Even though Alberta’s public transportation service operates with the support and guidance of the municipal government, no rider should hesitate to pursue his or her legal rights. In other words, anyone who has been injured while riding a means of public transport has the right to file and pursue a personal injury claim.
The challenges to pursuit of such a claim:
The bus rider must collect the relevant facts, which would include the bus driver’s information. If the bus has made contact with another vehicle, try to obtain the license number for that same vehicle. If possible, obtain the names and contact information for any witnesses. Also record the name of the bus route and the time of the injury-causing incident.
In order to get help with meeting those challenges, the injured party/rider should find and hire an injury lawyer in Edmonton. Then the rider/client should consult with that lawyer, concerning the statute of limitations. That fact indicates the timeframe available to any person that plans to file a personal injury claim against the City of Alberta.
Meanwhile, the injured rider should seek medical attention as soon as possible. The doctor’s findings will go into a medical report, which will become part of the evidence available to the claimant. The same report will also reveal how well the injured rider has managed to follow the instructions provided by the treating physician.
Additional sources of evidence:
• Testimony from witnesses
• The external and internal security cameras installed on all of Alberta’s public transportation vehicles.
• If other vehicles were involved, the lawyer should seek footage from cameras operated by local businesses, whenever those same cameras are focused on the scene of the reported incident.
The lawyer’s role in the quest for evidence:
Lawyers can seek footage from those security cameras. An attorney wanting to carry-out that action should submit a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Request.
Obligations of the lawyer’s client, the injured rider:
Limit the number of people that receive any type of information on the personal injury claim. Admittedly, it is OK to discuss the claimed injury with the police, with medical professionals and with a hired attorney, but not to talk with friends and relatives.
A smart and quiet client should not feel free to post pictures on social media networks. No, performance of such an action has the same effect as talking about the claimed injuries. In fact, it provides the insurance company with evidence that could hurt the ongoing case.
Any posted picture might show the claimant performing an action that he or she cannot do, at least not according to the existing medical report. That possibility highlights the dangers associated with sharing photographs on social media networks.