McGills Bus Crash

[Sweetchillichik]

Hi there,

A bus crashed whilst my daughter age 15 was on board due to the drivers bad driving. The window of the bus came in on her head and shattered all over her. The driver then told her to get off the bus and make her own way home. She called me hysterical from just up the road - i advised her to go back to the bus tell them i wanted her checked out and wait for me to get there.

I contacted the police also to attend, as obviously the company were trying to minimise the event.

I as a parent am fuming - she could easily have fainted further up and something much worse happened.

Anyway she basically has a sore head and a bit of whiplash - I want to know what i should do regarding complaining to mcgills and also wether it is worthwhile making a claim for her?

Thanks

[Amethyst]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

It is likely she would have a small personal injury claim but regardless of that certainly you should be making a complaint to the bus company and to the council. The bus driver had a duty of care over your daughter as a passenger on his bus particularly directly following an accident where she may have hit her head. Pretty sure it will part of PSV licencing that incidents are reported etc.

Head Office

McGill's
99 Earnhill Road
Larkfield Estate
Greenock
PA16 0EQ

[Sweetchillichik]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

Thank you Amethyst :-) Would there be any template letters that i could follow to make the complaint?

[Openlaw15]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

Hi there,

A bus crashed whilst my daughter age 15 was on board due to the drivers bad driving. The window of the bus came in on her head and shattered all over her. The driver then told her to get off the bus and make her own way home. She called me hysterical from just up the road - i advised her to go back to the bus tell them i wanted her checked out and wait for me to get there.

I contacted the police also to attend, as obviously the company were trying to minimise the event.

I as a parent am fuming - she could easily have fainted further up and something much worse happened.

Anyway she basically has a sore head and a bit of whiplash - I want to know what i should do regarding complaining to mcgills and also wether it is worthwhile making a claim for her?

Thanks

Sorry to hear about your daughter, I do hope she makes a full recovery. What that driver did was simply disgusting behaviour! I have provided my assessment on the limited facts.

Personal injury claims:

Head jury; whiplash claim; pain and suffering throughout period of crash including hospital treatment, are all potential claims on the brief facts. Make sure your daughter goes to hospital urgently for medical treatment/ assessment. Head injuries need to be checked no matter what. An ambulance should be called, as this stage there is no way of knowing what other injuries have occurred.

Negligence

Unless there was a danger to her life the bus driver is simply negligent (breach of his duty of care) for demanding your minor aged (15 year old daughter) to leave the bus. However, it's not known about whether the shattered glass would have posed an issue. Nevertheless, it is foreseeable that your daughters injuries could be worsened if she moved away from the scene where she is already injured.

Driving: professional driver standard

Without knowing all the facts it would seem a bus driver in those circumstances is seriously negligent. A bus requires much longer to stop than a car so it would seem the bus driver was driving too close to the vehicle in front, even if the vehicle in front slammed on a professional driver is expected to anticipate this in advance. The fact that the windscreen came through indicates that it was possibly a crash with a larger vehicle than a car, as a buses are generally higher off the ground and drivers seating positions are designed to be higher than cars to have better road safety/ observation, seeing several cars ahead and taking action etc.

Duty

The professional driver simply owes a duty to all his passengers for their safety and after crashes where he is not in shock etc he must do all he can as what would be expected from equivalent bus drivers, were they in his situation. He has to ensure the passengers are safe, and in those circumstances to call the emergency services if he is able to, ie not in shock. I do not know why he told your daughter to leave the bus unless there was a greater risk or an immediate danger to her life by staying on the bus, it makes no sense. What about other passengers on the bus, surely there's lots of witnesses, right? The driver will likely be fired if he was dangerous driving, as the professional driver has very high threshold of driving competence expected from him. If his driving was dangerous he will like to be charged with a criminal offence too.

The police will likely arrest the driver either on the scene if the negligence is obvious, or on any complaints from your daughter or from any witnesses who had witness the crash happen. As you called the police the driver will likely be arrested (cautioned). The hospital (when your daughter goes) will automatically pass the details of your daughter's injury to personal injury lawyers' companies.

[Tools]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

The hospital (when your daughter goes) will automatically pass the details of your daughter's injury to personal injury lawyers' companies.

Really ?

[nemesis45]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

Really ?[/COLOR]

NO of course they wont!

[Openlaw15]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

Yes, really. They're not supposed to do it but the doctors get commission for providing the personal injury solicitors with work. Unless things have changed since I studied tort...this practice was normal. I can provide anecdotal evidence too where this practice extends to insurance companies and third parties. I bin wagon hit my car which was outside my home several years ago, albeit I was not in the car. So there were no claims made for personal injuries by self. I only told the insurance company of the events. Afterwards and for several years later up to the 6 year period for torts (excluding personal injury), I was receiving many calls from personal injuries' lawyers telling me I could make personal injury claims.

