San Antonio Public Transit (VIA) Accidents: Legal Options for Passengers

The latest available statistics (2024) are sobering:

• Texans experienced a total of 4,150 motor vehicle
• There were 39,805 car crashes in San Antonio, resulting in 170 fatalities.
• There were 2,684 commercial motor vehicle crashes in Bexar County, 18 of them fatal.

That last statistic may be the most troubling of all. Public transit vehicles are commercial in nature, but when operated by a governmental entity like VIA, liability is governed by the Texas Tort Claims Act. A portion of those vehicles are run by the municipality of San Antonio’s VIA Metropolitan Transit Authority.

We put enormous trust in our public systems, which, after all, we pay for with our taxes. So to think that catastrophic injury may result from a system in which we place so much great good faith is, frankly, all but unthinkable. But it can happen. And if it does, you’ll need to know just who to call.

If you’ve experienced personal injury due to a public transit accident, contact San Antonio bus accident attorney Pat Maloney right away.

What is the VIA Metro?

VIA Metropolitan Transit is San Antonio’s award-winning public transit system. It’s no small operation: Its 454 buses serve 5,985 bus stops throughout Texas’s second-largest municipality. In other words, the very nature of the transit system sets up many opportunities for bus crashes.

That said, the VIA Metro system boasts the fewest collisions of comparable metro systems per 100,000 miles—a 0.11 major collision rate in 2024. But that doesn’t change the fact that a single bus accident can result in catastrophic injury, nor does it make a San Antonio bus crash lawsuit something to put off in the face of such injury.

What causes bus accidents?

Bus accidents are caused by a variety of factors. These include mechanical failures, such as:

• Brake issues
• Engine malfunction
• Poor road maintenance
• Tire blowouts

Drivers may also be the source of accidents when they engage in:

• Aggressive driving
• Distracted driving
• Driving under the influence

Regardless of the exact cause of a bus accident, you will want an experienced bus accident attorney from San Antonio on your side in the wake of your injury.

VIA Metro accidents and their consequences

Any automobile accident can cause grievous bodily harm, or even death. But when you take into account the size, weight, and cumbersome nature of a city bus, you’re likely to incur greater damage than you would have had a private car or truck been involved. Whether you’re a driver or a pedestrian, a public transit accident can be profoundly serious.

For instance, one potential, very serious consequence of a public transit accident is traumatic brain injury. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) results from injury to the skull or brain. Some traumatic injuries are characterized by blunt force trauma to the head; others penetrate the skull and damage the brain directly. Either way, TBIs are an urgent medical concern, and can result in symptoms such as:

• Coma
• Chronic headaches
• Emotional issues
• Memory problems
• Neurological damage
• Speech changes
• Vision changes

These injuries can be mild or debilitating. They may fade with time or improve with treatment. In other cases, they may be lifelong, causing severe disability and bringing with them burdensome medical bills. Additionally, there are countless other injuries you may suffer in one of these accidents – from broken bones to spinal cord injuries.

This is one reason why your San Antonio bus accident lawsuit is so important: You may require damages enough to cover not just medical bills but lost wages, in-home care, and your pain and suffering.

Wrongful death

Wrongful death suits are brought by a deceased victim’s family. The core of a wrongful death lawsuit is more or less what it sounds like: It asserts that, through negligence, one person caused the death of another.

Wrongful death can occur due to car or bus crashes, workplace incidents, or the use of defective products. Who exactly is at fault, and what damages a victim’s family might expect to recoup, depend on the exact circumstances of the victim’s death.

What should I do if I experience a VIA Metro accident?

The Texas Tort Claims Act illustrates what you need to do following personal injury due to a VIA Metro vehicle. Under this Act, the municipality is responsible for running transportation, and therefore is the party potentially at fault for transportation-related accidents. Maximum damages are capped at $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence for bodily injury or death.

Here’s the snag: The Texas Tort Claims Act generally requires notice within six months, though some governmental entities, including transit authorities, may impose shorter deadlines. That’s a notably shorter time than the usual two years that applies to injuries due to private parties, as outlined in Texas’s Civil Practices and Remedies Code (Title 2, Subtitle B, Chapter 16, Subchapter A, Sec. 16.003).

In other words, you have to act quickly, and do so during what is likely the most stressful time of your life. Our experienced attorneys are here to help.

VIA Metro bus accidents: How we can help you

If you incur an injury at the hands of a VIA Metro employee, an experienced personal injury attorney will gather evidence, contact your insurance company, collect police and bystander reports, and advocate for you in the face of complex legal challenges.

Contact the office of Pat Maloney: Accident & Injury attorney today for a free initial consultation. We can help address all your bus accident questions and get to work fighting for what you deserve.