fatal bus accident claim

Fatal Bus Accident Claim: Daughter Hit By A Bus Causing Brain Injury & Death After A Year

Find out how a mother can make a fatal bus accident claim for serious injury to her daughter after being hit by a bus leading to her death after a year.

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Fatal Bus Accident Claim Question

My daughter was living in Birmingham. A year and a half ago she was crossing at a pelican crossing when she was hit by a bus.

Witnesses say that she was crossing when she had a green man. The police also indicated they were investigating the accident and obtained the CCTV evidence from the bus. I understand that the bus driver was prosecuted for dangerous driving.

My daughter had serious injuries, including head injuries and was taken by air ambulance to hospital.

At hospital she was found to have multiple fractures to her lower limbs and also a serious head injury requiring surgery.

After the surgical procedures she was in an induced coma, but a month later she seemed to improve and regained consciousness.

She remained in hospital for a further year receiving various treatments, but sadly suffered a stroke and died suddenly. The inquest revealed the stroke was as a result of a blood clot from her accident causing an embolism in the brain.

She was aged 25, single and left a will naming me as her executor and sole beneficiary.

Is there any type of compensation that can be claimed for all my daughter’s trauma and her eventual death?

Fatal Bus Accident Solicitor Response

Fatal accident claims are complex and without a detailed discussion it is difficult to give you a precise answer.

However, from your description some initial thoughts are as follows:

Claim made by the deceased’s estate

As there were no children, financial dependents or spouse – the primary claim for your daughter’s suffering would be made on behalf of her estate and you as the executor (on receipt of the grant of probate) could provide the instructions.

A claim made on behalf of the estate – is really your daughter’s claim in her absence. This would proceed in a similar way that a claim in life would be made, but would be affected by the fact that she died a year after the accident albeit as a result of the accident.

Claim for pain and financial loss

The claim by your daughter’s estate would primarily include two aspects:

Pain, suffering and loss of amenity

As a result of the injuries in her bus accident she will have experienced pain and suffering and not been able to do activities she would ordinarily have been able to do. As she survived a year before passing away – these suffering will have continued for the remainder of her life.

Financial loss and expenses as a direct result of the bus accident.

See our Traffic Accident Compensation Financial Loss and Pain & Suffering Compensation articles describing the types of loss and expense you can claim

Fatal bus accident claim against the bus company

The claim would be made against the bus company as the employer of the bus driver that hit your daughter. An employer is known to have vicarious liability for the torts of its servants – or in plain speak, to have legal responsibility for errors made by employees.

fatal london bus accident
Fatal London Bus Accident

You have indicated that the bus driver was already prosecuted for dangerous driving, so it is likely that liability will not be disputed.

If liability was disputed the prosecution itself would provide evidence in itself to prove fault. The burden of proof in a criminal prosecution (beyond reasonable doubt) is higher than that of a civil personal injury claim (on the balance of probability), so typically reference to the prosecution is sufficient to prove a liability in personal injury.

In any event – the police who attended at the scene will have produced a police report, which would include statements from witnesses as to the colour of the lights at the time your daughter crossed the road.

Also – as a company was involved there could be further punitive damages that can be claimed against a business as part of the fatal bus accident claim.

Financial dependency compensation and the Fatal Accidents Act

From your description this seems unlikely – but if you or some other person was financially dependent on your daughter, there may be a separate claim for financial dependency.

Watch out – To ensure every avenue is considered  – thought would need to be given as to whether there were any parties that could be considered for a Fatal Accident Act claim.

See our fatal injury claims process article – describing who might be entitled under such a claim and what can be claimed in such circumstance.

Hospital negligence for death

One last thought – although this seems unlikely given your description, thought would need to be given as to whether there was any medical negligence by the hospital that was treating your daughter. It is possible that the blood clot could have been missed by the treating doctors or precautionary blood thinning treatments not properly given.

Using our specialist personal injury solicitor free legal help service – you can discuss the accident and options available to you in person, ask a further question or arrange a solicitor callback.