Bus Accident Lawyer in Richmond, VA
If you were hurt as a passenger, another driver, a cyclist, or a pedestrian in a crash involving a Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC), school, or charter bus in the Richmond area, Collier & Collier can move fast on the strict deadlines these cases carry and fight for full compensation. Case reviews are free, and you pay nothing unless we recover money for you.
No Recovery,
No Fee
80+ Years Combined
Attorney Experience
4.7 Stars
on Google
Practicing Personal Injury Law
Since 1973
If You Were Hurt in a Bus Accident
Bus accidents carry a deadline problem most car accidents don’t have. If the bus was operated by a school district, or another government entity, you may have far less time to act than the usual two years, and missing that shorter window can end your claim before it starts.
Whether you were a passenger on the bus, driving another vehicle involved in the crash, or hit while walking or biking, figuring out who operated the bus, and how fast you need to move, matters from day one.
Bus Accidents Cause Serious Injuries
Buses can run 45 feet long and weigh 17,000 pounds or more, which means they need far more time and distance to stop or turn than an ordinary car, and their blind spots are much larger. When something goes wrong, the size difference alone often means serious injuries for anyone else involved.
Bus Operators Owe a Higher Duty of Care
Under Virginia law, bus operators like GRTC and school districts are treated as common carriers, and common carriers owe passengers a higher duty of care than the ordinary negligence standard that applies to regular drivers. That higher standard can work in your favor if you were hurt while riding.
It doesn’t erase Virginia’s contributory negligence rule, though. Being found even slightly at fault can still bar you from recovering anything at all, which is exactly why insurers investigate these cases aggressively.
Government Notice Deadlines Are Short, and They Vary
If a government entity, like a school district, operated the bus, Virginia law may require the filing of a formal written notice of claim well before the general two-year deadline under Virginia Code §8.01-243 even applies. Depending on the specific entity involved, that notice deadline can be as short as six months, sometimes even less for certain claims.
Private charter and commercial bus companies follow different rules, without the same government notice requirement, but they often carry complex, multi-layered insurance policies that take real work to untangle. Either way, the sooner you talk to someone, the sooner we can identify which deadline applies to your case.
Who Can Be Held Responsible
The bus operator, whether that’s GRTC, a school district, or a private charter company, is usually the starting point, but not always the only one. A poorly maintained bus can point to a separate source of liability, whether that’s the operator or a third-party maintenance company. Another driver who caused the crash, or who ran a school bus’s stop arm, can be independently liable as well.
If a bus accident took the life of someone you love, we also handle wrongful death claims under Virginia’s Wrongful Death Act.
Our Bus Accident Claims Process
We move quickly to identify exactly which entity operated the bus and confirm the applicable notice deadline, since that single detail can determine whether your claim survives at all.
From there, we work to secure onboard camera footage, route logs, and maintenance records before they’re gone. Transit and school bus systems often keep this kind of data only on a routine schedule, so timing matters. We handle every conversation with the insurance company or government entity involved, so you’re not doing it alone while trying to recover.
What Compensation May Include
Compensation may include medical expenses (past and future), lost income while you’re recovering, and pain and suffering for what the injury has cost you physically and emotionally. Severe bus accident injuries can also involve long-term care needs, which factor in too.
We won’t promise a number here, since every case is different, but these are the categories we build a claim around once we’ve reviewed what happened to you.
No Recovery, No Fee
We handle bus accident claims on a contingency-fee basis: no upfront cost to hire us, no hourly bill while your case is pending, and no fee unless we recover money for you.
What your claim is worth depends on factors like the severity of your injuries, lost income, and long-term medical needs, so we won’t guess at a number here. What we can promise is a straightforward answer once we’ve reviewed your case.
Other Accident Types We Handle
Why Choose Collier & Collier
Our attorneys bring more than 80 years of combined legal experience to bus accident claims, but we’re still a small, family-operated firm, so you’ll talk directly with the attorneys and staff handling your case.
We know how to move fast on government notice deadlines, and we know the difference between how a GRTC claim, a school bus claim, and a private charter claim each need to be handled.
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Talk to Us Before Time Runs Out
If a government entity operated the bus, your deadline to act may be measured in months, not years. Call Collier & Collier at (804) 364-5200 for a free, no-obligation case review, and let’s find out how much time you actually have.
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