School Bus Injury Attorney in Montvale, NJ Protecting New Jersey’s Youngest Commuters in Bergen County, Essex County, Hudson County, Passaic County, Union County, and Throughout North Jersey
Nothing is more important than the safety of our children. Although school buses in New Jersey are a vital part of daily life for thousands of families, intended to ensure students get to and from school safely, recent accidents have exposed serious failures in New Jersey’s school transportation system. The consequences of drivers’ and bus companies’ negligence can impact students for a lifetime—and when they do, having an experienced New Jersey school bus accident lawyer devoted to fighting for your family makes a difference.
At Corradino & Papa, LLC, our team represents bus accident victims throughout New Jersey, from Lakewood in Ocean County to West Caldwell in Essex County and Woodland Park in Passaic County. Leading the practice area at our firm is attorney Timothy J. Fonseca, partner, who has a record of representing injured children and their families against all defendants whose negligence contributed to school bus accidents.
Find out how your family can move forward after a life-altering crash and how a school bus accident lawsuit can provide your child with the resources needed for the future. Contact us today to get started with a free, no-obligation consultation.
School Bus Accident Statistics and Injuries
Nationwide, approximately 20 million students ride school buses each day of the school year. Overseeing their safety and regulation is the New Jersey Office of School Bus Safety.
How safe are New Jersey’s school transportation networks, and which safety failures increase the risk of accidents?
School Bus Safety and Risks
Statistically, school buses are the safest means of transportation to school, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reporting that children are eight times safer riding buses to school than being driven by their own parents. Children who walk to school also face significant safety risks, including from buses on the roads around them.
However, school bus accidents that do occur can have devastating consequences. In New Jersey, in particular, systemic safety failures in the school transportation system are putting children, pedestrians, and other motorists at serious risk.
It isn’t just the individual bus drivers whose negligence behind the wheel leads to crashes. Inadequate driver screenings, negligent supervision and training, improper bus maintenance, and failures to implement and enforce appropriate safety procedures can also contribute to these accidents.
Much of the safety advantages school buses have result from the vehicles’ crashworthiness and heavy regulations. Factors like poor bus maintenance, inadequate driver hiring and training practices, and lax enforcement of safety regulations and procedures undermine these benefits, putting children’s safety at risk and allowing preventable accidents to occur.
School Bus Deaths Per Year
On average, school bus accidents nationwide cause more than 100 fatalities each year, the NHTSA reported, based on an analysis of 10 years of data (2013 to 2022). The school-aged victims of these deadly crashes encompass pedestrians (including children in the process of getting on or off the bus), bus passengers, passengers of other vehicles, and cyclists.
Every single fatal school bus accident is a tragedy that warrants full investigation and accountability. Every child whose life has been permanently changed by school bus accident injuries is entitled to pursue legal recourse. As a New Jersey school bus accident lawyer, Timothy Fonseca fights for fair outcomes for individual families and for real solutions to the systemic safety failures in NJ’s school bus system, with the goal of making school transportation safer for children throughout the state.
Common School Bus Accident Injuries
The injuries children suffer in school bus accidents range from minor cuts and bruises to catastrophic damage that affects every aspect of their lives. A school bus accident attorney at our firm can assist victims and their families with injury claims involving harm such as:
- Serious lacerations, which may require surgery
- Whiplash
- Sprains, strains, and torn ligaments
- Fractures and broken bones
- Dislocations
- Nerve damage
- Internal organ injuries
- Concussions and traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries, which can lead to paralysis
These frightening, deeply distressing accidents can be traumatic experiences for children, causing significant emotional harm even in instances of less serious physical injuries.
The more severe the harm your child has suffered, the greater their need for accountability, justice, and the resources that allow them to make the most complete recovery and have the brightest future possible.

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973-381-1706Victims’ Right to Compensation for School Bus Accident Injuries in North Jersey
It’s unacceptable for bus drivers, private bus companies, school districts, and other parties that contribute to a school bus wreck to put your child’s health and future at risk. Under New Jersey law, injured children and their families have the right to pursue financial compensation for their injuries and the full range of losses they suffer.
Compensation for a School Bus Accident Injury Claim
In a personal injury claim, you pursue compensation for all of the losses, economic and non-economic, that resulted from a bus injury. Types of damages you may pursue compensation for include:
- Medical and rehabilitation costs for diagnosing, treating, and recovering from the injuries
- Any projected future medical costs arising out of long-term injuries, including the costs of replacing medical devices, monitoring conditions, and long-term care
- Wage loss resulting from parents’ need to take time off of work to care for an injured child or take them to medical appointments
- Any future projected wage loss if parents must leave work to care for their child long-term or if permanent disabilities impact the child’s ability to work in the future
- Any costs related to home or vehicle modifications needed to accommodate an injured child’s long-term limitations
- The physical and emotional pain and suffering resulting from the injuries and the traumatic experience that caused them
- Other non-economic losses, including permanent disfigurement and loss of quality or enjoyment of life due to disability
- Wrongful death compensation in claims arising out of a deadly bus crash, addressing both the economic and non-economic losses of grieving families
The more seriously an injury has affected your child and your family, the more extensive your claim for compensation.
