Legal Advice for Accident

Of course you are the ones to be responsible to get your babies new carseats and fix everything.....in Texas you are responsible for an accident if you were backing up! I find it interesting and a bit disturbing that you are actually trying to find a way to make someone else pay for your irresponsibility.

If you are able to purchase new carseats, DO NOT drive until you have insurance (and by all means, DO NOT drive without carseats)!!! It is not fair to other drivers for you to be out there driving knowing full well you won't be able to take care of your responsibilities if you have an accident!!!! My family was in an accident caused by another driver. WE had over a million dollars in hospital bills because my daughter and my husband almost died. Do you really think it is fair to leave a family so broken and not even have insurance to pay for the damages you caused them. Do you really think another family has a million dollars to pay out of their pockets because you were irresponsible and drove without insurance?!!!!! Do you even understand the magnitude of financial damage this does do a family!!!!

I'm sorry to sound mean but I actually got angry when I read this! Your husband (and you) have no rights in this instance. Your husband (and you) were irresponsible for driving without insurance! I cannot believe you actually have the audacity to think that the school district should pay for YOUR negligence. It's people like you who make it hard for others, who actually deserve a settlement to pay their horrendous medical bills, to get what they deserve without fighting with the insurance companies for two years.

I am sorry that you are down on your luck and probably aren't able to afford insurance, but be considerate of others. If you need to go somewhere, take a bus, call a friend, do anything else but drive without insurance. You should consider yourselves lucky that your husband didn't have the full extent of the law slapped on him!!!! And THANK GOD none of those children were hurt or that your own children weren't hurt!!!! Could you imagine having to look another mother in the eyes and explain to her why you didn't have insurance to cover the medical care her child would need due to your husband's negligence?!!!! In that case, I don't think another mother would care about your reasons, she would only see that you chose to drive without insurance!!!

Please, I beg you, do not drive without insurance again!!! It is not fair to others and I am sure you will not be so lucky next time!!!!!!

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Years ago I was backing out of a parking spot at an apartment when I was hit by someone coming around the corner. I was deemed "at fault" and had to pay for the damage to the other person's car. Obviously I didn't think it was fair since I was backing out and could not SEE who might be coming around the corner. Sometimes the lessons we go through in life are just not fair :(

~A.

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He is very lucky he did not get a ticket since he was driving uninsured. Against the law you know. He is lucky he was not arrested as well. They do that in a lot of cities. If he was backing out of the spot, your husband was at fault. He has to yeild to all other cars when backing up. He should have paid closer attention. Also, if you do not pay the damages to the school disctrict for the bus, they can take your husbands liscense away from him and place a judgement/or lein against you. I would get ready to shell out some serious $. Especially if any of those kids had to later go to the doctor and their parents sue. One word of advise, get insurance or don't drive. Your husband and yourself are the reason we all pay such high rates. A common misunderstanding from people is that the police have to respond and make a report. If there are no injuries and it is private property, like a parking lot, they do not.

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Contact an attorney!! An attorney can get the video from the bus company. From what you wrote you should have a case.

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Just to help you understand a little bit. If the accident happened on private property the officer can not assign blame. It's a civil matter that the insurance companies will have to battle out.

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Call my office at ###-###-#### after 9:00 and I will give you the name of an excellent lawyer who can help you. The videos are usually destroyed (reused) after a very short period of time and you need to get that ASAP.

D. Kimbriel
Grandma to 2 beautiful boys

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I can tell you from my own experience that you are going to be out of pocket on this situation. I was also hit by a school bus in a parking lot in our apartments several years ago and the police didn't even come out because it was on private property. The people from the school came out and took pictures and said that it would be filed on their insurance and when I called the school the next day, I was told that the bus driver said that it was my fault. It was not my fault because I was stopped behind the bus because they were letting children off the bus and she decided to back up and that's when she hit me. I ended up having to pay for the repairs because I only had liability insurance on my car. From then on out, I have always carried full coverage on any vehicle that I own.

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Unfortunately the letter of the law states that your husband is at fault. When going in reverse it is his job to make sure there is no one/nothing around to be hit.
Hopefully the city of Ft. Worth won't sue for damages.
I do wish you luck as it sounds like the situation is hard for both of you right now.

