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Chicago Greyhound Bus Accident Lawyer
If you or a loved one was injured in a Greyhound accident in Chicago, a Greyhound bus accident lawyer from Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can help you hold the bus company accountable and recover the compensation you deserve.
Greyhound buses regularly operate throughout Chicago and Illinois, with routes stopping at Chicago Union Station, 95th/Dan Ryan, and Downtown Peoria. Unfortunately, when accidents happen, passengers, pedestrians, and drivers can suffer severe injuries and often without warning.
Greyhound bus accidents occur much more frequently than most people even realize. There are more than two Greyhound bus accidents each month. Of the 69 recorded accidents in two years, two of these bus crashes caused fatalities.
Recent Bus Accident Settlements Involving Major Intercity Carriers
Our Chicago bus accident lawyers have successfully represented numerous clients injured in bus accidents involving major intercity carriers. Notable recent settlements include:
- A $2,730,000 recovery for a bicyclist struck by a bus making a left turn
- A $1,000,000 settlement secured for a pedestrian hit in a crosswalk.
- A $450,000 settlement was obtained for a passenger injured after being thrown from his seat during a bus crash.
Common Causes of Bus Accidents
The most common causes of Greyhound bus accidents are as follows:
- Drug and alcohol use
- Bus driver fatigue
- Distracted driving
- Speeding
- Driver error or negligence
- Dangerous road conditions
- Poor bus maintenance
Where Do Greyhound Bus Accidents Happen In Chicago?
Greyhound buses run along I-55, I-57, I-90/94, and I-290, making crashes more likely near congested areas such as Chicago Union Station, the 95th Street CTA Red Line Station, Midway Airport, Cicero Avenue, or interstate exits near Peoria. Contact a bus accident attorney after any injury.
Your Legal Options Following a Greyhound Bus Accident
The Greyhound bus accident lawyers at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can help victims file a civil lawsuit against the party responsible for their serious injuries. Some of the types of bus accident cases we help with include the following:
- Pedestrians or bicyclists hit by Greyhound buses
- Passengers injured in a Greyhound bus accident
- Other drivers hit by a Greyhound bus
Greyhound is a common carrier under Illinois law and is held to a higher legal standard under 740 ILCS 25.
If the bus was traveling between states (common for Greyhound), your case may involve federal safety regulations as well as Illinois civil law.
Some Greyhound-related lawsuits may involve venue choices between Cook County or federal court, depending on case complexity. A Rosenfeld Greyhound bus injury lawyer can help clients navigate this distinction.
Why You Need a Greyhound Bus Accident Attorney
Dealing with the expenses involved in your recovery can be expensive and difficult to manage on your own. This is why many bus accident victims turn to filing lawsuits to collect compensation that will help pay for those expenses.
Hiring a Greyhound bus crash attorney from Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can make handling a personal injury lawsuit much easier and less stressful for you, as you can simply focus on your recovery while your attorney deals with the details of filing a lawsuit.
A Greyhound bus accident lawyer may be able to collect higher amounts of compensation for you that can help with your recovery. Our legal team has the experience and resources needed to make sure that you are represented fairly in any negotiations or legal actions.
This includes negotiating settlements with the company or an insurance company, both of which have a vested interest in paying you as little as possible.
Determining Eligibility for a Greyhound Bus Accident Lawsuit
When you file a lawsuit for a bus accident, there are four things that your lawyer must prove in your case:
- Duty of care: The other party had a duty of care
- Dereliction of duty: There was a breach of duty or a show of negligence from the other party
- Damages: You suffered damages
- Direct causation: Those damages were caused by their negligence
Your lawyer builds the case around these four concepts to show that you deserve compensation for damages that you suffered because of someone else. If your lawyer is successful, you win the case and can be awarded damages based on the extent of the injuries that you suffered.
Liability for Greyhound Bus Accident Cases
Greyhound bus accident cases revolve around liability—the legal responsibility someone has when their actions cause harm. Your lawyer must identify who is legally responsible for your injuries and damages in bus accident cases. Because bus accidents can be complex, determining liability often involves multiple parties.
In Greyhound bus accidents, potentially responsible parties include:
Bus drivers
The bus company (Greyhound Lines, Inc.)
Other motorists
Passengers
Third parties (such as maintenance companies)
Examples of negligence leading to liability include a bus company failing to properly vet or supervise drivers with prior safety violations or overworking bus drivers, which can cause fatigue-related crashes on busy Illinois highways like I-94 and I-57.
Liability in Greyhound crashes can also stem from poor bus maintenance such as brake failure incidents near the Dan Ryan Expressway, or inadequate crowd control at Illinois Greyhound stops, resulting in pedestrian injuries.
