Our wrongful death specialists successfully negotiated a cash settlement of $4,200,000 on behalf of the surviving wife and two sons of a man who was killed in a commercial bus crash. This case was brought by our bus crash team in the Santa Clara County Superior Court, where the bus company had its principal place of business. At the time of this crash, this bus was engaged in a gambling tour of Indian casinos and was touring Northern California. The crash occurred on a rural road near Fresno, when the bus, travelling at approximately 65 miles per hour, attempted to pass a tractor driving slowly in the right lane on a rural highway. Failing to clear the tractor, the bus struck the rear of the tractor with the front passenger side of the bus. The decedent, who was sitting in the very front seat, suffered immediate life threatening blunt trauma and brain injuries, and died at the scene of this bus crash.
Our bus and transportation accident team successfully represented the survivors of the man killed by the negligence of the bus driver including his two minor children and their mother, the man's widow. While liability was clear on the part of the bus driver, there were several other passengers who suffered injuries in this bus crash. The policy limits of the bus company were $5,000,000.00 and the proceeds needed to compensate all of the injuries to all of the passengers as well as the surviving family of the man killed. In this case, the economics of the loss to the family were challenging to prove because the man killed had been self employed virtually his whole life and had no good records to demonstrate a steady income. Our wrongful death attorneys retained forensic accountants and economists to show the financial loss to the family as well as psychologists to evaluate and demonstrate the emotional harm caused by this loss. Ultimately, our wrongful death attorneys were successful in making this bus company accountable for this tragic loss of a husband and father.
