City residents, especially those with school-aged children, may be shocked to learn that the City’s public school buses aren’t as safe as they seem. In fact, statistics from the 2011-2012 school year show that New York City school buses were involved in 1,700 accidents that year-that’s five bus accidents per day. These shocking statistics highlight the danger that even the youngest travelers face on New York City streets both during the school year and in the off-season as well.
What’s worse, the accidents resulted in over 900 injuries. And who is to blame? Investigations show that every one of the 1,700 accidents was the fault of the bus driver-the very person that families entrust their little ones with every day. This data doesn’t even encompass all of the school bus accidents where another driver was at fault.
New York City school buses are operated by 50 individual contractors; however, these public bus accidents were not evenly distributed over that group. In fact, the data shows that a certain number of these bus providers logged many more hours (and many more accidents) than others.
To spotlight the danger, consider that Allied Transit Corp. racked up 19 accidents in 2011. That’s seems to be very high considering that the company only covered 34 bus routes in the City. One of the other service providers (Tufaro Transit) which covers a similar number of bus routes only recorded three accidents within the same time frame.
Not all of these accidents were dramatic as they might sound-every accident is reported, no matter how small. But considering the high number of injuries involved, many of them were serious enough to warrant medical attention.
Many parents have witnessed or even reported unsafe action by bus drivers, including Crystal Alfano, whose two special needs children ride the bus every day. New York City parents have the right to seek compensation and damages if their child is injured because of the careless or improper actions of a bus driver. Depending on the circumstances of the accident, the individual driver, the bus company, or even the school district may be held fully or partially responsible for any injuries suffered by a child in their care.
If your child has been injured whether or not your school has acted against the party at fault, your best option may be to contact a qualified attorney and seek professional help immediately. Call the Law Offices of Nussin S. Fogel for a free consultation to learn your rights at or 212-385-1122.