Syracuse Injury Lawyer Blog
Every parent’s worst nightmare occurred on February 16, 2012, in Burlington County, New Jersey, approximately two hours south of New York City.
According to NJ.com, at around 8:05 a.m. that morning, a school bus being operated by a new driver was struck by a Mack truck. Apparently, the bus had stopped for a stop sign and was inching out around an environmental sight-line obstruction to visualize oncoming traffic. Several kindergarten through 6th grade children were critically injured and one was killed. According to reports, the Mack truck that struck the bus was overloaded with asphalt at the time of the crash.
“Determining who is responsible for this accident will not be simple,” said Syracuse personal injury lawyer Michael Bottar, of Bottar Law, PLLC. Unlike the routine fender-bender car accident, when a crash involves a school bus and a commercial vehicle, there are other factors at play, such as driver training, distractions, vehicle momentum and equipment maintenance. Additional variables include blind spots and difficulty seeing around an environmental obstacle such as a tree, bush, or hill. This is known as a sight-line obstruction. Sometimes an accident like this is are caused by a series of failures, such as inattentive drivers, over-weight vehicles, lack of appropriate safety equipment, and poor roadway maintenance. “I imagine the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate this matter,” Bottar added.
Bottar Law, PLLC has decades of experience investigating complex bus and truck accidents, including tour bus crashes and accidents on the New York State Thruway. Contact us to learn about your rights.