Your lawyer will thoroughly evaluate your case to pinpoint exactly who is responsible.
Damages a Greyhound Accident Lawyer Can Help You Recover
Each of the damage claims in your lawsuit falls into one of three specific categories. These categories can use different methods to calculate how much compensation a claim is worth.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are based on damages with defined costs. Medical bills are a perfect example: your lawyer can submit receipts for any medical expenses that you have related to the accident. Other types of economic damages include the following:
Damaged clothes or personal items, like a cell phone
Ongoing medical treatments, like physical therapy
Lost wages from missing work
Mental health issues from dealing with the impact of the accident
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are damages that do not have a fixed cost. There is no bill or defined amount of money associated with the damages, which means the judge has to determine how much to award in compensation. Common non-economic damages include the following:
Emotional trauma
Disability
Disfigurement
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are awarded when a judge feels that the at-fault party was so irresponsible that they deserve punishment to deter them from acting the same way in the future.
For example, when a bus company has bus accidents that result in significant injuries because of negligence, or if the company has a history of poor decisions that consistently prioritize making money over passenger safety, a judge may decide to award punitive damages.
Fatal Greyhound Bus Crashes
Fortunately, there are some cases where a bus passenger suffers spinal cord injuries, broken bones, or other serious injuries in a Greyhound bus accident and does not survive. Their family can file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover compensation for damages related to the victim’s passing to compensate for:
Lost financial support from the deceased
Final expenses
Pain and suffering
Dealing with a wrongful death lawsuit can be especially difficult, given the impact on the family. Having a free consultation with a Chicago wrongful death claim lawyer from our team is the easiest way to approach the situation to find out what you should do next or to get the help that you need.
The Time Limit for Filing a Bus Accident Injury Claim.
It is important to contact a Greyhound bus accident attorney as soon as possible. The statute of limitations (735 ILCS 5/13-202) dictates the time you have to file your claim with the Illinois court system. Every type of case has a statute of limitations that says exactly how long you have before the courts will not accept your lawsuit.
In Illinois, the statute of limitations for bus accidents, which qualify as personal injury cases, is two years from the date of the accident. That means you have two years to file your case with the court system, or you lose your ability to file claims at all.
Why Hire Our Greyhound Bus Accident Lawyers
Two years may sound like a lot of time, but in some cases, it is not nearly enough. You need a legal team that works fast to deliver results. The legal team at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can review your case and help you decide what the best course of action is for you. We offer a free consultation so that we can take a deep look at your case and help you decide what to do next.
Evidence Collection to Support Your Greyhound Bus Accident Case
One of the most detailed parts of any case is collecting evidence. We send out a team to collect evidence from a wide range of sources, including medical specialists and law enforcement. We can even consult with expert witnesses to build your case. The quality and quantity of the evidence gathered play a crucial role in maximizing the amount of compensation you receive.
One area where many people experience problems is calculating damages and compensation.
Every damage you suffer needs to have a claim filed for it, and one of the problems that we see often is that damages are left unclaimed. This limits how much compensation you can collect, and you may find yourself struggling financially since you didn’t collect all of the compensation that you needed.
We work hard to make sure that all of your costs are accurately represented and included—including long-term care costs that most people don’t think about—so that you are financially protected in the short and long term.
Insurance companies often offer settlements that underpay what you deserve. We negotiate with insurance companies to make sure that you are fairly compensated by the insurance company and are not pressured to just accept whatever they offer.
While a large percentage of cases are settled out of court, there is always the chance that your case will go to trial. That means that you need skilled representation to ensure that you are adequately represented.
The team at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers has experience representing cases at trial for people in your exact situation. We will take your case to trial if a satisfactory settlement that meets your needs cannot be reached beforehand.
Book a Free Consultation
Dealing with the aftermath of a Greyhound bus accident can take a lot of time and effort. Make sure that you have the legal assistance from a Chicago personal injury lawyer to get the compensation that you deserve.
Contact Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers for a free consultation by calling us at (888) 424-5757 or through our form to schedule your consultation.
Our downtown office, near the Richard J. Daley Center, Dirkson United States Courthouse, and the Chicago Workers’ Compensation Commission, offers convenient access from Aurora, Joliet, and Waukegan via I-90, I-94, and I-290.
Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers
225 W Wacker Dr #1660
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: (847) 835-8895
Toll Free: (888) 424-5757
We also serve clients from Chicago, Decatur, Peoria, Rockford and throughout Illinois.
All content undergoes thorough legal review by experienced attorneys, including Jonathan Rosenfeld. With 25 years of experience in personal injury law and over 100 years of combined legal expertise within our team, we ensure that every article is legally accurate, compliant, and reflects current legal standards.