South Florida Injury Attorney Blog

An SUV rear-ended a Broward County bus March 12, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. The accident took place on State Road 7 at about 10:20 a.m., the newspaper said, when Dwayne Campbell failed to stop his SUV in time to avoid colliding with the back of the stopped bus. Campbell and seven bus passengers were taken to the hospital, the newspaper said, but all of them were fine. The crash remains under investigation.

Bus accidents of any kind -- mass transit, school and others -- are rare. Buses are just 0.5% of vehicles involved in fatal accidents and 0.5% of vehicles in all accidents, according to 2007 numbers from the federal Department of Transportation. And when buses do crash, they are more likely to do substantial damage to the people outside the bus than to anyone inside. Buses, like trucks, outweigh passenger cars substantially, which means they can kill or seriously hurt the people inside those cars in a bad South Florida bus accident -- or even a pedestrian accident in South Florida. And of course, when buses are involved in serious crashes, the potential harm is great just because there are likely to be so many people on the bus.

In this case, investigators could easily conclude that Campbell, the SUV’s driver, was at fault. As a Hollywood auto accident lawyer, I happen to know that this is especially likely for the rearmost driver in rear-end accidents. But if investigators decide the bus driver was at fault, the SUV’s driver could have a strong legal claim against the bus driver’s employer, Broward County. Most government agencies can be sued just as if they were private businesses or individuals -- but it can be a lot more difficult, because governments also make the laws that govern how you may file a suit. This has allowed them to erect special barriers you must overcome before filing a court case, including tighter deadlines and requirements to file an out-of-court grievance before suing. Because this can get very complicated, experts recommend that you get help from an experienced attorney.

The Pembroke Pines law firm of Cohn, Smith & Cohn can help. Our South Florida auto accident attorneys have nearly 25 years of experience holding wrongdoers legally and financially responsible for actions that hurt or killed the people around them. We’re proud to say we’ve helped hundreds of clients secure the money they needed to get medical treatment, make ends meet and eventually move on after a serious accident. If you’ve been hurt by another person’s bad driving or bad judgment and you’d like to know more, you can contact us online or call (954) 431-8100 for a free consultation.