[Amethyst]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

Doctors are not on commission from Personal Injury companies. Do you think maybe it could have been your insurance company passing on your data rather than the hospital?

http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethic...ance/21161.asp
http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethic...ance/28422.asp

There appears to have been an investigation by the GMC into an unsubstantiated allegation that a Doctor was making referrals to a PI company back in 2009 but he was cleared.

[Amethyst]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

Thank you Amethyst :-) Would there be any template letters that i could follow to make the complaint?

Sorry the slight detour

I don't think a template letter is appropriate in this case. Simply outline to the CEO of the bus company exactly what happened clearly detailing the date, time and route your daughter was on.

[Openlaw15]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

Thank you Amethyst :-) Would there be any template letters that i could follow to make the complaint?

McGillis seems like a small company as opposed to Arriva for example. They have likely put a tender in to cover certain routes which undercut competition from other companies. They therefore likely pay their drivers very poorly compared with Arriva. The problem is that there are two sets of driver rules for bus drivers there are normally 45 minute 30 minutes rest breaks from daily driving periods. However there is a controversial law that the Tories brought in to benefit National Express coach company in the 1970s. The law is so vague that dodgy companies use it to exploit drivers, which could mean that the drivers actually have no proper rest break which means they're dangerous. if what I think has happened is true the company (indirectly liable..ie vicariously) as well as the driver could be sued potentially for negligence. This is why it needs to go to a good personal injury lawyer specialist...as these types of issues could lie at the heart of the problems.

[Sweetchillichik]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

Sorry the slight detour

I don't think a template letter is appropriate in this case. Simply outline to the CEO of the bus company exactly what happened clearly detailing the date, time and route your daughter was on.

Hmm ok and what about making a small personal claim? How do i do that for her?

[Amethyst]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

The best way is to get in contact with a DECENT specialist PI firm that run on a no win no fee basis. ie. not a 'wemakeanyclaim.com' type firm but a good solicitors firm - You're in Scotland I think ? so best to start by having a chat with CAB - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/sc...al-injuries-s/

This is the Scotland find a solicitor site http://www.lawscot.org.uk/find-a-solicitor/

[Openlaw15]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

Hmm ok and what about making a small personal claim? How do i do that for her?

Whiplash for injury to neck affecting a 3 month period, is approx. £1250/ 1500, the more serious the injury the higher it will be on the scale. A good personal injury lawyer should be able to start with £1250 at the least. I believe the maximum is generally around the £5000 mark. The opponent's insurance will make low offers but do not accept them. What about back injuries? It just depends on the type of injury. What about the glass in face, head? Can you tell us more about that. What about her hobbies, her interests are these affected, if so these are also claims. Pain and suffering is an interesting claim and she could make a claim for this too. Do contact a personal injury lawyer, not a legal clerk, not paralegal, you want to speak to an experienced lawyer. A legal executive (like a solicitor) is good point of contact too. The compensation amounts for Scotland should be similar to England/ Wales, Northern Ireland's compensation scales.

[Openlaw15]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

Hmm ok and what about making a small personal claim? How do i do that for her?

You have to prove that the incident happened and the only way to do that would be if your daughter were taken to hospital, where she can get x-rayed for her injuries. Reporting the incident to the company is not proof. Photographs of the injuries immediate are excellent for evidential purposes. This is likely what the lawyer will request as you simply need evidence, he may even suggest that she sees her GP whom may then refer her to specialists (if they're needed). This needs to be done urgently. It's so easy for a defendant to argue there could have been so many opportunities for her injury to worsen that any potential claims again them are too vague, ie she may have over-strained in school sports' exercise. You have to be really shrewd and act immediately.

[nemesis45]

Re: McGills Bus Crash

You have to prove that the incident happened and the only way to do that would be if your daughter were taken to hospital, where she can get x-rayed for her injuries. Reporting the incident to the company is not proof. Photographs of the injuries immediate are excellent for evidential purposes. This is likely what the lawyer will request as you simply need evidence, he may even suggest that she sees her GP whom may then refer her to specialists (if they're needed). This needs to be done urgently. It's so easy for a defendant to argue there could have been so many opportunities for her injury to worsen that any potential claims again them are too vague, ie she may have over-strained in school sports' exercise. You have to be really shrewd and act immediately.

A bus a public service vehicle crashed such incidents are recorded and investigated very carefully.

I know from experience my son is a bus driver and he had a very minor scrape with a car, he was taken off the road immediately
and had to have a full medical examination. Proving the incident happened will not be difficult.
nem