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Manchester Bus Accident Lawyer

When you step onto a bus in Manchester, you expect to reach your destination safely. You probably are not thinking about the driver’s decisions, the bus’s condition, or the other vehicles sharing the road. After a crash, those details can suddenly matter while you are also trying to manage injuries and make sense of an accident you had little control over. It can be even more frustrating when your child is injured in a school bus accident.

You don’t have to sort through everything on your own. A Manchester bus accident lawyer at Rob Levine Law can help you understand what happened, how the accident has affected your life, and what options you have for moving forward. Our team can investigate the crash, deal with the parties involved, and pursue compensation for your losses while you focus on recovering.

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What to Do After a Manchester Bus Accident

After a bus accident, prioritize your health. Seek immediate medical attention, even if you don’t think you’ve been seriously injured. Some injuries are not immediately apparent, but symptoms can develop over time.

Your next steps can be important, because evidence may begin to disappear long before you know whether you will need it. Report the accident and obtain a copy of the police report once it becomes available.

If you were a passenger, preserve anything that can help establish when and where you were riding. Useful evidence may include:

  • Fare receipts: Keep your ticket, transfer, transit pass information, or other record showing that you were aboard the bus.
  • Route information: Write down the route, approximate time, direction of travel, and where the accident occurred.
  • Photographs and video: Save images of the bus interior, your position inside the vehicle, the accident scene, visible vehicle damage, and your injuries.
  • Witness information: Other passengers may leave the scene quickly, making names and contact information especially valuable.
  • Medical records: Documentation of your diagnosis and treatment can help connect your injuries to the accident.

A Manchester personal injury lawyer can also work to preserve evidence you may not be able to obtain yourself, including available onboard video, transit records, and information about the driver and vehicle involved.

Who May Be Responsible for a Bus Accident?

While bus drivers are often responsible for a bus accident, another party’s actions or omissions may have caused or contributed to the crash. Liability after an accident depends on the unique circumstances, and it is often necessary to investigate to determine what happened and whose actions contributed to your injuries.

For example, an MTA bus traveling through Manchester’s Millyard District could be struck by a distracted driver of another vehicle who improperly changed lanes. In that situation, the other motorist may be responsible for the passengers’ injuries even though they were hurt while riding the bus.

Responsibility can also extend beyond the drivers involved. Depending on the circumstances, the company or entity operating the bus, a maintenance provider, or another party may share liability. More than one party can also be responsible for the same accident.

Passengers, Pedestrians, and Other Drivers May Have Different Claims

The same bus accident can lead to very different claims depending on where you were when it happened. A passenger may not have seen what caused a sudden stop, while a pedestrian or another driver may have watched the events unfold. Your position can affect the questions that need to be answered and the information available to answer them.

Who you wereWhat may matter to your claimWhere helpful information may come from
A bus passengerWhether you were aboard the bus, what caused its sudden movement or collision, and how you were injuredFare records, onboard video, transit records, and other passengers
A pedestrian near a stopWhere you were positioned and what the bus or another vehicle did before you were injuredNearby camera footage, the crash report, and bystander accounts
Another motoristHow the collision unfolded and what each driver did leading up to the impactVehicle damage, scene photographs, camera footage, and independent witnesses

These differences can also affect who may be responsible for your damages from a bus accident. A passenger could have a claim arising from the bus driver’s actions or another motorist’s negligence, while a pedestrian or driver may need to determine whether the bus operator, another vehicle, or multiple parties contributed to the accident.

New Hampshire's 25-Foot Rule for School Buses

New Hampshire law gives children getting on and off school buses special protection from traffic. When a properly identified school bus stops on a roadway to receive or discharge children, drivers approaching from either direction generally must stop at least 25 feet from the bus and remain stopped until the bus begins moving again or its flashing red lights stop operating.

For instance, suppose a child is stepping off a school bus on South Willow Street when another driver ignores the flashing lights and strikes the child. The driver’s failure to comply with the law serves as important evidence of their fault.

A traffic violation does not automatically establish every element of a personal injury claim, and a school bus accident can result from a range of causes. Still, the 25-foot requirement provides a clear standard for evaluating what an approaching driver should have done while children were boarding or exiting.

How Long Do You Have to File a Bus Accident Claim in Manchester?

New Hampshire’s statute of limitations generally gives you three years to bring a personal injury action. If the injury and its connection to the accident are not immediately apparent, the discovery rule pauses the three-year filing period until the victims discover or reasonably should have learned of the harm and its causal connection.

A bus accident claim against a governmental unit also has additional requirements. For claims governed by New Hampshire’s governmental-liability statute, written notice generally must be sent to the clerk of the governmental unit by registered mail within 60 days of the injury. The notice identifies information, including when and where the injury occurred. These additional requirements make it particularly important to determine who operated the bus as soon as possible after the accident.

Why Choose Rob Levine Law for Your Manchester Bus Accident Case?

As a bus passenger, you may experience the impact of a crash without ever seeing what caused it. You might leave knowing the route you were on and where you were hurt, but not which driver caused the accident, who operated the bus, or where your claim should begin. You do not need to find those answers on your own. Rob Levine Law is here for you when you need us most.

For more than 25 years, we have helped over 50,000 people navigate injury and disability claims, recovering more than $2 billion in compensation and benefits. We have earned a reputation for tirelessly pursuing justice for injured accident victims, providing aggressive legal representation while adhering to the strictest ethical standards.

We are also transparent about the costs of working with us. We handle personal injury cases on a standard 33% contingency fee, reduced to 25% for first responders, including police, fire, rescue, and military personnel. Win or No Fee™, the Fee Free Guarantee®. You’ll pay us nothing unless we recover compensation for you.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a bus accident, call (888) 791-9135 or contact us online for a free consultation.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What If the Bus Driver Says Another Driver Caused the Crash?

The bus driver’s account alone does not determine who is legally responsible. All of the evidence must be weighed to determine whether another motorist caused the collision or whether the bus driver’s actions contributed. In addition, more than one party may share responsibility. Video footage, witness accounts, vehicle damage, and other evidence can establish what actually caused the crash.

Yes. A passenger can be injured when a bus brakes suddenly, turns sharply, or makes another unexpected movement, even without a collision. Whether you have a claim depends on why the movement occurred and whether someone’s negligence caused your injuries.

You may be able to pursue compensation on their behalf for medical expenses and other harm caused by the accident. Helping your child after an accident begins with getting appropriate medical care, particularly because children often have difficulty describing symptoms or pain after a crash. A Manchester school bus accident lawyer can investigate whether the school bus driver, another motorist, the bus operator, or another party may be responsible.

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Office Location

Manchester, NH

103 Liberty Street, Manchester, NH 03104

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