Maximizing School Bus Accident Settlements and Awards
Your family deserves every dollar of compensation available to put your child on the path to the best possible recovery, ease the financial hardships caused by the accident, and address the pain and suffering your child has sustained. Our team works to recover the full compensation available to our clients by:
- Identifying all potential defendants and building strong claims against them
- Working closely with your family and experts to identify the full extent of your legally recognizable damages
- Ensuring your claim reflects not only your economic losses but also the non-economic impacts of the accident
- Developing the most accurate projections of future losses possible
We work tirelessly to secure maximum compensation for children affected by bus accidents and their families. As both skilled negotiators and experienced trial attorneys, we’re prepared to pursue whatever path is needed to recover the results you deserve. Proving Liability for School Bus Accident Injuries
To succeed in securing the compensation your child deserves for injuries sustained in a school bus accident, you need to establish that each defendant breached some duty of care through conduct that resulted in your injuries and related damages.
That means you need to find out what caused the school bus crash, identify all potentially liable parties, and build evidence-based cases against them.
Common Causes of School Bus Accidents
In some instances, a school bus driver makes a clear and obvious error behind the wheel. In other cases, a more complicated chain of events involving failures on the part of multiple parties leads to a school bus crash. As an experienced school bus injury attorney in Montvale, NJ, Corradino & Papa, LLC knows how to get to the bottom of these cases and identify every act of negligence that contributed to a school bus wreck, such as:
- Driver errors: Speeding, distracted driving, intoxicated driving, failures to signal stops and turns, and reckless maneuvers of all kinds
- Unqualified drivers: Drivers who are inadequately trained or lack important qualifications necessary to ensure they’re prepared to operate a school bus safely
- Negligent hiring practices: Bus companies’ failures to screen applicants appropriately, resulting in the hiring of drivers with dangerous driving histories of substance abuse problems
- Negligent bus maintenance: Failures to conduct routine inspections, perform appropriate maintenance, or address mechanical issues
- Defective components: Dangerous malfunctions of critical bus components that can lead to loss of control over the vehicle and, in turn, crashes
- Failures to follow safety procedures: Dropping children off at unauthorized stops where they could get hurt or lost or otherwise deviating from established protocols
- Inadequate supervision: Failing to provide the necessary oversight to prevent assaults and bullying onboard the bus, especially in situations in which the school district has already been made aware of the problem
Your family deserves answers, and your child deserves full financial compensation. A school bus accident attorney at Corradino & Papa, LLC can handle the demands of conducting a meticulous investigation while you focus on caring for your child.
Potential Defendants in School Bus Accident Injury Claims
More than one party can be liable for a bus accident in New Jersey. It’s important that your claim includes all possible defendants to ensure your child is able to recover the full compensation they’re entitled to for their injuries. An experienced New Jersey school bus accident lawyer can help you identify all liable parties, which may include:
- The bus driver
- A private bus company
- The school district
- Any company or entity responsible for vehicle maintenance
- The manufacturer of the bus or components
- Other motorists whose conduct contributes to a collision
When any entity that has a duty to protect your child’s safety in the context of school transportation fails in this responsibility, they must be held accountable for the harm they cause.
Historically, school districts have been responsible for hiring qualified drivers and ensuring proper vehicle maintenance. However, more and more often, school districts are contracting with private commercial school bus companies instead of directly overseeing transportation. In these cases, these companies—not the schools—hire the drivers, many of whom are unqualified and undertrained.
When accidents happen, it’s common to find that school bus companies prioritized profits over safety by cutting corners on driver training and vehicle maintenance. Putting unqualified drivers behind the wheel of buses that are poorly maintained and not properly inspected can have disastrous consequences, especially when supervisors and operators further ignore or disregard the company’s own safety policies.
How Corradino & Papa, LLC’s School Bus Injury Attorney in Montvale, NJ, Can Help Families
Trying to handle this legal matter yourself will only lead to frustration, distractions from your child’s road to recovery, and—perhaps most importantly—a settlement that fails to address the full scope of your injured child’s current and future losses. For the sake of your child’s future, you need the advantages that come with hiring an experienced New Jersey school bus accident lawyer.
