A dream vacation can turn into a nightmare in an instant when a tragic tour bus accident occurs. Tour buses' sheer size and momentum often result in catastrophic, life-changing injuries during collisions. These victims are usually left with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, or amputations, or they suffer the profound tragedy of wrongful death.

These injuries are not minor. They are life-altering events that permanently affect victims and their families, leaving people and their families to deal with the astronomical costs of medical care, devastating loss of income, and incalculable pain.

Recovering after a catastrophic tour bus injury is typically lengthy and complicated. It is critical not to fight this challenging experience alone. We encourage you to call Dallas Horton & Associates immediately for a free, detailed, confidential consultation. Our Las Vegas attorneys strongly believe in championing the cause of catastrophic injury victims. We shall do our best to ensure you secure the full compensation to recover and restructure your life.

What is a Catastrophic Injury in a Bus Accident?

In the context of a vehicle accident, a catastrophic injury is a severe injury to the brain, spinal cord, or any injury that causes disfigurement or impairment of a bodily function. These injuries have a different legal status because they have a long-lasting and severe effect on the life of an individual, and can result in lifelong disability and high medical costs, as well as a lower quality of life. As compared to minor injuries that heal with time, catastrophic injuries require elaborate medical attention, prolonged rehabilitation, adaptive equipment, or constant personal care.

The range of devastating injuries that are often found in bus crashes falls into specific categories:

  • Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) — These are neurological injuries that may be mild (concussion) or severe (brain damage), causing cognitive impairments, personality changes, and motor impairment.
  • Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) — Depending on the location and the degree of injury, could result in partial or complete paralysis, affecting mobility, sensation, and other vital functions. Also, the brute impact of the bus accidents often results in severe orthopedic injuries, such as numerous fractures, crush injuries, and limb amputations, which significantly change both physical abilities and independence of an individual.
  • Burns — These burns could be so severe that they require extensive skin grafts to repair them, resulting in disfigurement, and severe internal organ damage that can compromise life-sustaining systems.
  • Psychological consequences — These are also significant and are, in many cases, characterized by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression that require long-term mental health treatment. These life-changing injuries highlight the severe effects of bus accidents, converting the life of a victim into one that is characterized by ongoing medical care, lost earning capacity, and a complete disruption in their ability to interact with the world around them.

Common Causes of Tour Bus Accidents

Tour bus accidents are usually catastrophic and hardly involve a single cause. Instead, they are generally the result of multiple factors coming together, and the issue of commercial vehicle operation is complicated. It is essential to know these typical causes to determine negligence and liability after an accident has already occurred.

  1. Driver Error

One of the significant causes of accidents is driver error. Although stringent Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Hours of Service regulations are meant to eliminate fatigue, it is still a significant issue. Drivers may violate these rules due to tight schedules or personal problems, which result in poor judgment, slower responses, and a high chance of accidents.

Using cell phones, distractions in the cabin, or even interacting with passengers is considered distracted driving that takes a driver away and leads to countless incidents. Furthermore, driving above the speed limit, careless maneuvering, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs significantly increase the risk of crashes involving large vehicles.

Inadequate training or lack of experience with specific routes or vehicle types may also leave the driver ill-prepared for a challenging situation, and errors are more likely to occur.

  1. Company Negligence

Company negligence is another crucial cause of tour bus accidents. Tour bus companies have a heightened duty of care as common carriers, which implies that they have a legal responsibility to transport passengers safely. This responsibility goes as far as their hiring practices in ensuring that the drivers are well vetted, licensed, and trained. Negligence may result from:

  • Negligent hiring
  • Failure to monitor drivers
  • Unrealistic scheduling indirectly encourages drivers to violate the safety rules or drive when tired.

More importantly, mechanical failures often stem from negligent maintenance by the company. Buses need strict and regular checks and repairs to ensure that their parts, including brakes, tires, steering systems, and lights, are in the best possible condition. The inability to detect and fix defects or postpone the necessary repair to save on costs may result in disastrous system failures on the road, including brake failures or tire blowouts, which can directly cause serious accidents.

