A bus carries dozens of people who have no seat belts, no airbags and nothing to hold onto but a pole. A sudden stop, a wide turn taken too fast, a door that closes on a passenger, or a driver who misses a pedestrian in a crosswalk can cause serious injuries even at low speed. Riders are hurt. So are people in the cars around the bus, people waiting at the curb, and people crossing in front of it.
Manoukian Law Firm represents people injured in bus collisions throughout California. Attorney Vaheh Manoukian handles each case himself, from the first phone call to the resolution. If a public agency is involved, the deadline to act can be measured in months rather than years, so the early steps matter.
What to do after a bus accident
- Get medical attention the same day if you can. Head, neck, shoulder and back injuries from a bus often feel minor for a day or two, and a gap in treatment becomes an argument later.
- Report the incident to the driver or the agency and ask for an incident or report number before you leave.
- Write down the bus number, route number, direction of travel, time and the nearest cross street. Buses are identified by number, not by license plate, in most agency records.
- Photograph the scene, the interior, the stop, your injuries and anything that contributed, such as a wet floor, a broken handrail or a curb the bus stopped away from.
- Get names and phone numbers of other passengers. Riders scatter quickly and are hard to find later.
- Keep your fare receipt, transit card record or app history. It places you on that bus at that time.
- Talk to an attorney quickly if a public agency may be involved, because of the six-month claim rule.
How these cases work in California
Most bus injury claims start with the same question every negligence case starts with: who failed to use reasonable care, and how did that failure cause the harm. Buses are common carriers, and California expects a high degree of care from a company that takes on the job of carrying the public. That covers driving, but it also covers hiring, training, maintenance and how a bus is loaded and unloaded.
The complication is who owns the bus. Los Angeles Metro and LADOT are government entities, and so are school districts and most municipal transit systems. A claim against a public entity requires a written government claim, generally within six months of the injury under Government Code section 911.2. Only after the entity responds, or the time to respond runs out, does a lawsuit deadline begin. Miss the six-month window, and the claim can be lost even though the underlying injury is serious and well documented.
If the bus is privately owned, a charter, a tour operator, a shuttle, an employee bus or a contracted school route, the ordinary two-year personal injury limit under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 usually applies. Many routes are run by private contractors under a public agency’s name, which is why the ownership question gets answered early rather than assumed.
California also follows pure comparative negligence, from Li v. Yellow Cab. If an injured person is found partly at fault, for example a rider who was standing while the bus was moving, the recovery is reduced by that share of fault rather than barred. A partial fault argument is not a reason to walk away from a claim.
When a bus collides with another vehicle, more than one insurer may be responsible. Those cases often overlap with car accident claims, and, when a bus strikes someone on foot, with a pedestrian accident claim under Vehicle Code section 21950, which requires drivers to yield in marked and unmarked crosswalks.
How Manoukian Law Firm handles bus injury claims
The first work is preservation. Buses record continuously, and interior and exterior video is often overwritten on a set cycle unless someone asks for it in writing. We send preservation notices early, identify whether the operator is a public entity or a private contractor, and prepare and file the government claim on time when one is required.
From there the case is built the way it would be presented to a jury: the driver’s training and history, maintenance records for the vehicle, dispatch and scheduling data, route and stop conditions, and the physical evidence at the scene. We obtain the treating records and billing, and where injuries are lasting we work with treating physicians so the medical picture is documented by the people providing the care rather than argued at the end.
We deal with the insurers and the agency’s risk office so our clients do not have to. Every case is prepared as if it will be tried, because a case that is ready for trial is a case that can be resolved on fair terms. Our office is on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth, and Valley cases are familiar ground, but the firm represents injured people throughout California. If you cannot travel, we meet by phone or video, at your home or in the hospital.
What can be recovered
California law allows recovery for the harm the injury actually caused. That includes past and future medical care, the cost of surgery, therapy and equipment, and income lost while unable to work, along with reduced earning capacity when an injury changes what someone can do for a living. Medical damages are measured by the amounts actually paid or owed, following Howell v. Hamilton Meats.
It also includes non-economic harm: pain, loss of sleep, anxiety about riding again, and the loss of activities that made up an ordinary life. Where a head injury is involved, the effects can appear days later and are documented through treating physicians and neuropsychological evaluation, which is covered on our brain injury page. When a bus collision takes a life, wrongful death claims under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 belong to a spouse, domestic partner, children and certain dependents, with a separate survival action under section 377.30.
Deadlines
Two years from the date of injury is the general rule for personal injury claims in California. Against a public entity, a written claim is generally due within six months, and the lawsuit deadline that follows is shorter than the ordinary limit. Claims involving minors and certain other circumstances can differ. Because bus cases so often involve a public agency, the practical deadline is usually the six-month one, and video and driver records disappear well before that. Do not wait to find out which rule applies to your case.
Case results
Our client suffered catastrophic injuries after being struck by a commercial delivery driver who was on the job.
Our client developed ongoing neck pain after a multi-vehicle rear-end collision on the highway, requiring pain-management treatment.
First offer: $0. The insurer valued our client's injuries at $5,000 to $10,000, and called it a “soft impact.”
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Frequently asked questions
The bus never hit anything. Do I still have a claim?
Yes. Many bus injuries happen with no collision at all: a hard braking event, a lurching start, a fall while boarding, or a door closing on a passenger. What matters is whether the operator used the care the situation required and whether that failure caused the injury.
I was a passenger and the bus driver was not at fault. Who pays?
If another driver caused the crash, the claim runs against that driver and their insurance, subject to California’s 30/60/15 minimum limits under Vehicle Code section 16056. If those limits do not cover the harm, other coverage may apply. A passenger is rarely at fault, and passengers usually have a claim regardless of which driver was responsible.
What if I was hurt at a bus stop rather than on the bus?
That can be a claim against the driver, the agency, or the owner of the adjacent property, depending on what caused the injury. Broken pavement and curb conditions overlap with sidewalk accident claims and are governed by property owner duty principles from Rowland v. Christian, which turn on notice of the hazard.
Does it cost anything to talk to you?
No. Consultations are free, and the firm works on a contingency fee. There is no fee unless we recover for you.
If you or a family member was hurt on or by a bus, the first steps matter more here than in almost any other kind of injury case. Call Manoukian Law Firm at (818) 818-5031, any hour, or use our contact page, and you can read more about attorney Vaheh Manoukian on our about page. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we recover for you.
Serving clients across California
The office is on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth, and the firm represents injured people throughout California. If you cannot travel, we meet by phone, by video, at your home or in the hospital.
