A Dallas County jury recently awarded $20 million to the family of a 25-year-old man who suffered fatal injuries after he was run over by a Greyhound bus. The incident occurred in June 2017 when Hunter Brown was traveling to California on a Greyhound bus. When the bus driver stopped at a travel center in Central Point, Oregon, Brown and the other passengers got off the bus to use the restroom and buy food. According to the lawsuit, the bus driver did not take a mandatory head count before leaving the travel center prior to the stated time of departure. As the driver pulled away from the travel center, Brown and other passengers were still inside. Brown ran up to the bus and banged on the door to get in, but the driver kept going and ran him over. Brown’s family alleged that the bus driver had violated the company’s safety rules by failing to do a head count on passengers before he left the bus stop. The lawsuit also alleged that if Greyhound had provided a safe, responsible bus driver, Brown would not have died.
At trial, Brown’s family presented evidence which included records showing that the driver was not reprimanded for violating Greyhound’s head count policy until after the lawsuit was filed. The bus driver was only fired after he allegedly smashed a passenger’s cellphone which was being used to take a video of him being rude to other passengers. Following an eight day trial, the jury found Greyhound responsible for Brown’s death and awarded Brown’s parents $20 million in compensatory damages.
If you or someone you know has been injured by a passenger bus, contact us today by calling (713) 222-7211 or toll free at 713-222-7211.