Shelby County School Bus Wreck: Legal Rights of Victims

Just yesterday, news outlets began reporting that a Shelby County Schools (SCS) bus wrecked after the driver veered outside of her lane of travel and struck a commercial truck.  There were 20 students on the bus who had just been picked up from Bolton High School and news reports indicate that as many as 11 people were injured in the crash. The driver of the school bus was taken to Regional One Hospital and the injured students were taken to LeBonheur Hospital.

After such a shocking and tragic event, many people wonder who can be held responsible and to what extent.  The answer depends on several factors.

Was the School Bus Driver at Fault?

The first step to understanding who is responsible is determining whether the bus driver is at fault.  If the bus driver broke the rules of the road by veering out of her lane of traffic, thus causing the crash, then she and her employer can be held accountable, at least to some extent.  However, if these are not the facts and if the wreck was caused in full or in part by someone else’s negligence, then the bus driver and her employer may not be responsible at all, or may at least not be responsible for all of the harm and injuries.

Was the School Bus Being Operated by a Private Company or by the School System?

The next crucial factor in determining the extent to which the victims could recover in this case depends on whether the school system operated the bus or a private contracting company operated the bus.  If the school bus was operated by the school system, then there are limits to what the injured student could collect due to the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act (TGTLA).  Under this law, no single victim would be allowed to recover more than $300,000 and the most Shelby County Schools would have to pay for all of the victims is $700,000.

If the school bus was being operated by a private bus company who contracted with the school system to operate the routes, then the TGTLA limits on recovery list above would not apply.  However, Tennessee’s statutory cap on damages would still apply to limit the amount of money one could collect in a lawsuit.

Do You Have Questions or Concerns?

Having handled cases against school systems and bus companies, I understand that each case is different and that you may have questions that are not answered by this blog post.  Therefore, if you do have questions, please call me at 901-680-9777 for a free consultation or fill out a contact form and someone will contact you soon.