Personal Injury Law

Injuries Unclear After Southern Illinois Bus Driver Swerves Off Road and Into Home

By Jeff Lowe, Esq.

Authorities in Madison County are investigating a crash that?s particularly unusual, in my experience as a southern Illinois auto accident lawyer. As the Belleville News-Democrat reported Dec. 15, Madison County Transit bus driver Danny Floyd Senior veered into a private home on St. Louis Street early on Dec. 13. One of the six people home at the time suffered a minor injury, and Floyd refused treatment at the hospital. The one bus passenger was also taken to the hospital, but transit authorities are withholding that person?s name during the police investigation. However, the Willeford family?s home sustained structural damage significant enough to force them to move temporarily to a motel.

The accident occurred just after midnight on Sunday. According to the News-Democrat, Floyd?s bus left the road, traveled through the parking lot of a tire store and over a chain link fence before hitting the Willefords? side porch. Other media sources reported that Floyd fell asleep behind the wheel, though that explanation was not given in the newspaper. Police are still investigating and have not said whether they plan to file charges. Six of the home?s eight residents were home at the time, including homeowner June Willeford. She told the News-Democrat that after the crash, she heard her son screaming in the basement about what turned out to be a cut lip from flying debris. No one else was hurt, but the damage was significant enough that the family turned the power off for safety reasons and relocated to the Drury Inn in Collinsville.

I?m pleased that nobody was hurt. But as a St. Louis motor vehicle crash attorney, I know that expenses in a crash like this can add up quickly, even without the added expense of medical bills. A motel stay for eight people is likely to cost well over $100 a night. The family will also have to rebuild the affected walls and structural supports, a task that?s likely to include electrical work. These costs can add up quickly for ordinary people. Homeowners? insurance may cover the costs -- but even if it does not, legal responsibility for the crash almost certainly lies with the bus driver who caused it and his transit agency. (Employers are generally held responsible for the actions of employees who were performing employment duties during an accident.) That means that the family may be able to recover compensation from them for all these costs and others, through an auto accident lawsuit.

Full post as published by Missouri Injury Lawyer Blog on December 16, 2009 (boomark / email).