Michigan Bus Accident Lawyer

A bus crash is not just a bigger car crash. Most passengers are unbelted, many are standing, and a hard stop or a sideswipe can throw people into poles, seat frames, and each other. The injuries are often serious. And because the bus is frequently owned by a public agency, the claim runs on rules and deadlines that an ordinary car crash never touches.

Vahdat Weisman Law’s auto-accident attorneys represent people hurt in transit and school bus crashes from our office in Livonia and across Michigan. Whether you were a passenger, someone in a crosswalk, or a driver who got hit, our first job is the same: figure out who ran the bus, who insured it, and what notice has to be served before the shortest deadline runs out.

Why Bus Cases Are Different

When a private driver hurts you, the path is familiar. No-fault benefits cover your care, and you can sue the at-fault driver if your injury is serious enough. Bus cases add two wrinkles. Many buses are run by public entities normally shielded by governmental immunity, and many bus operators are common carriers that owe their passengers a careful, professional standard of conduct. Both points can strengthen a claim. Both also come with deadlines that do not forgive a late start. So the first question is not “how bad is the injury.” It is “who owned and operated the bus,” because that fact decides how much time you have.

The Short Deadline That Quietly Ends Bus Claims

Michigan’s governmental immunity law has an exception for vehicles. Under MCL 691.1405, a government agency is liable for bodily injury caused by the negligent operation of a motor vehicle it owns. A public bus or a school bus fits this exception, which is why you can hold a public operator responsible at all. The trap is the notice that comes before the lawsuit.

If a regional transit authority ran the bus, the clock is brutally short. Under MCL 124.419, a person hurt in a crash with an authority like the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, better known as SMART, must serve formal written notice of the claim on the authority within 60 days. Detroit’s DDOT and other public operators carry their own short notice requirements. Sixty days is far shorter than the usual injury deadline, and a missed notice can end an otherwise strong case before it starts.

Other operators run on different clocks. A claim tied to a state-owned vehicle generally needs a written, verified notice filed with the Court of Claims within six months under MCL 600.6431. A private charter or tour bus company usually falls under the ordinary three-year personal injury limitations period in MCL 600.5805. Identifying the right entity in the first days is not paperwork. It is the case.

The Atkins Trap: Filing for Benefits Is Not the Same as Suing

Here is the mistake that costs people their right to sue. After a crash, you apply for no-fault medical benefits, the paperwork goes in, and you assume the transit authority has been put on notice. It has not. In Atkins v. SMART (2012), the Michigan Supreme Court held that filing an application for no-fault benefits does not satisfy the separate 60-day written notice required to sue the authority for your injuries. Your benefits claim keeps your medical coverage moving; only proper, timely tort notice protects your right to recover for pain and suffering. Missing that distinction is one of the most common ways a valid bus claim dies.

No-Fault Benefits and Who Pays Them

A bus passenger can usually claim personal injury protection (PIP) benefits for reasonable medical care, a share of lost wages, and related costs, no matter who caused the crash. Which insurer pays follows the priority rules in MCL 500.3114, and the answer depends on the kind of bus. For some buses, the operator’s own insurer pays first. For buses run by a state-certified common carrier and for school buses, the law sends you instead to your own auto policy, then a resident relative’s policy. A passenger with no available coverage may fall to the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan, whose PIP medical benefits are capped at $250,000 for crashes on or after June 11, 2019. Sorting out the right payer early keeps a claim from being bounced between insurers who each point at the other.

PIP has its own deadline, separate from any government notice. Under MCL 500.3145, you generally must give written notice of injury within one year, and the one-year-back rule limits how far back you can recover benefits once you file suit. Easy to overlook while you are focused on the transit notice, and just as costly.

The Standard a Bus Company Owes You

Buses that carry the public for a fee are common carriers. Michigan does not hold them to a mythical “highest degree of care,” but it does measure them by what a reasonably prudent carrier would do in the circumstances, which the Michigan Supreme Court set out in Frederick v. City of Detroit (1963). In practice, that means a careful bus company hires and trains competent drivers, inspects and maintains its fleet, and runs a schedule that does not push drivers into unsafe choices. When a driver pulls away before a passenger is seated, closes a door on someone boarding, or runs a light while behind schedule, that conduct is where a claim is built. One honest caveat: a passenger falling during a stop is not automatically negligence. These cases usually turn on proof that a maneuver was unnecessary or excessive, which is why the evidence matters so much.

