed lanes or ran a signal.
• Cyclists hit by a bus merging toward the curb or turning across a bike lane.
• Pedestrians hit at a crosswalk, at a stop or in a parking area.

Each group has the same core question: who was responsible? Texas uses proportionate responsibility, so you can recover if your own share is 50 percent or less, your recovery is reduced by that share, and a share greater than 50 percent bars recovery (Civil Practice and Remedies Code sections 33.001 and 33.012). A seated passenger usually had no part in the crash at all, so the argument then centers on the bus driver, the other vehicle and the condition of the bus.

The first question: who owns and runs the bus?

Some buses are owned by a city or another government unit. Others belong to private companies: charter and tour operators, intercity carriers, hotel and airport shuttles, and businesses that move their own workers. Ownership matters because a claim against a government unit follows special rules that start running from the day of the crash. A bus accident lawyer in Houston checks ownership before anything else, using the crash report, the markings on the bus and the insurance information the driver gave at the scene.

Drivers involved in a crash must give their name, address, vehicle registration number and the name of their liability insurer (Transportation Code section 550.023). If you have that information, or a photo of the bus showing its number and operator name, keep it.

When a government unit owns the bus

A claim against a government unit, such as a city that runs a bus, comes with a notice rule. Under Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 101.101, the government unit must receive written notice of the claim within six months of the incident. A shorter period can apply if a city charter sets one. Actual notice, meaning the government unit already knew of the injury and its part in it, can excuse the written notice, but we never count on that.

What the written notice has to describe

• The injury or damage you suffered.
• The time and the place of the incident.
• The incident itself: what happened.

As your bus accident lawyer in Houston, we prepare and send that notice, keep proof that it was delivered, and check whether a city charter sets a shorter deadline for the particular government unit. Six months can disappear while you are still in treatment, which is why the notice goes out early rather than waiting until the claim is fully understood.

The Tort Claims Act limits

Texas law caps how much a government unit can be held liable for. Under Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 101.023, the limits for bodily injury or death are $250,000 for each person and $500,000 for each single occurrence for the state government and for a municipality, and $100,000 for each person and $300,000 for each occurrence for other local government units. These are the limits written into the statute. They say nothing about what any particular claim is worth, and when more than one party shares the fault, other policies may also be part of the claim.

Private buses: charter, tour, shuttle and intercity

When a private company owns the bus, the claim usually runs against the company and its insurance policy, depending on who employed the driver and who owned the vehicle. There is no six-month government notice. The two-year limit for a personal injury suit applies (Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003).

A private bus may count as a commercial motor vehicle under the federal rules, depending on the vehicle and its use. Texas follows the federal safety rules for those: the Texas Department of Public Safety director adopts rules consistent with federal regulations (Transportation Code section 644.051). Where the federal rules apply, they include these:

• A driver may not drive while fatigued or ill, and the carrier may not permit it (49 CFR 392.3).
• No driver may be on duty under the influence of Schedule I drugs, amphetamines or narcotics (392.4), or use alcohol within 4 hours before going on duty or while on duty (392.5).
• No texting while driving a commercial vehicle (392.80) and no hand-held phone use (392.82), rules that bind the carrier as well as the driver.
• The carrier keeps a driver qualification file (391.51) and must give a pre-employment drug test before safety-sensitive work (382.301).
• The carrier must systematically inspect, repair and maintain every vehicle (396.3).

The hours-of-service figures most people have heard of, such as the 11-hour driving limit in 49 CFR 395.3, are the rules for property carriers. So we confirm which hours rule fits the bus company before we argue that a driver was on the road too long.

What evidence exists after a bus crash

A bus operator may hold records that a private driver never would, but those records sit in the operator’s hands and can be overwritten or discarded on a routine schedule. The records we ask to be kept include:

• Video. Footage from any cameras on the bus, from dash cameras in other vehicles, and from businesses and traffic cameras near the scene.
• Driver records. Duty logs, schedules, training and qualification files, and any drug and alcohol testing records.
• Vehicle records. Inspection, repair and maintenance records for the bus, and any data the bus itself stored.
• Dispatch and route records. Where the bus was supposed to be, and when.
• The crash report. An officer who investigates a crash with injury, death or apparent property damage of $1,000 or more files the CR-3 report with TxDOT within 10 days (Transportation Code section 550.062).
• Witnesses. Other passengers saw what the driver did, and their names are easy to lose once everyone leaves the scene.

For a carrier covered by the federal logging rule, electronic logging devices record the driver’s duty status, and the carrier must keep duty records and supporting documents for at least 6 months (49 CFR 395.8). That is the reason our preservation letter goes out in the first days, not months later.

Deadlines that apply to bus claims

Situation	Deadline	Where it comes from
Bus owned by a government unit	Written notice within six months, or a shorter period set by a city charter	CPRC 101.101
Any personal injury suit	Not later than two years after the day the claim accrues	CPRC 16.003(a)
Death caused by the crash	Two years, starting on the day of the death	CPRC 16.003(b)
An injured child	The time before 18 is not counted	CPRC 16.001
Bus carrier’s duty records	Kept at least 6 months	49 CFR 395.8(k)

How we handle a bus case

1. We find out who owns and operates the bus, and whether a government unit is involved.
2. If it is, we prepare and send the written notice well inside the six-month window and check the city charter for a shorter one.
3. We send preservation letters for video, logs, maintenance records and dispatch data.
4. We order the crash report and track down passengers and other witnesses.
5. We collect your medical records and bills, and open any claim on your own PIP or UM coverage that applies.
6. We present the claim to the bus operator or its insurer and, if it is not resolved fairly, file suit before the deadline.

If the crash involved another kind of vehicle as well, our vehicle accident lawyer in Houston page compares the policies and rules vehicle by vehicle. When a suit is needed, Jonathan Harris leads the litigation, and our auto accident attorney in Houston page explains how a lawsuit runs. Whatever kind of bus was involved, a Houston bus accident lawyer can tell you in a single call which deadline you are working against.