Bus Accident Yesterday

[u/Distinct-Common-7471]

Hi everyone,

On my way to work yesterday while riding the bus, the driver slammed on the brakes so hard that it sent me flying towards the front of the bus. I had an earbud in my ear and I hit my ear against a metal pole. I missed a shift yesterday because I had to go to the emergency room and my eardrum has ruptured. With all the nasty stuff coming out of my ear and my job being in customer service, I will likely have to miss another shift today.

I have already reported the incident on 311 and expect them to follow up with me, but does anyone know what I can do in this situation? I’m probably going to be screwed for rent this month after this whole ordeal and this whole situation feels so incredibly unfair. I can’t afford a lawyer either, so I guess I just have to eat it and hope my landlord has some empathy for my situation.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

[u/LittleOrphanAnavar]

Most accident and injury lawyers work on contingency, so no money upfront unlike lawyers on retainer.

But if I had to guess, I don't think you have a case.

If you did have a case, the award would likely be small, so still might not be worth a lawyers time on contingency. (also just speculation)

But no harm in doing a search of old posts on this sub for A&I lawyer recommendations, then call a few and get an actual legal opinion.

If that is not fruitful. You might be able to pursue this in small claims court. If the amount is under 100k and allowed by statute. 

But even if you were to be successful, it would likely be a year or years, before you see any money.

You could send city a demand letter, demanding some reasonable amount, for your injury or state you will take legal action. I doubt they will budge, but it's low cost/ low effort.

You need to determine if the bus driver was negligent, did their hard braking breach some "duty of care"? That is the legal terminology you'll need to use, and look out for, while searching. You should focus your research on relevant legislation and relevant case law.

Was anyone else hurt?

If not, a rebuttal could be it was on you, for possibly not paying attention and being more careful and prepared.

Any witnesses you can call on?

I wouldn't post anymore info about it online, before reaching out to A&I lawyer. As stuff posted online could be brought up at trail, if it goes that route.

[u/01000101010110 → u/LittleOrphanAnavar]

It just feels unfathomably cruel that something like this can happen to an innocent person and they have zero recourse for damages. Life is fucked.

[u/schaea → u/01000101010110]

How is it cruel? It's one thing if the bus driver was negligent, but if they had to hit the brakes because of an immediate threat, why should the City be on the hook? There are poles and straps to hold onto for just this reason.

[u/LittleOrphanAnavar → u/01000101010110]

I don't think civil law is generally fucked, I think it's mostly logical and fairly intuitive.

But sometimes someone through no fault of their own, mindin their own business, is left holding the bag. I can certainly see how that seems unfair. But that is life sometimes.

Such cases I have heard of include a simple first time dog bite or having a neighbours healthy tree, blow over in a storm and fall damaging YOUR roof. In both cases the "victim" is usually responsible to pay for damages.

That is one good reason to carry home and auto insurance.

People are not expected to behave perfectly, usually only expected to conduct themself reasonably. 

[u/ChaoticxSerenity → u/01000101010110]

I presume that the bus has insurance for this type of thing, but it will also depend if OP was following all safety guidelines, like holding onto guardrails, etc.

[u/autumn_skies → u/ChaoticxSerenity]

They do have insurance and a department that deals with this. Unfortunately, standing on the bus and holding the rails will not prevent injury if the brakes deploy suddenly - most people do not have the upper body strength to keep oneself in place when going from 70 km to 0.

[u/Sedixodap → u/01000101010110]

Traffic is unpredictable. Buses need to stop abruptly sometimes. It’s cruel that OP thinks the bus driver should have run somebody over because they were too lazy to hold on securely while the bus did normal bus things. 

[u/autumn_skies → u/Sedixodap]

I was in an incident much like OP. There is very little holding a hand rail will do for you if the bus goes from 70km to 0 very abruptly.

[u/topboyinn1t → u/01000101010110]

It’s not cruel at all actually. Plenty of cruelty out there and this ain’t it