Oklahoma City Public Transportation Accident Attorneys

How do you prove liability for a mass or public transit accident near Oklahoma City?

Our lawyers are skilled at showing that mass transit companies, public transit companies, and private carriers violated their duty of care to their passengers. Some of the ways that we show a company’s negligence caused your injuries include:

• Determining who is responsible. The starting point is determining whether the owners and operators of the plane, train, bus, or other mass transit service were public or private. The rules for filing claims against public carriers are different than for private companies. In both types of cases, we need to determine who owned the vehicle, and who was responsible for the highways, roads, air, and the transportation routes. In addition to filing claims against the drivers, we also file lawsuits against manufacturers, parts distributors, maintenance crews, and other entities that failed to protect you or a loved one.
• Filing claims against the government. All clients should understand that there are strict notice requirement time limits for filing claims against the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, a county, a city, and a governmental agency. If you don’t file a notice properly and promptly, you will lose all your rights.
• Understanding common carrier laws. These are specific federal and state laws that govern how public and private mass transit owners must protect their riders. Generally, a common carrier is defined by U.S. law as a public or private entity that transports people or products from one place to another for a fee. Our Oklahoma City lawyers work to show that a common carrier failed to inspect and maintain their vehicles and transit routes, that they failed to fully supervise their drivers, and that they failed to follow common carrier rules and regulations.
• Understanding the traffic rules that apply. The rules for flying planes, operating boats, and driving trains and trolleys are different than for standard vehicles. We understand the navigation rules for each mode of mass transit.
• Knowing how to bring lawsuits on behalf of multiple victims. If multiple claims are brought on behalf of multiple victims, we work to coordinate the cases so that the best results can be obtained. For example, one traffic reconstruction expert may file a report that all plaintiffs can use.
• Bringing the case in the right court. If the carrier was a federal entity or used federal routes, then we may bring your case in federal court instead of the Oklahoma state courts.

There are many other laws and regulations our Oklahoma City mass transit lawyers must know to help you get justice in court and with insurance companies. For example, mass transit drivers need special licenses to operate their vehicles. The driving while intoxicated standards are much stricter for mass transit drivers than for other drivers.

At Cunningham & Mears, our Oklahoma City transit accident lawyers file the following types of claims depending on how the accident happened and the responsibilities of the defendants:

• Personal injury. These claims are brought by anyone who is injured due to the negligence of the owners and operators of mass transit and public transportation companies.
• Product liability. These claims are brought by injury victims against the manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of defective vehicle parts that caused an Oklahoma City transit accident to occur.
• Wrongful death. We file these claims on behalf of the families of anyone who was killed in a mass transit or public transportation accident in Oklahoma City.