Can i sue fora injury suffered when my bus broke down?
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Can i sue fora injury suffered when my bus broke down?
I was traveling on a bus headed to NY from RI. The bus I was traveling in broke down 3x lost power. While we were parked on the side of the highway another bus pulled over to ask if he could assist. As I was departing from the one bus to connect with the other, the curb was not even with the grass and I twisted my ankle which resulted in a break in the distal fibula. I went to the ER once I arrived to my destination as I did not want to go to an ER in the middle of nowhere. I believe we were in CT when we broke down. I would not have had anyone to pick me up and I was scared in a great deal of pain. The bus driver did not call for help the first time we lost power. We continued to lose power. I just feel that I may not have broken my ankle had I not have to get off the bus in such unsuitable conditions. When my friend picked me up in NY, I proceeded to go to the ER to receive treatment.
Asked on July 16, 2019 under Personal Injury, Rhode Island
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
No, you cannot sue. You can only sue when there is "proximate causation"--that is, when the event you allege caused your injury is foreseeably, or logically and predictably, related to the injury suffered. It is not foreseeable, or logically predictable, that a bus breaking down would cause someone to stumble and break or twist an ankle; you could not predict that ahead of time. Hence, there is no liabilty or cause of action.
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