With school beginning or just around the corner for Baltimore children, it is a chaotic time of the year. The fun of summer is now over, and children and parents alike must adjust to the new school schedule. For many, the school day begins by catching the city or school bus. While parents trust that their kids will get to school safely on the bus, this is unfortunately not always the case.
For instance, a transit bus was recently involved in an accident with a car that left seven individuals with injuries serious enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. Six of those hurt were adults, while one was a child. The accident left damage to both the Ford hatchback vehicle and the bus involved.
When bus accident injuries occur to passengers, those injured may be left wondering how to seek compensation for their injuries when the accident was caused by the negligence of a driver or another individual. This is particularly true when child injury is involved, as the child and the family may be looking for some recourse and assistance in dealing with the child’s injuries.
Fortunately, the law provides a means of allowing those who are injured to receive compensation for their injuries. Moreover, when the injury was caused by one who was acting within his or her employment at the time, such as a bus driver, the injured parties may also be able to seek compensation from the employer.
Employers are typically liable for the acts of their employees when those acts were committed in the course of employment. Thus, for a bus driver, driving the bus down the road is an act in the scope of employment by a school or the city, and therefore those entities might be held accountable for the driver’s negligent driving. This is vitally important because it can ensure that not only will a party be held accountable for the negligence, but also that those injured receive the full amount of damages awarded.