Most bus crashes in Tampa Bay involve a public agency: a PSTA bus in Pinellas, a HART bus in Hillsborough, a GoPasco bus, or a school bus owned by a county school district. That one fact changes the claim more than the size of the vehicle does. A claim against a government agency in Florida runs through section 768.28, which adds a written notice, a waiting period and a cap on what the agency pays, and the people who get hurt on and around buses, passengers, pedestrians at the stop, drivers struck at an intersection, usually find that out after they have already talked to the agency’s adjuster. This article covers who is responsible after a bus crash, what the government rules actually require, and why the first weeks matter more here than in an ordinary car case.
Who is responsible depends on what kind of bus it was
A transit bus, a school bus, a charter coach, a hotel or airport shuttle and a church van are all “buses,” and the law treats them differently. PSTA, HART, GoPasco and the school districts are government agencies, so a claim against the bus driver’s negligence is a claim against the agency under section 768.28. A charter company, a tour operator or a private shuttle is a commercial carrier, with federal motor carrier rules, a commercial liability policy and no sovereign immunity. A church or nonprofit van is covered by an ordinary commercial auto policy. And in every one of these cases a second driver may share fault: the car that cut the bus off, the truck that rear-ended it, the driver who struck a passenger stepping off. Identifying the owner, the operator, the insurer and any other driver is the first job, because each has different deadlines and different money behind it.
Passengers, pedestrians and the drivers buses hit
Passengers are hurt most often without a collision at all: a hard stop that throws a standing rider, a door that closes on an arm, a fall on wet steps, a wheelchair lift that fails. A common carrier owes its passengers a high degree of care, and the bus’s own cameras, which record inside and out on every transit bus in the region, usually show exactly what happened. Pedestrians at stops and in crosswalks are the most seriously hurt; a transit bus weighs 15 to 20 tons and the mirrors extend well past the curb. Drivers of cars struck by buses face the same injuries as any truck crash and the same evidence race: the bus’s event recorder, the driver’s hours and training file, the maintenance records and the camera footage are all held by the agency, and they are produced on request, not volunteered. Our bus accident page covers each of these situations.
The government rules, and what they are not
Section 768.28 waives the state’s immunity for negligence, so a public bus driver’s carelessness can be sued like anyone else’s, with three differences. First, before suit, the claim must be presented in writing to the agency and to the Department of Financial Services, and the agency then has six months to investigate before a lawsuit can be filed; the notice can be presented within three years of the injury, two for a wrongful death, but the six-month wait means a claim that starts late finishes late. Second, the agency’s payment is capped at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, and anything above that comes only through a claims bill passed by the Legislature, a slow and uncertain route; a bill that would have raised the caps and shortened the notice period passed the Legislature in 2026 and was vetoed, so these figures still apply. Third, the agency’s employee cannot be sued personally for ordinary negligence; the claim is against the agency. None of this applies to a private carrier, where the policy limits, often $5 million for a charter coach, are the ceiling.
Why the cap is not the end of the analysis
A serious injury on a public bus can be worth far more than $200,000, and the cap is the reason to look at every other responsible party. If another driver caused the crash, that driver’s liability coverage and your own uninsured motorist coverage are outside the cap entirely. If a defective part, a bad repair by a contractor or a dangerous bus stop design played a role, the manufacturer, the contractor or the entity that built the stop may be liable without any cap. And a passenger’s own auto policy, or a household member’s, carries the PIP that pays the first medical bills regardless of fault, and the UM coverage that pays when the at-fault driver was uninsured. We open every one of those claims before the agency’s six months run, because the agency’s offer, when it comes, is measured against what the other sources will pay.
The first two weeks
- Get the report and the footage. Transit agencies keep onboard video for a short, fixed period, often 30 days or less. A preservation letter in the first week is what keeps it.
- See a doctor within 14 days. Florida’s PIP rule applies to bus passengers and pedestrians who own a car or live with someone who does; treatment after day 14 is not covered.
- Do not give the agency’s adjuster a recorded statement. The agency’s risk management office works for the agency. Refer the call to your lawyer.
- Identify every policy before any claim is settled; a release signed with the agency can affect what is left against everyone else.
- Present the written notice early. The deadline is years away; the six-month clock it starts is the reason not to wait.
Talk to a Florida bus accident lawyer
If you were hurt on a bus or by one, as a passenger, a pedestrian or a driver, call or text 727-847-4878 or contact us online for a free consultation, 24 hours a day. We handle the government notice, the private carriers and the uninsured motorist claim together, and you owe no fees and no costs unless we win. Start with the Florida bus accident page for how these claims work.
The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. This article is general information about Florida law as of its publication date and is not legal advice about any particular case; past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
