What to Do if Your Shuttle Service Gets in an Accident

If you travel frequently, you’ve probably needed to use an airport or hotel shuttle service at some point. These services can be extremely convenient, because they allow you to easily get from the airport to your hotel and vice versa, particularly if public transit doesn’t offer a viable alternative. It’s also a great alternative to a taxi, as it’s likely going to be less expensive and it’s an easy means of getting to exactly where you’re going.

Of course, any time you get on a shuttle or any sort of mass transportation, there’s a risk that you’ll get into an accident—it’s just part of the risk of getting on the road in general.

So what happens if you get into an accident while riding on a hotel or airport shuttle? Here’s some helpful information from a transportation service in Tacoma, WA.

What to know

Hotels carry the same types of commercial auto insurance policies that a bus company has on its fleet. If the vehicle seats 16 or more people, the hotel is required to have at least $5 million in insurance, versus just $1.5 million for a 15-or-fewer seat bus. On the head, this might seem like a lot of insurance coverage, but you also have to consider the sheer number of people the shuttle services in a given year.

This means that if you’re involved in an accident and the accident was the fault of the shuttle driver, you do have some recourse to get compensation. Many people do not realize that hotels have these types of commercial auto insurance policies, and don’t bother pursuing a claim in the aftermath of an accident because they mistakenly feel as though they don’t stand a chance at getting compensated for their losses. This just isn’t true.

Of course, there is also a good possibility that an accident you’re involved in while riding in a hotel or airport shuttle is the fault of another driver on the road. In this type of case, you’d proceed in the same way you would with a standard accident case, filing a personal injury claim with the insurance of the driver who caused the accident.

To succeed in either scenario, you’ll need to be able to demonstrate that the defendant (be it the hotel, the shuttle service or the other driver) was liable for the accident and resulting injuries. To accomplish this, you must prove the defendant committed some sort of act of negligence that directly caused the accident. For example, if you can prove the at-fault driver ran a red light, and that the accident would not have occurred had he or she stopped at that red light, then you can prove he or she was liable for the accident and your resulting injuries.

For more information about what you should do if you get into an accident while using a shuttle service, contact Around the Sound/TransPro. We will be happy to answer any questions you have or help you book your ride with our transportation service in Tacoma, WA.

Categorised in: Transportation Service

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