On May 9, 2022, our client’s day started just as all had, for every weekday since 1982. She would start her journey with a mile walk to the bus station, that would then take her to a train, where she would then hop on another bus, before ultimately arriving at her workplace.
To many, this journey might sound arduous enough to start a new job search but to our client it was the beginning of the best part of her day. Our client, an immigrant, took tremendous pride in her job, since arriving to this country, and she had created a community within her workplace.
This day, unfortunately, changed all of that overnight. She was on the last leg of that four-part journey, approaching her stop when a violent and abrupt stop caused her to fall to the ground. She suffered a fractured hip and was forced to undergo extensive treatment and therapy.
The bus company denied all fault in the bus accident injury, passing off blame to a car that was attempting to make an improper left-hand turn. After obtaining a video of the occurrence, it was clear to us that the bus driver failed to keep a proper lookout to ensure that no abrupt maneuvers would be necessary. In other words, the potential danger ahead was very predictable, and the abrupt stop itself was highly unnecessary.
Even with the video, the bus company still claimed that the vehicle attempting to make the left was at fault and that our client was also at fault for standing at the time of the stop (even though she was holding on and the video showed more than six passengers standing as they approached the next stop). It was not until we were able to depose the bus driver, and all of the safety managers at that bus company, that the company began to acknowledge their fault.
Through creative and prepared interrogation, we obtained several inconsistencies and statements that had shown that their bus driver failed to keep a proper lookout and respond to predictable dangers in a reasonable manner. This is yet another example of the power skilled litigation can have towards administering justice for this pedestrian accident.
