Most people step onto a bus without a second thought. You tap your card, find a seat or grab a pole, and look at your phone until your stop. So when the bus lurches, brakes hard or gets hit, the shock is real, and so are the bus accident injuries that can follow. If you or someone you love was hurt as a passenger, this guide is meant to help you understand what happened to your body, what the law in New York generally expects, and how a passenger’s claim tends to move forward.
We will go slowly and keep things in plain language. There is no test at the end.
How Passengers Get Hurt on Buses
A bus is not built like a car. Many riders stand. Seats often have no belts. The floor is high off the ground, and there are steps at the doors. That design works fine on an ordinary trip, but it means a passenger’s body has very little protection when something goes wrong.
Here are some of the situations that most often lead to injuries for people riding a bus:
- Standing passengers thrown off balance. A hard stop or sharp turn can send someone into a pole, a seat back or the floor.
- Falls on the steps. Riders can fall when a bus pulls away before they are fully on, or stops away from the curb so the step down is longer than expected.
- Door injuries. Doors can close on an arm, a bag strap or a foot, sometimes as the bus begins to move.
- Collisions. When a bus is struck by another vehicle, or strikes one, seated and standing passengers can both be hurt.
- Slips inside the bus. Wet floors on rainy or snowy days can make a moving bus even harder to stand in.
The Injuries We Hear About Most
Because so many passengers are standing or moving when they are hurt, the injuries tend to follow a pattern. People put a hand out to catch themselves, land on a hip, or strike their head on a rail. Below are the kinds of bus accident injuries that come up again and again.
Head injuries
A blow to the head against a pole, window or seat back can cause a concussion, even if you never lost consciousness. Headaches, trouble focusing, sensitivity to light and changes in mood can show up hours or days later. Please mention any head strike to a doctor, even if you feel fine at first.
Wrist and arm injuries
Reaching out to break a fall is a reflex. It protects the head but often leaves the wrist to take the force. Sprains and fractures of the wrist and forearm are common results.
Hip injuries
A fall onto a hard bus floor or onto the steps can injure the hip. For older riders in particular, a hip injury can mean a long recovery and a real loss of independence.
Back and neck injuries
A sudden jolt can strain the muscles and ligaments of the spine, and in some cases injure the discs. Many of these injuries do not require surgery, but they can still cause lasting pain. Our article on back and neck injury claims without surgery explains how these cases are usually handled.
Knee and ankle injuries
Missing a step or twisting a leg while the bus moves can tear ligaments or fracture bones in the knee and ankle.
Injuries that take time to show
Not all bus accident injuries announce themselves on the spot. Adrenaline can mask pain for hours. Stiffness in the neck, a sore lower back or a wrist that swells overnight may only become clear the next morning. That is common, and it does not mean the injury is less real. If something starts to hurt in the days after the ride, please treat it seriously and see a doctor, and let them know it began after the incident on the bus.
It is also worth remembering that bus accident injuries affect people differently. An older rider and a younger commuter can have the same fall and very different recoveries.
Getting Care, and Why It Matters for the Claim
Your health comes first. If you are hurt, please get checked, either right away or as soon as you can. Tell the doctor that you were injured on a bus and describe what happened: whether you were standing or seated, what you struck, and what hurts.
That first visit does two things. It starts your treatment, and it creates a written record linking your injuries to the incident. Later on, insurers will look closely at that record. A long gap between the incident and your first visit, or gaps in follow-up care, can make your injuries harder to prove even when they are real.
It also helps to keep a simple notebook or phone note about how you are feeling each day: your pain, your sleep, the chores you could not do, the days of work you missed. Our guide to keeping a diary of your injuries offers an easy way to start.
The Special No-Fault Rule for Bus Passengers
New York’s no-fault system pays for basic economic losses, like medical bills and part of lost earnings, without anyone having to prove who caused the accident. Bus passengers are treated in a particular way under Insurance Law § 5103, and it surprises many people.
If you were injured on a bus as a passenger (and not as the operator, owner or an employee of the bus company), you generally look first to the auto insurance policy of your own household. That means if you, or a relative you live with, own an insured car, that policy is usually the one that pays your no-fault benefits, even though you were riding the bus at the time.
If there is no car insurance in your household, the bus’s insurer pays no-fault instead.
Pedestrians are different. Someone hit by a bus while walking gets no-fault from the bus as a non-occupant. But for people riding inside, the household policy comes first.
No-fault forms have short deadlines, so it is wise to start them early. Our guide to New York no-fault claims walks through the paperwork step by step.
Going Beyond No-Fault: The Serious Injury Threshold
No-fault helps with bills, but it does not pay for pain and suffering. To seek those damages from whoever was responsible, New York generally requires a “serious injury” as defined in Insurance Law § 5102(d).
Fractures often meet that standard. Other injuries, like back and neck injuries, may also qualify, but they usually need careful medical documentation showing how the injury limits you. This is one reason consistent treatment and clear records matter so much. The insurer may ask you to see a doctor of its choosing; our article on what an independent medical exam is explains what to expect.
