Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog
In Robinson v. Washington Metro Area Transit Authority, plaintiff boarded a city-operated bus. After paying the fair, she walked past the bus driver. She started walking toward the rear of the bus, gripping the hand rails on the seatbacks along the way. Driver closed the doors and began to drive away from the bus stop. As he approached a stop sign, he slammed on the breaks. Plaintiff lost her grip on the hand rail at this point and fell forward in a twisting motion. When she hit the bus floor she broke her left leg.
Plaintiff filed a suit against defendant transportation authority in which she alleged driver was negligent and caused her injury. She asserted two theories of negligence. Her first claim was driver violated defendant’s standard operating procedures (SOPs). Her second claim was driver’s excessive use of force on the brake pedal caused bus to jerk, which, in turn, negligently caused her injury.
In proving her case, plaintiff had a transportation safety engineer testify about SOPs for bus companies. He testified about U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) standards requiring bus drivers to check in the rearview mirror to make sure all passengers are ready to travel. The procedures also require bus operators to accelerate gradually and apply brakes smoothly. He further testified these standards had been adopted by defendant.
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Authorities say they are still investigating the cause of the fatal crash that killed the 17-year-old high school student. The accident occurred just before 3 a.m.
The driver of the sedan slowed down as a school bus was passing the car when a large pickup truck, also driven by a teen, slammed into the rear of the sedan. Witness say EMS first responders quickly arrived on the scene and transported the young victim to UMass Memorial Medical Center, where he died from his injuries sustained in the car accident.
A passenger in the sedan was badly injured and suffered serious cuts on his face. Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to cut one passenger from the wreckage, before the passenger was rushed to the hospital, along with one other victim.
The serious car accident occurred shortly after noon on Massachusetts Avenue. The 50-year-old Boston resident was hit by the car and trapped beneath it for several minutes before being freed. It was an employee of a nearby gas station who got a car jack and raised the at-fault driver’s vehicle enough to get the victim out of harm’s way. Authorities are saying victim’s injuries were serious in nature, but not believed to be life threatening. He was transported to a local hospital with severe trauma to his legs.
What is not in dispute is the auto accident resulted serious personal injury, and plaintiff was eventually required to have his left leg amputated. Plaintiff originally sued defendant for negligence in federal court. During jury selection, both parties had an opportunity for lengthy voir dire of prospective jurors.
The center of the roadway on which victim was traveling was lined with temporary traffic dividers and had a speed limit of 55 mph. Plaintiffs (victim’s parents) argue at-fault driver was confused when exiting restaurant parking lot and tried to make a left turn instead of a right turn. Plaintiffs further alleged restaurant owner was negligent for failing to adequately staff the parking lot. On the night of the fatal traffic accident, there was only one employee working in the parking lot and no employee was there to assist customers leaving the parking lot in entering the roadway. Plaintiffs specifically asserted restaurant owner chose to save the eight dollars per hour it would have cost to have a second parking lot attendant over their customer’s safety.
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