The owners and drivers of busses and other large commercial vehicles that transport passengers locally in Tampa, through Florida and to other states all take on a huge responsibility. After all, as with other forms of mass transportation, the passengers of these busses have to trust that their driver will get them to their destination safely.
Sadly, this trust is often misplaced as a serious bus crash lands several passengers in the hospital or needing other medical attention. In other cases, it is the people who share the road with these large vehicles who wind up getting hurt by a careless or even just inattentive bus driver.
Fortunately, at least for those busses that travel from state to state, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates interstate transport, has established minimum limits of insurance which bus companies must carry in the event of an accident that turns out to be the fault of the company’s driver. For most busses, this minimum limit is $5 million in coverage per accident, although some smaller vehicles used to transport passengers can have only a $1.5 million limit. For those busses who travel more locally, Florida law may also have minimum limits of insurance.
The reason these limits are so high is that a lot of people can be seriously hurt following a bus accident, and they will need to have compensation for their injuries. In addition to people in other vehicles, the bus company’s own passengers will likely want compensation for their losses, since it is, after all, the bus company’s agreed responsibility to transport its passengers safely from one point to another point.
