The 90-day deadline that decides most bus cases
If the bus was operated by the MTA, New York City Transit, a public school district or any other public authority, an ordinary three-year deadline does not apply to you. A Notice of Claim generally has to be served within 90 days of the accident, and the lawsuit itself is usually due within one year and 90 days. Miss the notice and the case can be over before it starts, no matter how badly you were hurt or how clearly the driver was at fault.
Ninety days sounds like a lot while you are in a hospital bed. It is not. This is the single most common way a strong bus claim is lost, and it is the reason to make the call early even if you are unsure whether you want to bring a case at all.
Bus operators are common carriers, which means the law holds them to a higher standard of care toward passengers than it holds an ordinary driver. Buses also record heavily — most run multiple interior and exterior cameras — but that footage is retained on a cycle measured in days or weeks, so it has to be demanded quickly.
The cases we handle most
Passengers thrown by a stop
Sudden braking and jerking starts injure standing riders. The common carrier duty applies squarely.
Boarding and alighting
Doors closing on a passenger, a step short of the curb, pulling away before someone is seated.
Struck by a bus
Pedestrians and cyclists hit by a bus, most often on a turn where the driver’s view is blocked by the pillar.
School and charter buses
A school district follows public deadlines; a private charter company does not. Which one it is changes everything.
What we do once you call
We identify the operator — public authority or private company — because that single fact sets your deadline, and we begin the Notice of Claim where one is required.
We demand preservation of the on-board and street camera footage before it cycles out, get the route and run number, and locate witnesses from the same bus.
We serve the Notice of Claim, prepare you for the statutory hearing the authority is entitled to, and document your treatment.
We complete the 50-h hearing, demand, and file suit within the shortened window the statute allows.
Common questions
It has already been more than 90 days. Should I still call?
Yes, immediately. Late notice is sometimes excused by court application, the deadline may not have run the way you think, and the operator may turn out to be private rather than public — in which case the ordinary three-year period applies. Do not decide on your own that it is too late.
Does no-fault apply on a bus?
Yes, for passengers on a bus, and it pays the first $50,000 of medical bills and lost earnings regardless of fault. It is separate from the claim against the operator and does not replace it.
The bus never touched me — it stopped short and I fell. Is that a case?
It can be. New York does not treat every jolt as negligence; the stop generally has to be unusual and violent rather than the normal movement of a bus in traffic. Camera footage and other passengers are what make that showing, which is another reason speed matters.