By: The Scott Pryor Law Group April 11, 2024

Passenger Rights in Georgia Mass Transit Accidents: Legal Protections & Recourse

Bus Accidents

The mass transit systems in Georgia are heavily used by commuters, students, visitors, and others. While mass transit systems are generally considered very safe, accidents do happen. These accidents can have a devastating impact on the health and well-being of a passenger. Mass transit accidents, whether on MARTA, GRTA Xpress, Gwinnett County Transit, CobbLinc, Amtrak, an airline, or another transit system in Georgia, result in severe or fatal injuries. Injured mass transit passengers have rights and protections under state law.

What Are The Rights of Passengers Injured in a Mass Transit Accident in Georgia?

Mass transit operators are held to higher safety standards. After an accident, it must be determined if the carrier met the required standard of care for passenger safety. When a bus driver, train operator, or other employee of a mass transit system has acted in a negligent manner, an injured passenger has a right to seek compensation for all damages.

The first step in the process is a full review of the facts in the case so all negligent parties can be identified and named in a claim or lawsuit. These may include a vehicle operator, vehicle manufacturer, parts manufacturer, or another party. When the transit company or its employee has failed to protect the health and safety of passengers as required by law, they can be held accountable through a claim or lawsuit.

What to Do If You Were Injured in a Bus or Train Accident?

After a bus or train crash in Georgia, passengers can sustain very serious or catastrophic injuries. The injured are transported to local hospitals or airlifted, depending on the location and severity of the injuries. The first and most crucial action is medical treatment and care, with little thought about the legal implications. In fact, the earlier you retain legal counsel from a personal injury attorney, the better it can be for the victim. The legal processes in seeking compensation are more complex if an injury occurs in a state or municipal transit system. An attorney will act to gather and obtain supporting evidence for a claim against the responsible mass transit agency.

What Types of Compensation Can Be Pursued After a Mass Transit Accident in Georgia?

An injured passenger has the right to pursue damages from the negligent party. When the liable party is a government agency, the process is far more involved and requires several urgent actions by your attorney. A “Waiver of Immunity” must be pursued, as governmental agencies are protected by the doctrine of “Sovereign Immunity.” Once the waiver is in place, a lawsuit can be filed, seeking several types of compensation, including:

Economic damages: These are the financial losses associated with the injuries sustained, including medical and hospital bills, loss of income from work, reduced or lost earning capacity, and other actual financial losses.
Non-economic damages: These damages are much more personal and can include pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, damages for disfigurement, loss of limb, and other losses.
Punitive damages: In rare cases, the damages are so extreme that punitive damages are awarded – an amount paid to punish or deter.

Can a Mass Transit Company Be Subject to a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

Georgia state law makes it more difficult to sue a governmental agency due to “Sovereign Immunity.” This does not mean an injured victim cannot seek compensation, but it does mean the process differs significantly from other personal injury claims and lawsuits. At The Scott Pryor Law Group, our legal team has a breadth of knowledge regarding filing a claim against a mass transit system. The law protects governmental agencies from lawsuits, but not in every case. The Georgia Tort Claims Act allows for a lawsuit to be filed in limited situations, as outlined in GA §50-21-24.

When a Georgia bus runs into trouble, what happens to the passengers afterward? Can injured riders recover their damages from the bus company? That will depend on many factors, but these are the most important:

What kind of accident occurred,
Who was at fault, and
The type of bus service that the passengers were using.

Passengers on Trains or Light Rail Systems In Georgia

The MARTA system is the most heavily used mass transit system in Atlanta. When passengers use this system, they assume the journey will be safe and uneventful. In some cases, the train operator may make a deadly error, some aspect of the system may fail, or the train may collide with a vehicle or item on the track. The details of how the collision occurred are crucial factors in determining liability and filing a compensation claim.

Bus accidents in Georgia

The extensive MARTA system in Atlanta, or Savannah’s CAT system, offers passengers a low-cost, convenient way to get around town. When using these systems, passengers rarely consider they are at risk of a serious or deadly accident, but sadly, these collisions occur. The cause of the crash, whether driver error, bus safety system failure, or the negligent driving conduct of another driver, can be determined to be an overturn or front, back, or side impact. These accidents often leave many passengers with serious injuries, such as broken bones, lacerations, head injuries, back injuries, or worse. The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) will launch an investigation into the most serious bus crashes.