  1. External Factors

In addition to human and organizational shortcomings, there are external factors. Hazardous road conditions like potholes, ominous signs, bad lights, or construction may pose unavoidable hazards even to the most cautious drivers. Likewise, poor weather, like heavy rain, snow, ice, or thick fog, could severely limit visibility and traction and make it extremely hard to safely operate a large vehicle, thus causing a disastrous crash.

Determining the precise nexus of the following factors is most important in building a strong argument when pursuing compensation for the catastrophic injuries you or your loved one sustained.

Critical First Steps to Take to Defend Your Health and Rights in the Postcrash Period

Immediately after a disastrous tour bus accident, your health and taking specific actions to protect your legal rights are paramount. The post-traumatic situation may be confusing and emotionally stressful, but making decisive decisions during the first hours and days is crucial to your health and a possible claim.

The first and most significant step is to ensure you are safe, call 911 immediately, and provide a clear, concise description of the incident to the emergency responders, including the location, number of individuals injured, and any visible hazard. Even without the feeling of immediate pain, seek a timely medical assessment. There are serious injuries, especially those that involve the brain or the internal organs, which will not show symptoms until hours or days later.

A proper medical checkup leaves an official record of your injuries, directly associating them with the accident, and this is priceless in any future court case. Take all the medical recommendations and go to all the suggested follow-ups. Consistent medical documentation will support your legal claim.

Start taking notes of the scene as soon as it is safe. Take detailed pictures and videos of the damaged bus, any other vehicles involved, the road conditions, traffic signals, skid marks, and any injuries you or others may have sustained with your smartphone. This visual evidence can play a significant role in determining the cause of the accident. Obtain witness contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses.

Write down the bus company's name, the bus number, and the driver's details. Have all physical evidence preserved, including damaged clothing or personal items, as they may be critical in the future. Furthermore, start a detailed recovery log, including pain levels, restrictions, medical visits, and its effects on your everyday life.

Critically, do not provide recorded statements to the bus company or insurance agents before talking to an attorney. These organizations are usually interested in reducing their liability and might even ask you questions that can undermine your claim. Forward all the questions to your lawyer, who will defend your rights and ensure that all correspondences are treated appropriately.

Who Can You Sue For Your Injuries in Tour Bus Accidents?

In the case of a catastrophic tour bus accident, it is essential to determine all parties involved so that, as the victim, you receive full compensation. In addition to the direct and catastrophic injuries, the parties to these complex cases may be many and diverse.

  • Bus drivers — In many cases, the bus driver is a key target, particularly when the reasons behind their negligence, including distracted driving, fatigue, or impairment, caused the accident.
  • Tour bus companies — The responsibility often extends to the bus company. This may be due to the company’s failures, like flawed hiring practices, failure to train drivers properly, failure to maintain vehicles properly, or failure to adhere to vital safety rules.
  • Tour bus manufacturers — In other cases, the cause may be the bus's design or manufacturing defect. In this case, the bus manufacturer becomes the primary defendant since the defect in their product was the cause or contributor of the accident.
  • Third-party drivers — These drivers could have also caused the accident due to careless behavior like driving recklessly or committing a traffic offense, and can be held liable.
  • Government agencies — Though rare, it is possible that governmental agencies involved in the design or upkeep of the roads on which the accident happened may be liable in case unsafe road conditions contributed to the accident.

Nevada’s Modified Comparative Negligence Doctrine

The principle of modified comparative negligence applies in Nevada when determining liability for the accident. According to the Nevada revised statute 41.141, the victim of a tour bus accident can be found to have contributed to his/her injuries to some extent despite being the victim. This does not necessarily exclude them from recovering compensation, but it considerably affects the level of compensation that they could receive.

