New York City Bus Accident Lawyer

How to Get Help After a Bus Accident Causes Severe Injury

Video Transcripts:

Sonna Goldstein: 

A lot of people traveling, and unfortunately, that leads to a lot of accidents on the road involving buses.

Tom Mustin: 

If you're riding a bus that gets into a crash, what should you do? And can you receive compensation if you're injured? Well, we're gonna find out right now on this episode of Ask The Lawyer. Hello, I'm Tom Mustin with askthelawyers.com, and my guest is New York City Attorney Sonna Goldstein. And I wanna remind you, right at the top, if you'd like to ask Sonna any questions about one of your situations, just go to askthelawyers.com, click the button there at the top that says, "Ask A Lawyer," and it will walk you through a very simple process. Or of course, you can always call the phone number you see there at the top of the screen. Sonna, great to see you, and thank you for helping us out.

Sonna Goldstein: 

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Tom Mustin: 

So how common are injuries or accidents involving injuries with city buses?

Sonna Goldstein: 

Well, as you can imagine, in a big city of New York where public transportation sort of reign supreme, bus accidents happen very often. The buses run the gamut all through the city, the borrows, day and night, a lot of people traveling. And unfortunately, that leads to a lot of accidents on the road involving buses.

Tom Mustin: 

And Sonna, I would think just because of the size of the buses that some of the injuries could be severe?

Sonna Goldstein: 

That is very true. The weight of a bus in and of itself being in an accident brings to light the possibility of a much more severe injury, whether somebody is seated on a bus and there's no seat belts, if there's some sort of short stop, or an accident with another vehicle, a passenger is thrown, they're gonna strike something most likely that could be metal. If they're a passenger who's standing on the bus, the force of any kind of impact, or again, an abrupt short stop by a driver can send somebody having a significant impact with something that's gonna cause damage to their body.

Tom Mustin: 

So Sonna, who could be held responsible in case of this accident? Would it be the bus driver, the city, or someone else?

Sonna Goldstein: 

Well, yes, the bus driver is certainly responsible for his or her actions. The transit authority, which is the most common, or MaBSTOA, in New York, as the owner and the employer are ultimately responsible for their employee's actions, assuring that that employee is operating buses following rules and regulations. So typically, New York City Transit Authority and the operators.

Tom Mustin: 

Okay. So tell us what the advantages are of hiring a firm like yours when it comes to cases like these?

Sonna Goldstein: 

Yes. Well, when you are involved in an accident that you're looking to sue the New York City Transit Authority, there are very strict, short timelines, a lot different than a standard car accident case. In the first instance, a notice of claim must be filed immediately. If that form is not timely filed, somebody forever foregoes their right to sue the New York City Transit Authority. The other document that immediately needs to be filed involves a no-fault benefits application. Again, if that form does not get filed timely, you forever lose your right to have your medical bills paid for by the transit authority under the no-fault law, and any lost wages that you may be entitled to, you're gonna lose out on. And that's just the beginning. There's a lot of immediate documents that we understand the transit authority is going to have, and we immediately wanna get from them, and because we're experienced, we know how to get them. We know what to ask for. We know that dispatchers are immediately called to scene and typically photographs are taken. There's interviews, witness statements, all these things that right away, we know to get our hands on for our clients. And ultimately giving our clients a sense of sort of peace that they can go ahead, focus on their treatment and their recovery, and they know that we are working for them right from the get-go, and that all these technicalities will be addressed on their behalf.

Tom Mustin: 

Well, a lot of great information, Sonna. We really appreciate you joining us today. Thank you so much.

Sonna Goldstein: 

Thank you. Appreciate the time. Have a great day.

Tom Mustin:

And that'll do it for this episode of Ask The Lawyer. My guest has been New York City Attorney Sonna Goldstein. If you wanna ask questions about your situation, go to askthelawyers.com, click the button at the top that says, "Ask A Lawyer," and it'll walk you through a very simple process. Thank you for watching. I'm Tom Mustin for askthelawyers.com.

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