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Bus Accidents in New Jersey

In densely populated areas like northeastern New Jersey, the more people use the public bus system to get around. As the demand grows, so do the number of buses on the roads and the places people want them to go.

Unfortunately, with more buses on the road, that also means that there will be more bus accidents, as well. These crashes can hurt anyone who has the misfortune to be involved, whether they were on the bus at the time of the crash, were an innocent pedestrian, or were driving a personal car that got hit. Bus accidents, unlike crashes that only involve cars, tend to not only be very serious but may also implicate local governments, making any personal injury lawsuit you file tricky.

Buses in New Jersey

New Jersey Transit is the organization that runs the public transportation in the northern New Jersey area. According to their site, their bus system boasts 2,027 buses on 236 routes, providing millions of rides every year.

While most of NJ Transit's system is centered in the Hudson Valley area around Newark and Jersey City, routes extend westward as far as Easton and as far northward as Sussex and even across the state border to the New York town of Warwick.

In addition to NJ Transit, numerous private corporations provide bus service in and around New York City and the New Jersey area. These companies, like Peter Pan, MegaBus, or Greyhound, are different because they do not receive significant amounts of tax dollars to run.

The Problem of Bus Accidents

If you are involved in a bus accident, the odds of you getting hurt are significant because of the sheer size of the vehicles. Buses typically weigh around 30,000 pounds, or ten times a regular passenger vehicle. Even though public transportation buses rarely drive at high speeds on city roads or venture onto the highways of New Jersey, the weight of buses often make any crash they get involved in a serious one.

Private coach buses, though, spend nearly all of their time on the highways, traveling at 60mph or higher. Accidents involving these vehicles are frequently fatal.

Lawsuits for Injuries Suffered in Bus Accidents

If you get hurt in a bus accident and want to file a personal injury lawsuit to recover compensation for your losses, the main factor in your case will be whether the bus was owned by a public agency, like NJ Transit, or a private company, like Greyhound.

Lawsuits against public agencies have numerous procedural hurdles to overcome, because any compensation that you stand to receive would come from taxpayers' money, and the government wants to protect against that from happening. However, just because there are additional obstacles to overcome does not mean that it is impossible to get compensation for injuries you suffered at the hands of a NJ Transit bus. After all, if you were hurt because of someone else's fault, it is only just that you get compensated for your losses.

New Jersey Bus Accident Attorneys Can Help

If you or someone you love has been hurt in a bus accident in New Jersey, you need legal representation to make sure you get the financial help you need to make a full recovery. The personal injury lawyers at the law office of Lavery, Selvaggi & Cohen will fight for your rights and interests both in and out of the courtroom to ensure you get the compensation you deserve. Contact us online or call our law office at (908) 852-2600.

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