A Law Firm Supported by More Than 58 Years of Experience
At the law firm of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend in Houston, Texas, we have been providing skilled legal representation to protect those injured or killed in bus crashes for more than 58 years. With decades of experience, we have seen all types of injuries and wrongful death, and we have developed the experience necessary to effectively handle a wide range of legal claims. If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in a bus crash, contact a Texas bus crash attorney today to discuss your legal claims.
Bus Crashes Can Result In Serious Injuries and Death
We often entrust our most cherished assets to the care of bus drivers and bus companies. We count on these companies to transport our elderly parents once they are no longer able to drive themselves. We send our children on buses, counting on their safe delivery to and from school. We allow them to take field trips or travel in teams to sporting events, under the assumption that the bus companies have hired safe drivers and properly maintained the buses.
Unfortunately, these assumptions are not always true. Bus crashes caused by bus company negligence often leave passengers seriously injured. Bus maintenance can be lax. Even seemingly minor collisions might leave an elderly parent with broken bones or internal bleeding. More severe bus crashes can result in child death or catastrophic injuries. If the bus crash leads to a fire, passengers may face serious burns requiring extensive plastic surgery.
Potential Causes of Bus Crashes
The list of potential federal and state safety violations that are committed by bus operators may include:
- Tire defects, leaking tires or tires with insufficient tread
- Motor defects
- Faulty brakes
- Leaking fuel lines
- Broken shock absorbers
- Driver issues including fatigue, health certificate violations, traffic citations & moving violations
- Jurisdictional issues prohibiting buses from traveling outside the state
- License plate and insurance violations
- Weak enforcement of cross-border bus regulations (Houston is the headquarter of the cross-border transportation industry between Mexico and the United States)
Often combinations of these safety violations occur in fatal and catastrophic bus crashes. According to the Houston Chronicle's review of bus inspection records and safety data from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Texas Department of Public Safety (source: Vol.108, No. 69, 12/21/2008), following are the accidents, deaths and injuries resulting from accidents involving charter buses - they do not identify how many travel into and out of Mexico.
- 250 deaths in at least 176 Texas bus crashes since 2000
- 41 Houston residents died in three accidents in the last three years
- 13,879 injuries in 6,157 crashes
- 10,000 violations among 670 companies during inspections by state troopers since 2005
- 580 vehicles and more than 240 drivers were deemed unsafe since 2005 and temporarily taken off the road
Our Skilled Attorneys Can Effectively Protect You and Your Family
Our personal injury lawyers have been protecting injured people and their families for more than 58 years. We have the experience to get the results that you need. Injuries or death from a bus crash are likely to be serious and dramatically impact your future. We can not eliminate the injuries, but we can work to ensure that you are not required to handle the financial burden alone.
If you or someone you love has been injured while on a bus, contact a bus crash attorney to discuss your potential legal claims. Call today at 713-222-7211 or toll-free at 1-800-870-9584 for a free consultation.
