According to the US Department of Transportation (US DOT), the number of bus crashes has climbed in recent years. In the United States as a whole, there were 13,195 accidents involving buses in 2007 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), up from 8,555 in 2003. In those same five years, 1,651 people died in bus crashes.
These statistics are all the more tragic given that it is very easy to check a charter bus company’s safety record. And poor safety records have been correlated to a higher number of accidents in study after study.
So, how can you check a charter bus company’s US Department of Transportation safety score?
- Get the company’s US DOT number. You can get the number by calling the company and asking for it, or it is written on the side of every bus. Going by the company name can be a bit trickier, since many companies have similar names, and some may have different operating names than their official registered name.
- Go to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Website, where you can check a company’s rating and SafeStat score.
- If you still have concerns, contact the carrier directly and ask them pointed questions about their safety record.
- Check out safety, pricing and customer ratings at busrates.com.
- Get more advice on selecting a carrier by visiting the United Motorcoach Association website.
Selecting a carrier with a good safety record won’t guarantee that you won’t be involved in a serious bus accident, but it will help minimize the chances.
If you or a loved one is involved in a bus accident that causes death or serious injury, call Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm. We are one of the leading catastrophic injury firms in the state of California. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.2 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a $7 million settlement for a cyclist who was left with a traumatic brain injury after being struck by a newspaper delivery truck, and a $7.25 million settlement in a case when a man was run over trying to board a city bus in Orange County, California.
Our success in litigating and negotiating personal injury cases comes from our uncommon approach; we handle each personal injury case as though it were a complex business litigation case, attacking it from every angle possible. While our firm is located in Orange County, California, we handle serious personal injury, wrongful death and product liability cases nationwide.
If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of a tour bus accident, please contact our California law firm for expert legal counsel.