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I believe the officer was in essence giving your husband a break. If you decide to pursue this you will more than likely regret it. Even on private property, any vehicle turning into traffic must yield to the oncoming traffic. My daughter learned this lesson the hard way as well. She did not end up with a ticket but our insurance definitely let us pay the price and she was sandwiched between two SUVS so really could not see when she was backing up, regardless, it was her fault. I know this is not what you were hoping to hear, and I have a difficult time grasping this law since you are the one in a blindspot and the oncoming traffic has clearer vision, however, it is currently the law.

You are responsible in TX for backing up and hitting someone, BUT... if you are t-boned as you are backing up, I don't think this is true. The damage done to your vehicle should make it apparent if this is the case. If you were t-boned, then I would take pix and make sure that you have at least the bare minimum police report that was filed. Then I would call Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas (URL link is below)and explain the situation. Their help is free and they can better guide you than mamasource on whether or not you have any legal rights concerning the accident. HTH-

http://www.lanwt.org/applyforhelp.asp

No matter what you do, YOU MUST get insurance. You may not have much now, but if it is your fault, the damaged parties can sue you until you have nothing left now or even in the future. More importantly, you have to take care of others as they are expected to take care of you, legally. That means a minimum of liability coverage.

Backing from a parking space places your husband majority at fault. In the state of Texas liability law is that 50/50 can collect...depending on the impact point on your veh and how far your husband was out of the parking space would determine liabilty on the bus driver, however more than likely your husband would be more like 80-90% liable, so this would not help you.
The fact that your vehicle was totaled, does not mean anything unfortunately, your vehicle was hit by a bus which is bigger than a vehicle and could cause plenty of damage no matter what speed they were going. Speeding can not be proved in this incident, unless the bus hit several vehicles or pushed your vehicle several feet.

You are very lucky your husband did not receive a ticket for no insurance. You need to prepare yourselves to pay for the damages to the bus & pray the medical bills (if there were children on the bus, other than the driver) to be minimal. If you do not pay for the damages or medical bills as they come to you in full w/in 30 days, you will be turned over to a credit collection agency and they will set up a payment plan for you. If you choose to ignore the bills as they come to you they will suspend your husbands drivers license to start and court cost will be in addition as they file to fight you on this.
You can draw up a release for any & all claims & make them an offer based on fair & reasonable to minimize your cost just to settle with them at one time and for good in order to put this behind you. You would have to get a loan for the full amount and pay w/in 30 days of receiving the signed release from them.

It is better to have insurance w/a minimum of $25k - 50k in liability coverage as vehicles today are expensive & expensive to repair, you want to make sure you have the coverage. Good luck & do the right thing! = 0 )

Sorry to hear about the accident. Sometimes the rules for private property are different than the rules for public roadways. Usually if you back out into a traffic lane and someone hits you, then it is your fault. The other vehicle usually has the right of way. Was anyone ticketed for the accident? You said that the officer asked to see his insurance and license--what did he give the officer? Have there been several accidents at this location (ask around the apartment complex)? Maybe the location is poorly designed?
Has the school district or the busing company contacted you about the accident?
Sorry, I can't help more, but hopefully gave you more things to consider.

If he lost his job and it was a company vehicle - how did he still have the car without insurance? If it was yours you should have insurance. Get insurance so you don't have this problem again.

My husband was backing out at a SAMS and hit another driver the police didn't let us go until I promised them we would pay for the other guys damage (husband had been to busy to pay the insurance due 2 days earlier) and as we were walking back to or van the police told him to call them if we didn't pay. We paid as soon as he let us know the cost so I don't know what would have happened if we didn't.

