Bus Accident Lawyer

By Andrew Traub

Austin Bus Accident Lawyer

Bus accidents can cause serious harm to passengers, drivers, and others on the road — and buses often lack seat belts or other restraints, which means injuries in a crash tend to be more severe than in a typical car accident. According to FMCSA’s Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts report, bus crashes cause several hundred fatalities and thousands of injuries across the U.S. every year. If you or a loved one has been hurt in a bus accident, the sooner you speak with an experienced attorney, the better your case will be.

This isn’t an abstract issue for our firm. Just before Andrew Traub was to be married, his parents-in-law were involved in a serious bus wreck — one passenger died, and his in-laws were seriously injured. Two drivers had been alternating shifts, and the lead driver, distracted by an affair, hadn’t gotten enough sleep and fell asleep at the wheel. More than twenty-five years later, his in-laws still live with the pain from that accident. We understand what these cases mean for a family, because we’ve lived it.

Who Can Be Held Liable

Liability in a bus accident depends heavily on who owns and operates the bus — a city transit authority, a private bus company, a school district, a tour operator, or an interstate carrier like Greyhound. The driver may bear primary liability for negligent driving, but the owner can also be held responsible for:

• Deferred or skipped maintenance that caused a mechanical failure
• Negligent hiring or retention — keeping a driver with a known accident history, or a pattern of reckless driving, behind the wheel
• Dangerous scheduling policies that push drivers to work excessive hours or keep unsafe routes on tight timelines

If a defective part — failed brakes, a tire blowout, a steering failure — caused or contributed to the crash, the manufacturer or parts supplier may also share liability under product liability law. And it isn’t always the bus driver at fault: another driver’s error can cause a bus accident, which is why the police report and an independent investigation both matter.

Bus accident cases are rarely simple. You may be negotiating with the bus company, the driver, a contracted operator, and layers of corporate bureaucracy all at once — and because buses carry more passengers, claims are often larger and more contested than a typical car accident case. If a government entity owns the bus, you may also face a shorter deadline to file a claim, so don’t wait to get an attorney involved.

Common Injuries

Passengers in a bus crash can sustain the same kinds of serious injuries seen in car accidents — traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and broken bones — often made worse by the lack of seat belts. Pedestrians struck by a bus face an even higher risk of catastrophic injury. Slip-and-fall injuries from wet or poorly maintained bus floors are also common. These injuries frequently mean surgery, extended rehabilitation, and in serious cases, permanent disability or loss of employment.

What to Do After a Bus Accident

1. Check for injuries and get to a safe area if you’re able to
2. Call 911 — even minor injuries should be documented
3. Take photos, get witness contact information, and note the key details while they’re fresh
4. Get checked out by a doctor, even if you feel fine — some injuries don’t show symptoms right away
5. Don’t discuss fault at the scene, and be cautious with any insurance adjuster who contacts you early — an adjuster who tells you a lawyer “isn’t necessary” is protecting their payout, not your interests

Compensation and Texas’s Comparative Fault Rule

Compensation in a bus accident case can cover medical expenses (including future care), lost wages, and pain and suffering. Texas uses a modified comparative fault system: your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault, and if you’re found 51% or more at fault, you can’t recover damages at all. Insurers know this and will often try to shift blame onto you to reduce what they pay — strong evidence, including police reports, video, and witness statements, is what protects your claim.

How We Build Your Case

We gather accident reports, medical records, witness statements, and, where available, surveillance and electronic data from the bus itself. We look closely at the driver’s history, maintenance and inspection records, and the company’s safety policies and compliance with federal rules — and when the facts call for it, we work with accident reconstruction experts to build a fact-based case that holds the responsible parties accountable.

Why The Traub Law Office?

We’ve handled bus and commercial vehicle accident cases for over 20 years, and for our family, this isn’t just a practice area — it’s personal. We take these cases on contingency: no fee unless we recover money for you. Call the Traub Law Office at (512) 246-9191 for a free consultation.