Pace Bus Auto Accident in Romeoville Kills One, Injures Three

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Pace Bus Auto Accident in Romeoville Kills One, Injures Three

Written by Malman Law, reviewed by Steve J. Malman.

An Oak Park man was killed yesterday in a suburban Chicago auto accident that left three others injured. The driver was traveling east on Renwick Road yesterday morning when he crossed into the opposite lane, colliding head-on with a Pace bus and then hitting another car.

In addition to the driver losing his own life in this auto accident, he injured three others: the Pace bus operator, one of the bus passengers, and a driver from another vehicle. Officials have yet to release the name of the driver killed in the collision, or to speculate as to why he crossed into the wrong lane.

Are Injuries from Bus-related Auto Accidents Common?

Fortunately, the three people injured in this auto accident were all treated and released yesterday, and do not appear to have been seriously injured. This collision goes to show, however, that you don’t have to be operating a vehicle to be injured in an auto accident—even a passenger on a bus can be the victim.

In 1988, 2.4 percent of all buses on the road were involved in an injury-causing collision. By 2008—the most recent year for which the U.S. Department of Transportation offers statistics—that number had dropped to 1.3 percent. That percentage represents 24,000 people, though, all of whom were injured in bus-related auto accidents like the one yesterday in Romeoville. Do you know what you would do if you were injured on public transit?

What Should You Do After an Auto Accident?

If you’re injured in an auto accident involving public transportation, the most important thing you can do is to seek immediate medical treatment, like those injured in yesterday’s Romeoville collision did. Once you do, though, you should contact an auto accident attorney as soon as possible. Acting quickly can be the key to collecting the evidence you may need for your case, whether you are demonstrating negligence on the part of your vehicle’s operator or on the part of another driver.

An auto accident attorney can help determine the cause of the accident, whether the responsibility falls on a driver who collided with your public transit, the transit operators, or both. A single public transportation accident—like last year’s Blue Line train collision that injured 33—can have a major impact.

The auto accident attorneys at Chicago’s Malman Law know how to investigate bus crashes and other collisions, and how to hold accountable those responsible for inflicting pain and suffering on innocent commuters. If you’ve been injured in a public transit auto accident in or around Chicago, contact the lawyers at Malman Law today.