Nevada follows a 51 percent rule: if the injured party is determined to have been 50 percent or less responsible for causing the accident, they are still eligible to collect damages. However, their collective pay will also be minimized according to the percentage of their fault.

For example, a victim would recover only 80,000 of the 100,000 damages he/she sustained when the jury determines that the victim is 20% at fault. More importantly, if the victim's fault is found to be 51 percent or more, then the victim is completely denied any recovery of damages against the other parties. Thus, you can expect defense attorneys and insurance companies to blame you, the victim, to minimize or avoid their liability.

Computation of Economic and Non-Economic Damages

The quest to recover full economic and non-economic damages of a devastating tour bus accident requires careful computation of damages. All the factors of the losses the victim incurred, including both physical expenses and emotional pain, must be carefully evaluated across both economic and non-economic categories.

Economic Damages

Economic damages, also known as special damages, are the financial losses the victim suffers due to the accident that can be measured. These are quantifiable expenses that could be computed and established objectively with bills, receipts, and professional testimony.

Medical bills are the most critical element of economic damages and include all the past and future costs incurred in treatment. This covers:

  • Emergency room care
  • Ambulance services
  • Inpatient hospital care
  • Surgery
  • Drugs
  • Rehabilitation
  • Physical therapy
  • Occupational therapy
  • Specialised medical equipment

For catastrophic injuries, projected future medical costs are a significant component of compensation, and it is necessary to have an estimate of future care needs, possible future surgery, and long-term therapeutic requirements made by medical professionals.

Lost wages and future earning capacity are other essential factors in economic damages. Victims who cannot work after the accident can secure compensation for the past lost income. In catastrophic injuries that permanently disable a person, much of the claim will cover future lost earning capacity. This requires estimating how much money the victim would have reasonably earned in their lifetime had the accident not happened, and it may involve the testimony of vocational rehabilitation specialists and other economic experts.

In cases involving catastrophic injury, a life care plan helps determine all future medical and personal care needs, all future medical, rehabilitative, and personal care requirements, and their costs, throughout the rest of the victim's life. The plan acts as a guideline for the financial assistance needed to address the long-term effects of the injury.

Non-Economic Damages

General damages or non-economic damages are used to cover the intangible losses, which are, in fact, more subjective and more complex to measure, but have a significant effect on the quality of life of the victim.

Pain and suffering are the most well-known categories, including the pain experienced during the accident, recovery, and any chronic pain that may occur throughout life. The other aspect that falls under this category is emotional distress due to the trauma of the accident, like anxiety, depression, fear, and emotional anguish.

Another significant non-economic harm is the loss of enjoyment of life, which compensates the victim based on their reduced capacity to perform past enjoyable activities due to their injuries, like hobbies, sports, social life, or travel. This could also extend to the incapacity to carry out daily activities or care for oneself.

Moreover, loss of consortium refers to the harm to the spousal or familial relationship or family members, which considers the loss of companionship, affection, guidance, and support. These damages are not measured in dollars because they are not easily quantifiable. They are determined by the jury or negotiated based on the injury's severity and permanence, the victim's age, and the overall effect of the injuries on the victim.

Punitive Damages

In extreme cases, victims can also receive punitive damages. Punitive damages are intended to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct in the future, unlike economic and non-economic damages that are aimed at making the victim whole again. This is applicable in scenarios where gross negligence, malicious intent, or conscious disregard of the safety of others are in evidence. For example, a bus company may knowingly operate a vehicle with severe, unaddressed mechanical problems or a driver operating the bus under extreme intoxication.

Punitive damages are awarded only in cases where the defendant's conduct is considered exceptionally reprehensible, and the amount of punitive damages also varies greatly depending on the jurisdiction.

The Tour Bus Accident Lawsuit Timeline

The legal process can be complex and lengthy following a catastrophic tour bus crash. However, it is possible to know the general steps that the victims and their families may expect so they can be ready to face the legal procedure. Staying organized ensures that each critical step in building a strong case is completed.

The following are the steps you should take to build a strong case.

