Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
A Fort Myers school bus accident sent an elementary school student and a driver to the hospital this week, after a ladder fell out of a van and into the path of the bus.
The News-Press reported that the driver and a 6-year-old boy were transported to Lee Memorial Hospital for treatment.
The 68-year-old driver of the van was headed north on Hart Road in the area of Forest Park Drive when the ladder came loose from the van’s roof. The ladder fell into the path of the bus. The Florida Highway Patrol cited the van’s driver for hauling an unsecured load.
School bus accident cases can be complicated by multiple victims, competing claims and multiple defendants and insurance companies. In this case, at-fault parties may include the van’s owner and driver, as well as its insurance carrier, any umbrella liability policy that may be in place if the van is a commercial vehicle owned by a business, and the school bus owner and/or school district and their insurance carriers.
An experienced Fort Myers accident attorney should be consulted whenever a child is seriously injured on school property, including sports injuries, assault and transportation accidents. Child injury and recovery may be complicated by growth and other factors. In other cases, the full extent of injuries may not be readily apparent for weeks or even months after injury.
The National Coalition for School Bus Safety reports more than 26,000 school bus accidents have occurred over the last decade, resulting in more than 7,000 injuries.
An average of 19 students are killed in bus accidents each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Many of those involve pedestrian accidents as students board or deboard.
Bus accidents can also pose serious risk to other motorists on the road. Like semis, school buses frequently weigh many times the weight of a 3,500 pound passenger car. Their large size and height also leave them mismatched with the bumpers of many passenger vehicles. In such cases, the occupants of a passenger vehicle are often at greatest risk.
Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, is a law firm dedicated to representing accident victims in personal injury and wrongful death claims throughout South Florida, including Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Port Charlotte and Sebring. Call for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights. 1-800-283-2900.
