At least one person was injured in an Oklahoma City car accident involving a collision between a school bus containing 10 children and a car. According to a KOCO news report, the school bus accident occurred near Southeast 15th Street and Choctaw Road in Oklahoma City. Officials say the school bus was about to turn left when a car rear-ended it. None of the children were injured, but the driver of the car was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. It is not clear if the bus was using a signal or why the collision occurred.
According to accident statistics gathered by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 1,564 people were killed in school transportation-related crashes between the years 1998 and 2008. Most of the people who lost their lives in those crashes (72 percent) were occupants of other vehicles involved. That does not mean, however, that passengers on school buses cannot or did not suffer fatal injuries. There were 96 crashes over a 10-year period that resulted in the death of at least one school transportation occupant.
Injured victims of school bus accidents, whether they were on the bus or in another vehicle, should contact an attorney right away. There is a short statute of limitations on bus accidents, and once that time has passed, it will not be possible to file a claim. When a claim is filed in time, the at-fault parties – be it the bus driver, bus company, or governmental entity – can be held accountable for damages such as medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other related damages.
The skilled Oklahoma City bus crash injury attorneys at the Maples Law Firm help victims of Oklahoma traffic accidents pursue fair compensation for their losses. We provide free consultations at (405) 705-5050 to anyone who has been injured in an accident.
