Can I Sue the City of El Paso If I Was Injured by a Sun Metro Bus?

If you were injured in an accident involving a Sun Metro bus in El Paso, you may be wondering what you should do next. Whether you were a passenger on a Sun Metro bus or were in another vehicle involved in an accident with a Sun Metro bus, you have legal options to recover for your injuries.

Sun Metro is a public transportation system owned by the City of El Paso. Filing a claim against Sun Metro means filing a claim against a public entity. Suing a public entity requires a bit more work than suing a private individual or business, but it can be done.

Generally, public entities, such as cities and municipalities, are immune from civil liability. However, the Texas Tort Claims Act allows exceptions to this principle. Specifically, the Tort Claims Act says:

A governmental unit in the state is liable for…property damage, personal injury, and death proximately caused by the wrongful act or omission or the negligence of an employee acting within his scope of employment if [it] arises from the operation or use of a motor-driven vehicle or motor-driven equipment; and the employee would be personally liable to the claimant according to Texas law.

Therefore, if a personal injury claim arises from an accident involving a Sun Metro bus, an individual may be able to pursue legal action against the City of El Paso, so long as the Sun Metro employee would be liable in a personal injury claim in a case involving the same facts.

For example, say a Sun Metro bus rear-ended another vehicle and caused serious injury to the vehicle’s passengers. It is very likely that a claim would be allowed against Sun Metro, because if the bus driver rear-ended a vehicle in any other situation, the bus driver would be liable for the victims’ injuries.