NJ Transit Bus Accidents

If a bus driver, a passenger, a driver of another vehicle, or even NJ Transit as an entity—behaved negligently and their actions led to injury, it may be possible for victims to bring a personal injury lawsuit against the negligent party.

NJ Transit is a major public transit corporation that serves 5,325 square miles and links major points in New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia. A transit company this large is responsible for thousands of trips per day, and unfortunately, accidents can happen as a result of negligence on the road.

Need to Know:

• According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 14,000 people were injured in bus crashes in 2020.
• Under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, you must file a notice of claim within 90 days of an accident to preserve your right to sue.
• Because of common commuter routes between New Jersey and New York, NJ Transit accidents could occur in either state. Even if an NJ Transit bus accident occurs in New York, the company could still be held liable if it can be proved their negligence caused the accident.

When you board a public transit bus, you expect to get to your destination safely. If an accident on the bus results in an injury, you may wonder who is at fault or if anything could have been done to prevent the accident from happening.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an NJ Transit bus accident and don’t know what to do next, the lawyers at Block O’Toole & Murphy can help. Call 212-736-5300 or fill out our contact form to speak to an experienced attorney today.

In This Article:

• What To Do If You Are Injured in an NJ Transit Bus Accident
• Who is Liable for an NJ Transit Bus Accident?
• How to File a Claim Against NJ Transit
• Compensation for Those Injured in NJ Transit Bus Accidents

What To Do If You Are Injured in an NJ Transit Bus Accident

NJ Transit operates 2,221 buses and 253 bus routes, and provides millions of trips for passengers each year. Although the majority of trips go well, sometimes a person’s negligent actions can cause an accident.

If you have been injured in an NJ Transit or other public bus accident, and you believe your injuries were caused by negligence, there are steps you can take to ensure you have the option to bring a claim for damages if you choose. These steps include:

1. Seek medical attention if warranted. If you are injured, consider whether prompt medical attention is appropriate. This is important for a couple of reasons, even if your injuries may not appear to be severe at first blush. First, sometimes injuries that seem minor can turn out to be more severe or get worse if not treated promptly. Second, going to the doctor immediately after the accident means you will have a medical record contemporaneously detailing your injuries that could be used in a potential personal injury claim.
2. Report the accident to NJ Transit. It is important that the company involved in the bus accident has a record of what happened. This could be useful to reference in a future personal injury claim. A failure to report the accident immediately will be used against you later if you decide to bring a case. The attorneys for N.J. Transit will argue that the absence of any report either indicates that you were not injured or that your version of what happened may not be credible.
3. Submit a notice of claim. Because NJ Transit is a public entity that is owned by the state government, accident victims who want to bring a claim against NJ Transit are actually bringing a claim against the state. In order to bring a claim against the state, the injured party needs to submit a notice of claim within 90 days of the accident to notify the state of their intent to sue. Read more about this in the “How to File a Claim Against NJ Transit” section.

Who Is Liable for an NJ Transit Bus Accident?

Public transit companies like NJ Transit are considered “common carriers.” Common carriers serve the general public and are generally held to a high standard of safety; they have a responsibility to protect passengers from harm. Multiple parties could be liable in an NJ Transit bus accident, depending on the details of the accident. Here are a few parties that could be at fault if their negligent actions led to the accident victim’s injuries:

NJ Transit

As a public transportation company and a common carrier, NJ Transit has a responsibility to ensure its passengers travel to and from their destinations safely. The company could be found fully or partially liable if it can be proved that the company’s negligence led to an accident. Although public entities have “sovereign immunity,” — meaning claims cannot usually be brought against them — under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, there are exceptions, and certain personal injury cases can be brought against a public entity like NJ Transit. For example, one of these exceptions states that if an employee of a public entity’s negligent actions caused injury, the injured person could file a claim against the public entity in the same way they would a private citizen.

Another important thing to note is that because of common commuter routes between New Jersey and New York, NJ Transit accidents could occur in either state. Even if an NJ Transit bus accident occurs in New York, the company could still be held liable if it acted negligently.

Bus Driver

NJ Transit bus drivers are trained and experienced drivers. They are expected to get passengers to their destinations safely. If a bus driver does not follow traffic laws or generally drives in an unsafe manner and it results in an accident that injures bus passengers or others, the bus driver could be held responsible.

