Hit by a School Bus While Walking in Pennsylvania: Who Pays and What Deadline Applies

Attorney Answer

Two things decide this, and you can find out both. First, whose bus it was. A bus run by the school district is a government vehicle, and that brings a six-month notice requirement and a damages cap. A bus run by a private contractor is not. Second, which insurance pays your medical bills now. Pennsylvania sets that order by statute, and it covers a pedestrian too.

If the school district operated the bus. Local agencies, school districts included, start with immunity. 42 Pa.C.S. § 8541:

Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, no local agency shall be liable for any damages on account of any injury to a person or property caused by any act of the local agency or an employee thereof or any other person.

That immunity is waived for vehicles. 42 Pa.C.S. § 8542(b)(1) makes the operation of any motor vehicle in the local agency's possession or control an exception. Damages are capped by § 8553(b):

Damages arising from the same cause of action or transaction or occurrence or series of causes of action or transactions or occurrences shall not exceed $500,000 in the aggregate.

And notice is due within six months, under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5522(a)(1):

(1) Within six months from the date that any injury was sustained or any cause of action accrued, any person who is about to commence any civil action or proceeding within this Commonwealth or elsewhere against a government unit for damages on account of any injury to his person or property under Chapter 85 (relating to matters affecting government units) or otherwise shall file in the office of the government unit, and if the action is against a Commonwealth agency for damages, then also file in the office of the Attorney General, a statement in writing, signed by or in his behalf, setting forth:

The statement gives your name and address, the date, hour and place of the accident, and any attending physician. If it is not filed, § 5522(a)(2) provides:

If the statement provided for by this subsection is not filed, any civil action or proceeding commenced against the government unit more than six months after the date of injury to person or property shall be dismissed and the person to whom any such cause of action accrued for any injury to person or property shall be forever barred from proceeding further thereon within this Commonwealth or elsewhere.

If a private contractor operated the bus, none of that applies. It is an ordinary negligence claim against the company and its insurer, with the ordinary two years.

How to tell. The police report usually identifies the bus's owner, and the bus itself is often marked. The school district can also tell you whether it runs its own buses or contracts them out.

Your medical bills now. If you have your own auto policy, or a household member's covers you, that pays first-party medical benefits first. If not, the bus's policy is in line. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1713(a)(4):

For a person who is not the occupant of a motor vehicle, the policy on any motor vehicle involved in the accident.

What you can do

1. Get the police report. It should name the bus's owner and insurer.

2. Get medical care, and keep every record and bill.

3. Notify your own auto insurer, if you have one, and open a first-party medical claim.

4. Mark the date six months after the accident, and speak to a lawyer well before it. If the bus was the district's, the notice must reach the district by then.

5. Even if you are handling this yourself, you would be best served by a brief phone consultation with a local Pennsylvania attorney before you act. Most lawyers offer a short initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts — and on how your court actually handles this — is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. If the school district operated the bus, written notice is due within six months under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5522(a). Every claim must be filed within two years under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524, which covers “An action to recover damages for injuries to the person or for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another.”