Who Is Responsible When You Are Injured on a Bus
Bus companies are common carriers. New York’s Court of Appeals held in Bethel v. New York City Transit Authority that common carriers owe passengers reasonable care. Employers are also generally responsible for their employees’ negligence on the job, so a driver’s careless act can lead to a claim against the company or authority that runs the bus.
Depending on what happened, a claim may involve:
- the transit authority or bus company, for the driver’s conduct;
- another driver whose vehicle hit the bus;
- a private bus company, for charter, tour and coach trips.
Our article on how bus driver negligence is proven goes deeper into the kinds of evidence that matter.
A word about sudden stops
Here is something that can feel unfair. Buses start and stop all the time, and courts know that. When an injury comes from a jolt or a sudden stop, courts generally require proof that the movement was “unusual and violent,” meaning something more than the ordinary starts and stops every rider expects. Witnesses who saw other passengers thrown, video from the bus, and the circumstances of the stop can all help show that what happened was out of the ordinary.
And if the insurer argues you were partly to blame, for example for not holding on, New York’s pure comparative fault rule under CPLR § 1411 reduces your recovery by your share of fault rather than ending your claim.
When the Bus Belongs to the MTA
New York City buses are run by MTA New York City Transit and MTA Bus Company. Claims against these public authorities follow special rules that are much stricter than an ordinary claim.
Under Public Authorities Law § 1212 for the New York City Transit Authority, and § 1276 for the MTA, a passenger generally must:
- serve a notice of claim within 90 days, following General Municipal Law § 50-e;
- wait 30 days before starting a lawsuit;
- file the lawsuit within one year and 90 days.
Wrongful death claims follow a different timeline. The authority may also require you to answer questions under oath about the claim. Our article on 50-h hearings explains what that sworn questioning is like, and our page on MTA bus accident claims has more on these cases.
Ninety days goes by faster than people think, especially while you are recovering. If you were hurt on a city bus, please do not let that window close.
Private bus companies, like charter, tour and coach operators, carry commercial insurance, and the standard deadlines generally apply. For most injury lawsuits in New York, that is three years.
Gathering What Supports a Bus Passenger Injury Claim
You do not need to be an investigator. But a few simple things, gathered early, can make a real difference to a bus passenger injury claim:
- the bus route number, the direction of travel, and the approximate time;
- the bus number, often posted inside and outside the vehicle;
- names and phone numbers of other passengers who saw what happened;
- photos of your injuries, the spot where you fell and anything on the floor;
- your fare card or payment record showing you were on board;
- every medical bill, receipt and appointment note.
Buses often carry cameras, but recordings may not be kept forever. That is one more reason to act sooner rather than later. You can learn more about the transit system itself on the MTA website.
How We Can Help
Being hurt on the way to work, school or the doctor can turn your life upside down. Our bus accident practice helps passengers sort out no-fault, meet the deadlines that apply to the MTA and other bus operators, and build the medical proof a claim needs. You can read more in our New York bus accident claims guide, or learn what happens later in our article on the bus accident settlement process.
Attorney Yakov Mushiyev and our team have recovered over $80 million for injured New Yorkers. Your consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we win. We speak English, Russian and Spanish, and we are glad to meet you at home, in the hospital or by video. When you are ready, please reach out through our contact page.
Questions Passengers Often Ask
I was injured on a bus but I own a car. Whose insurance pays my medical bills?
Generally your own household’s auto policy pays your no-fault benefits first, even though you were on the bus. If no one in your household has car insurance, the bus’s insurer pays.
The bus stopped short and I fell. Do I have a claim?
Possibly. Courts generally require proof that the stop was “unusual and violent,” more than an ordinary stop. Witnesses, video and the details of what happened can help show that.
How long do I have after a city bus incident?
For claims against the MTA or New York City Transit, a notice of claim is generally due within 90 days, and a lawsuit within one year and 90 days. Wrongful death claims follow a different timeline.
Do bus accident injuries have to be severe to get pain and suffering?
To recover pain and suffering, New York generally requires a “serious injury” under the Insurance Law. Fractures often qualify, and other injuries can too with strong medical proof.
What if I was not holding the rail?
New York uses pure comparative fault, so any share of blame assigned to you reduces your recovery rather than ending your claim.
Visit Yakov Mushiyev & Associates
Our office is at 1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325, Rosedale, NY 11422, just off the Cross Island Parkway on the Queens–Nassau border. If you can’t come to us, we’ll come to you: at home, in the hospital or by video.
Talk to a Queens bus accident lawyer today
Yakov Mushiyev & Associates has recovered over $80 million for injured New Yorkers across the five boroughs and Nassau County. Consultations are free, available in English, Russian and Spanish, and there is no fee unless we win.
Call 718.775.3110 or contact us online for a free case review.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different. Attorney Advertising.