Who's at fault in car accident?

Question

A bus is stopped in the middle of a parking lot with no emergency lights flashing. A car, who needs to get through sees the bus, and waits for a minute for something to happen. Car driver is unaware whether to pass through the side of the bus since the windows were tinted and hard to see. Car driver starts to pass through alongside the bus and a passenger from the bus comes out. The bus passenger hits the side of the car and gets minorly injured. Who's at fault? Bus driver, bus passenger, or car driver?

Car driver was already on the side of the bus before passenger got hit. The passenger did not get hit in front of car, rather the side of the car the side rear view mirror is.

It was a school bus that was in the inciddent. Wouldn't it been better if the bus parked on other side of the parking lot where passengers are not exposed to an open street when they get out?

By the way, no children were hurt in the accident. It was the coach that got slightly injured. No abumlance was needed; he went straight to the school game afterwards.

Here's a picture of the actual scene:

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee264/AxPxE/car.jpg

Answer 1

Car driver absolutely. Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way

Answer 2

To properly answer this question, more information is needed. Like which state the accident happened in. In some states, unless the car driver can prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he/she couldn't possibly have avoided the accident, he/she would be liable for injuries. On the other hand, some states demand that the driver of a bus is responsible for his passengers until the trip is completed, which means if he/she is letting passengers off the bus and they are returning to the same bus, he must ensure the passengers' safety when exiting the bus. In this case, I would think that the car driver was in the wrong because he/she could have taken a different means of egress, or he could have simply gotten out of the car and asked the driver of the bus what his and his passengers' intentions were.

Answer 3

In the middle of a parking lot, you should be driving slow enough that you can see the passenger disembark and STOP BEFORE you hit the person. So, you weren't watching carefully enough, and/or you were going "too fast for conditions" sorry, but if you were driving slow enough, you would have been able to stop.

At ANY time, the bus driver is supposed to watch and safeguard the passenger. You FAILED TO INFORM US IF THIS WAS A CITY BUS OR A SCHOOL BUS!

If it was a school bus, then the bus driver was remiss in not flashing his lights.

If it was a city bus, the bus driver MIGHT be considered remiss in not offloading at a passenger loading zone and NOT in the middle of an active lane of traffic.

So you are responsible, and the bus driver might be.
And the passenger is an innocent victim. He has a reasonable expectation of being protected by the bus driver and not let out in front of a car. He had no reason to assume a car might hit him.

Answer 4

Car driver is at fault in most cases like this. Never, never, never pass a stopped bus on the right side. Never race past something you can't see around either.

I would question why the bus driver stopped out in the middle instead of along the edge for the the safety of his passengers.

Answer 5

The bus is stopped. Therefore not at fault, it didn't move. When a bus is stopped, you can assume passengers are about to get on, or off the bus. The car is at fault.

You said it best. "car driver is unaware...and couldn't see".

Answer 6

Definitely not passenger. They are always the victim unless they're drunk and stumble into traffic. I'm going to go with car driver. Unless it's a school bus, why do they need emergency lights?

Answer 7

1. the stupid bus should have had light on or some think...
2. the bus passenger was a retard for walking out in from and
3. the car driver should have been on all alert!!

so everyone was stupid there!!

Answer 8

the driver should have his/her license suspended but its the car drivers fault which im assuming is u because of the way it was worded making the driver sound victimized

Answer 9

I gonna go with car driver, my best friend was pulling out of a parking lot, stopped waiting for traffic, and a drunk illegal hit the side of her truck and he's living large, and my friend lost everything.

Kind of like if a robber hurts himself while breaking into your home. yeah your at fault.

Answer 10

The car driver's fault...