Because of the common carrier laws mentioned above, NJ Transit would likely be found at least partially responsible for this accident, since they hired a bus driver who behaved negligently. However, because of another legal concept called comparative negligence – a concept which states that two parties can be held liable for the same accident – the bus driver could be found at fault as well.

Another Bus Passenger

In some rarer cases, it is possible that a fellow bus passenger could be found responsible for causing an NJ Transit bus accident. Those circumstances could include purposefully distracting the bus driver, assaulting them, or attempting to take control of the bus.

Driver of Another Vehicle

If the accident occurred because another driver on the road caused a collision with a NJ Transit bus, the driver of the other vehicle could be found largely at fault. In this case, the injured party would likely want to file a report with NJ Transit, but could also submit a claim to the at-fault driver’s insurance company for damages.

How to File a Claim Against NJ Transit

NJ Transit is a public entity, which means they are run by the state government. There are slightly different steps for filing a claim against a municipal company (as opposed to a non-government organization). Below are the steps you need to take to file a claim against NJ Transit:

1. Gather information to submit a notice of claim. Unlike with a non-government organization, a notice of claim is legally required to be submitted to the state agency you wish to file a lawsuit against before actually bringing said lawsuit. There is certain information you must include in this claim, which includes the name and address of the claimant, the date, location, and circumstances of the accident, a general description of the injuries/damages sustained as a result of the accident (if known), the name(s) of the public entity employee who caused the damages, and the estimated amount of damages. Note that the New Jersey Tort Claims Act limits the amount and category of damages that you can claim.
2. Submit the notice of claim within 90 days of the accident. The New Jersey Tort Claims Act requires you to submit a notice of claim (notifying the state of your intent to sue) within 90 days of the accident. If you do not submit this notice within 90 days, you could lose your right to bring a lawsuit.
3. Discuss your case with a qualified personal injury lawyer. The aftermath of a bus accident can be incredibly overwhelming, and gathering the information to submit a notice of claim may feel even more so. A personal injury lawyer can help bus accident victims take the proper steps to file a claim, including when it is against a public entity like NJ Transit.

Compensation for Those Injured in NJ Transit Bus Accidents

It can be difficult to know what to do or where to turn in the aftermath of a bus accident, whether you are the injured person or you are the loved one of someone who was injured. If you believe that another party’s negligence caused your injuries, the bus accident lawyers at Block O’Toole & Murphy are ready to help.

Notable public transit bus accident results include:

• $9,500,000 settlement for a pedestrian who was struck by an NYCTA bus while crossing in the crosswalk, resulting in multiple permanent injuries and amputation of his right leg
• $6,000,000 settlement for a passenger on a city bus who suffered shoulder, knee, and spinal injuries after the bus he was riding collided with another vehicle at an intersection
• $3,450,000 settlement for a man who was walking in a crosswalk when he was hit and dragged by an Access-a-Ride bus, resulting in multiple fractures
• $3,000,000 settlement for a driver who was struck by a turning MTA bus while proceeding with a green light through an intersection
• $2,270,000 verdict for a woman who suffered injuries to her spine and both knees when the NYCTA bus she was riding rear-ended a tanker truck
• $2,200,000 settlement for a 60-year-old woman who suffered low back injuries and ultimately required surgery after she was struck while crossing the street by an NYC Transit bus
• $2,056,656 jury verdict for a pedestrian who suffered ongoing neck and back pain after being struck by a NYCTA bus while crossing the street in Brooklyn
• $1,600,000 settlement for an NYCTA bus passenger who had to undergo two spinal surgeries after the bus she was riding in rear-ended another bus
• $1,500,000 settlement for a man who had briefly stopped to ask for directions while driving in his car and was rear-ended by an MTA bus, resulting in multiple herniated discs that required surgery
• $1,500,000 settlement for a man who was sitting in his legally parked car when it was struck by an NYCTA bus
• $1,400,000 settlement for a woman who ultimately underwent spinal surgeries due to her injuries after the NYCTA bus she was riding in collided with a truck

If you or a loved one has been injured in an NJ Transit bus accident, you may be entitled to compensation. Our attorneys have years of experience handling bus accident cases, including those against municipal companies like NJ Transit. Call 212-736-5300 or fill out our contact form today to speak to a skilled attorney.