Bus Accidents in Georgia and Why They Occur

Did the passenger’s injury occur because of something that happened on the road or because of something that happened inside the bus? This will determine whether or not the bus can be held liable and how a claimant should seek relief.

Causes of bus injuries include:

Road accidents
Negligent maintenance
Defective manufacture of buses or auto components
Unsafe conditions inside the bus (such as dangerous floors)
Negligent or deliberate acts by other passengers (such as assault)

In the case of a road accident, liability will depend upon many of the same factors as in any crash. But bus companies also have special duties of care to their riders. A bus company that accepts all paying passengers is called a “common carrier.” Under Georgia law, it “must exercise extraordinary diligence to protect the lives and persons of [its] passengers.” However, it “is not liable for injuries to them after having used such diligence.” O.C.G.A. § 46-9-132.

Aside from road accidents, passengers can be hurt in many of the same ways as they would on any other business property, such as by slipping and falling on a hazardous floor or relying on broken bus fixtures. They may also encounter dangerous people on the bus and be subject to assaults or robberies. In cases like these, recovery may be possible, but it is more complicated.

Ultimately, whether a bus company is liable to an injured passenger will depend on exactly what took place and whether, by law, the company had a duty to prevent their injury. It is essential to speak to an attorney about any possible case you have, especially if more than one person was injured in the same incident. Although buses regulated by federal law are required to carry a certain level of insurance, the costs of multiple claimants can skyrocket, complicating recoveries for everyone.

Filing Claims against a Bus Company in Georgia

How you file a claim for a bus injury—and, sometimes, how much you can recover—depends on the nature of the bus service. Was it a commercial bus, selling regular tickets or running charters? Or did it belong to a branch of the government, like public transport or school buses?
Some of the most common bus services we use are:

Public Transportation

Since governments manage public transportation, a passenger injured on a public bus will generally need to make a claim against the governmental unit—city, state, or federal—that ultimately owns it.

Filing a claim against a department of the government involves following specific, separate laws and regulations. For example, the city of Atlanta manages MARTA. Under Georgia state law, an injured passenger has six months to file a notice of claim with the city. If MARTA does not accept their claim, they may then file a lawsuit.

School Buses

A public school district or county may own and operate their buses directly, as they do in Gwinnett County. Alternatively, the schools may contract with a private transportation company if it is certified by the Department of Public Safety. The process of filing a claim will depend on how the bus at issue was owned and managed.

Unfortunately for bus riders, public school liability in Georgia is very limited by law, and determining whether the injury pertains to the actual use of the bus can be very complicated.

Passengers who were injured on or near the bus but not in an accident or collision may find it very difficult to prevail in court. In order to determine whether your child might have a case, you will need to consult an attorney familiar with Georgia accident litigation.

Commercial Intercity Buses or Motor Coaches

Private bus companies often limit their liability through the fine print on the ticket stubs, or at least they try to. For example, the fine print may require a passenger to file a claim within days or weeks. It might also require them to submit to arbitration or to file any lawsuit in one particular district far from home. However, under Georgia law, the company may not be able to enforce clauses that appeared on the ticket or receipt. A Georgia accident attorney will be able to determine whether these clauses really apply and how to handle the process of recovery.

Shuttle Buses

Hotels and other large institutions offer shuttle buses or vans to transport guests and customers, usually over a short regular route. The hotel may operate the bus itself, or it may use a private contractor. Either the hotel or the contractor may be liable for an accident, depending on what exactly took place.

If you have suffered injuries in any type of Georgia bus accident, you may be able to recover damages for:

Medical bills, including travel expenses for treatment
Lost wages and/or earning opportunities
Pain and suffering

Reach Out To Our Firm Today For A Free Case Review

At The Scott Pryor Law Group, we urge you to connect with us immediately so we can work to determine how to best move forward in seeking justice and full compensation. Our founder, Scott Pryor, is listed in Georgia Super Lawyers®, has a 10.0 Superb by Avvo, and is a member of the elite Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Our legal team is here to assist those injured in mass transit accidents throughout Georgia. Contact us at (470) 516-8130 to find out how we can help.