Our Extensive Experience Serving Children Injured in School Bus Accidents Throughout New Jersey
At Corradino & Papa, LLC, we don’t just have 130 years of combined experience in legal practice. We also focus exclusively on personal injury law. Our firm has particular experience representing victims of school bus accidents, as exemplified by the representation we are providing in the following cases.
Woodland Park Unauthorized Bus Stop Incident
In a distressing event that took place in Woodland Park, NJ, a young student suffered severe injuries after being struck by a vehicle due to being dropped off at an unauthorized location by her school bus driver. This location was not only unsafe but directly violated the planned and safer routes agreed upon by parents and school officials.
Attorney Tim Fonseca is representing the victim's family, emphasizing the negligence of the bus company in failing to adhere to explicit safety directives. This case highlights the critical need for comprehensive adherence to safety protocols by school bus operators, a standard we relentlessly advocate for at our firm.
West Caldwell Drunk Driving Bus Incident
In another alarming case, a school bus driver, under the influence of alcohol, endangered the lives of students by engaging in reckless driving that led to a crash in West Caldwell, NJ.
Representing the affected parties, attorney Tim Fonseca is working tirelessly to hold those responsible accountable, showcasing our firm's commitment to safeguarding our children from preventable harm caused by gross negligence.
Our active involvement in these high-profile cases, among other bus accident injury matters, demonstrates our dedication to school bus safety and to advocating for stringent safety regulations, which are urgently needed. Recognizing that our firm has been at the forefront of advocating for justice for accidents involving New Jersey’s school transportation systems, NorthJersey.com highlighted our efforts to seek justice and prevent future tragedies in a recent article on critical school bus safety issues.
Types of School Bus Accident Injury Claims Our Firm Handles
Drawing on our unwavering resolve to ensure that school bus companies and drivers uphold the highest standards of safety, our firm handles all types of cases of injuries related to school bus accidents and incidents, including:
- Single-vehicle bus accidents
- Collisions with other vehicles, including multi-vehicle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents
- Bus stop accidents, including being struck by the bus or by other vehicles
- Injuries caused by other children, deliberately or accidentally
- Intentional assaults and bullying onboard the bus
- Falls and whiplash injuries resulting from sudden stops and turns
- Falls on bus steps or walkways due to unsafe conditions
- Injuries resulting from malfunctions or unsafe operation of bus wheelchair lifts
Whether your case involves navigating the aftermath of a school bus rollover, a crash due to poor weather conditions, or injuries due to inadequate safety protocols, our school bus injury attorney in Montvale, NJ, is prepared to handle any case with the dedication your family deserves.
Why Choose Corradino & Papa, LLC as Your New Jersey School Bus Accident Lawyer?
Throughout North Jersey, families turn to Corradino & Papa, LLC when they need a New Jersey school bus accident lawyer with a record of success, a history of handling school bus accident cases, and an abundance of professional resources.
A Record of Securing More Than $100 Million for Our Clients
You need legal counsel willing to fight for the full amount of compensation your child deserves. At Corradino & Papa, LLC, we have a proven record of securing maximum payouts for the injured. Our attorneys have recovered more than $100 million in compensation to help our clients find a path forward and overcome the physical, emotional, and financial challenges that result from sustaining serious injuries.
A Demonstrated Commitment to Families Affected by School Bus Accidents
School bus accident claims are challenging legal matters, but our firm has a history of taking on these cases and the powerful defendants named in school bus accident lawsuits. Leading the practice area is attorney Tim Fonseca, whose commitment to school bus safety extends not only to securing compensation for our clients in West Caldwell, Woodland Park, and beyond but also to exposing the systemic failures in New Jersey’s school transportation network that put children across the state at risk.
The Resources to Fully Investigate Bus Accident Injury Claims
To build the strongest case possible, you need to conduct a thorough investigation. You need to uncover not only the immediate chain of events leading up to the accident but also review bus driver personnel files, bus maintenance records, bus company or school district procedures and enforcement, driver qualifications and screening processes, and other information. In some instances, it may be necessary to bring on accident reconstruction specialists or other types of expert witnesses to help establish all factors involved in the accident, as well as reviewing police reports, witness accounts, and photos and video footage. Our firm is prepared to invest our full professional resources into investigating the crash and gathering evidence to support your claim.
Contact a New Jersey School Bus Accident Lawyer at Corradino & Papa, LLC Today for a Free Case Review
Negligence that compromises your child’s safety can’t be tolerated, whether it results directly from a bus driver’s actions, from a bus company’s or school district’s negligence, or other breaches of duty. Your child deserves the closure of knowing that those who caused their injuries are facing the consequences and the security of having the resources needed for recovery.
For help from a school bus injury attorney in Montvale, NJ, contact Corradino & Papa, LLC online or call 973-381-1706 today.