CanI take legal action against a school bus system for an injury suffered by my daughter?
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CanI take legal action against a school bus system for an injury suffered by my daughter?
My daughter bent over to pick up her pencil on the bus and hit her head in the side of the seat. It was bleeding so the bus driver told her to go in and get paper towels for the blood. I’mupset because there was something that hurt her bad enough to get a staple in her head and because after hitting her head she was told to go in and get paper towels. No one helped and got them gor her. Is there legal action I can take?
Asked on May 17, 2011 under Personal Injury, Vermont
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
In this case, you probably do not have a lawsuit:
1) First, liability depends on fault--on doing something wrong. The paper towels did not cause the injury or the necessity for a staple; the injury was caused by the bus hitting a bump and causing your daughter, who was bending over, to hit her head. The problem is that unless it is the case that driver was driving at an excessive rate of speed or otherwise carelessly, the bus hitting a bump is not negligence and there is no fault--there simply are bumps in the road, and vehicles them. Moreoever, not only is the driver, without more, probably not at fault, but you daughter was arguably at fault for bending over to pick up a pencil when the bus was in motion.
2) Even if there was fault, you can only recover amounts commensurate with the injury and losses or costs. Given the likely out-of-pocket medical costs you had, and the likely minimal (if any) later scarring and long-lasting effect of a cut and one staple, it is very unlikely that you could sue for enough to make the cost of bringing a legal action worthwhile.
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