Residents of major cities such as New York rely on public transportation to get them where they need to go. The millions of trips that are taken every day on New York’s subways and buses are safe and completed uneventfully. On rare occasions, however, accidents and injuries do occur. A recent incident in Brooklyn highlights the risks of injury that can happen while riding public transit. If you have been the victim of an accident involving an MTA vehicle or private bus, contact a New York MTA attorney.
The bus was struck by a Camaro at an intersection in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Two people in the Camaro were fleeing police when they ran a stop sign and broadsided the bus, injuring at least 38 passengers. All were taken to areas hospitals for treatment and 12 of the bus passengers were seriously injured.
MTA Bus Accidents can be particularly dangerous
Although it is not clear how many passengers were on the bus at the time of the collision, it seems that the number of injured people was quite high. This can be attributed to the fact that public transit passengers do not generally have the same safety equipment available as occupants of private automobiles. The lack of seat belts on MTA buses, for example, can result in aggravated injuries to unrestrained riders. An additional factor that can compound the risk to riders is the lack of padding on many surfaces inside buses.
Another aspect of bus design that can cause problems are the limited number of exits (many buses only have two standard and two emergency exits). If these exits are damaged or made inoperable by an accident, medical personnel may be delayed in reaching injured passengers and providing treatment. In the Brooklyn accident on emergency personnel were forced to use the “jaws of life” to retrieve injured people from the scene.
Contact a Brooklyn Personal Injury Attorney
What can you do if you were injured in an MTA bus accident? If you were the victim of an accident due to another’s negligence or fault, you may be entitled to file a legal claim for compensation. If you have questions about an injury or want further information, you should contact NYC MTA personal injury lawyer Jeffrey K. Kestenbaum. He is knowledgeable about the claim process and will fight to get you the compensation you deserve. Call us at 718-237-5586 for a free case review.