Move Fast on the Evidence

Bus cases are won and lost on records that do not last. Onboard and driver-facing video often overwrites within one to two weeks, along with GPS data, dispatch logs, and fare-card records. In the first days,s we send a preservation demand for that footage, pull maintenance and pre-trip inspection records, and identify witnesses. Wait a month, and the video that showed exactly what the driver did may already be gone.

When Your Child Is Hurt on a School Bus

School districts are government agencies, so a school bus injury runs through the same motor vehicle exception and the same need to act quickly. There is one piece of breathing room and one hard limit. Under MCL 600.5851, a minor’s deadline to file the lawsuit is generally extended to one year after the child turns 18. But Michigan courts have been clear that this tolling does not extend the short government notice deadlines, which run against a child immediately, just as they would against an adult. Combined with bus video that overwrites in days, the practical answer after a school bus crash is to document the claim now and preserve the extra time for later.

Who Can Be Held Responsible

A bus crash often has more than one responsible party, and finding all of them is where compensation is won. Depending on the facts, that can include the bus driver, the transit authority or school district that hired and trained the driver, a private bus company, a maintenance contractor who cleared faulty brakes, or another motorist who triggered the collision. The entity that owned the bus is rarely the only source of recovery, so we trace every party and every applicable policy.

The Compensation You Can Pursue

Because bus passengers are usually unrestrained, the injuries tend to be serious: head and brain trauma, spinal damage, fractures, and soft-tissue injuries that linger. We pursue the no-fault benefits that cover your care and lost wages, and we bring a third-party claim for pain and suffering and other damages when the injury meets Michigan’s serious-impairment threshold under MCL 500.3135. Under McCormick v. Carrier (2010), that means an objectively manifested impairment of an important body function that affects your general ability to live your normal life. Pedestrians and other drivers hit by a bus have these same two tracks, and we make sure neither one goes unused.

How Vahdat Weisman Law Handles Your Case

We identify the operator and the deadline in the first conversation, serve the notices the law requires, preserve the evidence before it disappears, and document every loss. From our Livonia office, attorneys Jordan S. Vahdat and Kara E. Weisman handle bus injury claims for clients across Metro Detroit and the rest of Michigan on a contingency-fee basis, so there is no attorney fee unless we recover for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I sue a public bus company in Michigan? Yes. Governmental immunity has an exception for the negligent operation of a government-owned vehicle, so transit and school bus operators can be held responsible when their negligence injures you. The catch is that you must serve first.
• What is the deadline to file a bus accident claim? It depends on who ran the bus. A claim against a regional transit authority like SMART generally requires written notice within 60 days. State-vehicle claims have a six-month Court of Claims notice, and private bus companies fall under the three-year personal injury deadline. The short ones are easy to miss, so call early.
• Does filing for no-fault benefits protect my right to sue? No. Under Atkins v. SMART, applying for no-fault benefits does not satisfy the separate 60-day notice required to sue a transit authority. They are two different filings, and you need both.
• My child was hurt on a school bus. How long do we have? A minor’s deadline to file the lawsuit is generally extended to one year after the child turns 18, but the government notice deadlines are not extended, and bus video disappears fast. Acting now protects both the claim and the evidence.
• What does it cost to hire you? Nothing upfront. We handle bus injury claims on a contingency-fee basis, so you owe no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.

Why Injured Michiganders Trust Vahdat Weisman Law

Vahdat Weisman Law is a personal injury firm based in Livonia, Michigan, representing injury victims and their families throughout the state. Our attorneys, Jordan S. Vahdat and Kara E. Weisman, bring courtroom experience, a record of meaningful results, and a hands-on approach to investigation and case strategy. We prepare every matter as if it will go to trial, which positions clients for stronger settlements and protects their rights if litigation becomes necessary.

We handle bus injury claims on a contingency-fee basis, which means there is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you. From our Livonia office, we serve clients across Metro Detroit and the rest of Michigan, and we explain every step in plain language so you can make informed decisions about your case.

Speak With a Michigan Personal Injury Lawyer

If you or your child was hurt in a transit or school bus crash, contact Vahdat Weisman Law in Livonia today at (734) 469-4994 for a free, confidential consultation. Because the notice deadline in some bus cases can be as short as 60 days, the sooner we hear from you, the more we can do. Reach out through our contact page to tell us what happened and learn about your options. There is no cost to speak with us about your potential claim.

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee future success.