A SEPTA bus in the Frankford part of Philadelphia hit a tractor trailer this morning, leading to a dozen injuries. Frankford Avenue at Orthodox St. in Philadelphia was shut down in the middle of the morning rush hour after the accident.

According to witnesses, the truck jackknifed and the front windshield of the bus was smashed. The truck driver was not take to the hospital and did not look to be injured.

The city bus was going north on Frankford when it hit the big rig, which was turning left onto Frankford. Fifteen passengers were taken to the hospital and the bus driver also was taken to another hospital. None of the injuries appeared to be life threatening.

Our View

Our Virginia personal injury attorneys hope that no one in this bus and truck accident was seriously injured.

Every day, there are thousands of buses that take our kids to school, workers to their jobs, and other people to where they need to go. Commuter buses, school buses and city buses make our lives easier and provide inexpensive transportation to many people. But bus accidents do happen. Buses and truck crashes make up 12% of fatal accidents in the US. With a total of 32,000 fatalities in 2015, only 257 of them involved buses. There were 14,000 bus crashes that year that resulted in injury, and 53,000 that caused property damage.

City buses are generally safe, but it is not easy to determine exactly how many are involved in accidents each year. Many city bus and tour bus crashes are never reported. This is because bus companies, including government entities, may try to underreport these incidents. Distracted driving is becoming a more common cause of some bus accidents, just as it is a more common cause of car accidents.

It is unclear at this time if the truck or bus caused the accident, or if both were at fault. Whoever was responsible, the people who were injured should be able to file a lawsuit to have their injuries covered. They could be able to receive compensation for their medical expenses and pain and suffering. If they miss any work because of their injuries, this also could be covered. Our Virginia personal injury attorneys are experienced in handling these types of accidents, and the settlement can be substantial, depending upon the severity of the injuries.