The Misarranged Bus

Q: One morning, my three-year-old daughter was transported to school.  Upon arriving, a bus attendant unbuckled Daisy and led her to the front of the bus.  At the bus stairs, the bus attendant handed Daisy to a teaching assistant employed by the school.

The teaching assistant then took Daisy’s hand, and brought her to her classroom.  In the classroom, Daisy’s teacher discovered that Daisy’s left hand was bleeding.

Later that morning, Daisy’s pediatrician determined that Daisy had sustained a partial amputation of the tip of her left pinky finger caused by a razor-type blade, requiring surgery.

When I boarded the school bus the following morning to inquire how the injury occurred, I observed a seatbelt cutter – a partially exposed non-retractable blade in a plastic casing – near the bus door.  The cutter was affixed to the mechanism used to open and shut the bus door, and the children would need to pass by it while disembarking from the bus.

A: Your attorney is likely to argue that the bus company was negligent in its placement of the seatbelt cutter in close proximity to the door of the school bus, and that negligent placement of the cutter proximately caused Daisy’s injury.  You will also want to sue the school, just in case your daughter was injured while in the custody of the school and its employees, rather than on the school bus.

By: Scott Baron,
Attorney at Law Advertorial

The law responds to changed conditions; exceptions and variations abound. Here, the information is general; always seek out competent counsel. This article shall not be construed as legal advice.

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