  1. Preliminary Investigation and Filing the Lawsuit

The process will start with a thorough initial investigation. This will entail collecting all evidence at the scene of the accident, such as:

  • The police reports
  • Photographs
  • Witness statements
  • Any video surveillance that is present

Medical records will be thoroughly collected and examined to determine the nature and extent of the injuries.

In this stage, the attorney will also determine all the parties that might be liable.

Another important factor at this phase is the Statute of Limitations, a firm legal timeline before a lawsuit can be filed. The deadline depends heavily on the state and the kind of defendant. For example, claims against government entities typically have much shorter filing deadlines, so it is vital to consult a lawyer as soon as possible to avoid losing the right to sue.

Once the investigation provides a sufficient basis, a formal complaint is filed with the proper court, referred to as a lawsuit, and legal proceedings have officially begun.

  1. The Discovery Phase

Once the lawsuit has been filed, both parties enter the discovery phase, a formal process of exchanging information pertinent to the case. This is the longest part of a personal injury case. Discovery usually includes:

  • Interrogatories — A set of written questions that one party to a case puts to the other party to be answered under oath in writing.
  • Request for documents to be produced — Requests of pertinent records, for example, bus maintenance records, records of driver employment, medical bills, wage slips, and insurance policies.
  • Depositions — Sworn statements of witnesses, accident victims, bus drivers, company representatives, and other witnesses conducted outside court. These help secure testimony, assess witness credibility, and evaluate credibility.
  • Requests for admissions — Written requests in which one party requests the other party to agree or disagree to facts or the authenticity of documents to simplify the case's undisputed aspects.

  1. Engagement of Expert Witnesses

Expert witness testimony is also often used in catastrophic injury cases to interpret the technical aspects of medical, engineering, or economic issues to the court. The medical professionals will give their opinion regarding the nature, extent, and prognosis of the injuries sustained by the victim and the future cost of care. Accident reconstructionists use physical evidence to calculate how the accident happened and who was responsible. Vocational experts determine the capacity of the victim to resume employment and compute future lost earning capacity.

Economists may also testify to support claims for future economic losses and the total cost of a life care plan.

  1. Negotiations, Mediation, and Settlement

Parties usually negotiate in an attempt to settle during the discovery phase, and often after the experts have exchanged reports. It may be done between the legal teams or with formal mediation where a neutral third-party mediator assists in the negotiations to enable the parties to reach an agreement and prevent a trial.

A settlement refers to a legally enforceable judgment in which the defendant is supposed to pay a certain amount of money to the plaintiff to have the plaintiff withdraw the case. Many personal injury claims are settled at this point because the parties will usually find the security of a settlement more attractive than the uncertainties and costs of a trial.

  1. Trial

In case the negotiations or the mediation do not lead to a fair settlement, the case will be tried. In a trial, the two parties introduce evidence, question and challenge witnesses, and give opening and closing arguments before a judge or jury. The jury or the judge will then pass a judgment to decide who is liable and give damages if the plaintiff succeeds.

A trial is emotionally time-consuming and may take several days or weeks. In some cases, it also involves appeals. Most cases settle before trial, but the willingness and capacity to proceed to trial are frequently essential bargaining chips in attaining a reasonable settlement.

Find a Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

A tour bus accident can permanently alter every aspect of a person’s life, causing immense physical, financial, and emotional burdens. These are not issues to fight individually. The intricacies of proving liability, working around strict laws, and correctly determining the long-term damages require specific legal knowledge.

Finding the proper legal representation is the most crucial step to obtaining the compensation you need to recover and continue your life. At Dallas Horton & Associates, our Las Vegas team is committed to thoroughly investigating your case, finding all the guilty parties, and fiercely promoting your interests in negotiations or the courtroom.

When you or someone you care about has received a devastating injury in a tour bus accident, now is the time to take action. Contact us at 702-820-5917 to receive a confidential consultation to learn about your legal options and pursue the justice and compensation you deserve.