Bus Accident Lawyers in Delaware County: SEPTA Claims Have a Six Month Clock

Six months, not two years

This is the whole reason to read this page today rather than next month. Claims against Pennsylvania government bodies, which includes SEPTA and school districts, generally require formal written notice within six months of the injury.

The two year limitation still exists, but without the six month notice the claim is usually barred long before it. People who wait to see whether the injury settles down are the ones who lose these.

Sovereign immunity, and the exception that lets you through

Government bodies in Pennsylvania are broadly immune from suit, with a limited set of statutory exceptions. The important one here is the vehicle liability exception, which covers the operation of a motor vehicle in the control of a government agency.

The exception is read narrowly. Injuries arising from the movement of the vehicle generally qualify. Injuries from something that was not the vehicle’s operation may not, and that distinction is genuinely argued.

Statutory damages caps also apply to claims against government bodies, which is unwelcome news in a serious injury case and a reason to identify every non-government defendant available.

Who else might be responsible

• Another driver, whose policy is not subject to the cap or the notice rule.
• A private charter or tour operator, which is not a government body at all and is subject to the ordinary two year limitation.
• A maintenance contractor, where a mechanical failure traces to their work.
• A vehicle or component manufacturer, in a defect case.

Identifying a non-government defendant frequently matters more than the claim against the authority itself.

Passengers, and the standard applied to carriers

Common carriers owe passengers a high degree of care. Sudden stops, doors closing on passengers, and injuries while boarding or alighting are the recurring fact patterns. Passengers standing on a moving bus are common in this county, and being upright when a bus brakes hard is not the passenger’s fault.

School buses

A school district is a government body, so the six month notice applies. Where the district contracts transport to a private company, the contractor may not be, which again makes identifying the operator an early priority rather than a detail.

What to do

1. Report it to the operator and get an incident number.
2. Photograph the vehicle, its fleet number and the interior.
3. Get treated and say a bus was involved.
4. Note witnesses. Buses are full of them and they disperse in minutes.
5. Call now, so the notice goes out inside six months.