I am a little confused. You say your husband was backing out of a parking spot? Or into a public street? Most likely either way he is going to be found at fault for what is called "failure to yield." If the school bus was driving and had the right away and his backing out caused the bus to hit him then you are not going to have legal ground to do anything. I am kind of surprised the officer did not ticket your husband unless the situation is somehow different and he didn't feel it was your husbands fault. More than that I am surprised your husband was not ticketed for no insurance. Fort Worth arrests people and impounds vehicles when a driver is not insured. The only reason this might not have happened is because it was private property. However, don't be surprised if a warrant is issued for your husband for the insurance violation or a ticket is mailed to him at a later date. Also, on private property most major PD's don't get involved in accidents. At best they will help you to exchange information unless there are injuries and an ambulance is called. If you truly feel your husband was not in anyway at fault then I would start contacting attorneys who will take your case on contigency (and there are plenty-be careful, many are crooked-I know this first hand!)that way if you do not win or settle you will not owe the attorney any money. In the meantime you can also contact the company that owns the school bus. But, it's really best to let an attorney do that for you because you will have to speak with the company's legal department anyway. Most likely the company that owns that school bus is Durham School Services since they are the contracted company for Fort Worth ISD. I know this is a tough situation for you and it will be even tougher if your husband is found at fault because the bus company may try to seek restitution from ya'll for the damages to the bus, if there were any. You really are going to need an attorney to help you navigate your way through all of this, esp. if your husband is the one who ends up getting sued. Also, if your husband was in his work vehicle then his employer may want him to pay to have that vehicle fixed or at least the deductible for their insurance. You mentioned obtaining the video from the camera that's on the school bus. Honestly, the company is not going to just hand it over to you esp. not if they think that their driver is in anyway responsible. That's something an attorney will have to try and do for you. Also, be sure to replace your children's car seats because once they are in accident, esp. one where the vehicle is totaled, they are usually deemed unsafe. If you are able to sue the bus company then your attorney will put the cost of the new car seats into the damages (that is what mine did after my wreck) so be sure to keep your receipts. I hope all of this works out for you. I know it's tough when a spouse is out of work. My husband was out of work from July to Nov. last year and I was unable to work because of a high risk pregnancy and it was terrifying trying to survive on just my husband's measly unemployment checks. However, we NEVER let our vehicle insurance lapse at any time during those months. Bottom line in my opinion is, you are better off LEAVING THIS ALONE and not rocking the boat. It's possible if the bus was not damaged then they may not come after your husband but more than likely they will. I don't see anyway around this being your husband's fault so you are better off doing the right thing by paying for the damages to your own vehicle or incurring the cost of a new one. Thank GOD no one was injured, esp. a child on that school bus. If there was a child injured I guarantee you are going to hear about it either from the child's parents, the bus company or both. Good luck, I'm afraid you are going to need a lot of it.

I haven't read the other responses, but I know (as a school employee) that buses rarely have their video on. It's used to get kids to think that they are being taped, and IS used when there are lots of issues on the route.........so your bus may or may not have had the tape on (or even a video camera in the bus). I'd forget about that route if I was you.

Also, I was really confused about your post. Are you also the owner of the apartment complex?
If the school took photos, you should be able to get copies of those photos from them, esp. if they are using them to try and prosecute you.
The bus driver has insurance through the school district, so seeing "his" would do no good. You need to see the school district (or durham's) insurance for that specific bus.

I'm sure you didn't know this but in Texas it doesn't matter what the situation the vehicle without insurance is at vault. I wish I had better news but I'm sure any attorny will tell you the same. The other vihicle will or should have insurance to cover theirs but most likely will sue for damages because you werent insured. I's so sorry for you situation but as an older person I thought you could use the truth. God bless you & yours. Take care.

It sounds like this accident was 100% your husband's fault. Anyone who is backing out in a parking lot must yeild to all traffic. Since is sounds like it was absolutely your husband's fault AND he was operating the vehicle without insurance, I think you are really lucky that there was not a proper police report taken. It sounds as if they should have ticketed your husband for not having insurance (possibly even arrest him and impound the car in some cities) and the school district should have gotten your information and held your husband responsible for the damage done to the school bus and any injuries that could have occurred. I think that it would work out best for you if you keep quiet and take care of your own vehicle. You should not expect anyone to pay for the damage, if your husband's car was in reverse, they would automatically fault him for the accident. If you say anything to police or the school district, you risk being held responsible for what is probably 10s of thousands of dollars of damage that they will claim that the school bus sustained and your husband could be in big trouble with police for not having insurance. And, please, get insurance ASAP, and do not drive until you do, it is not worth the risk.

It is called unsafe backing and he will be held responsible ... my brother just went through it and they said it was his fault