Hurt on a NJ Transit bus, or falling getting on or off a bus, Uber or car: who pays, and can I sue?

What happens if a NJ Transit bus hits your car?

Your own car insurance (PIP, the medical part of your policy) pays your doctors first, as in any New Jersey crash. Any claim against NJ Transit itself is a claim against a public body.

That means written notice within 90 days, no lawsuit until six months after NJ Transit gets it, and two years as the hard stop. Late notice is possible only within one year, and only for extraordinary circumstances.¹

Pain and suffering is harder to get from a public body. New Jersey allows it only for a permanent loss of a bodily function, permanent disfigurement or dismemberment, and only when medical bills top $3,600.²

The full notice timeline is on our page about the tort claim notice after a crash with a public vehicle.

I was hurt riding the bus. Whose insurance pays my doctors?

It depends on who owns the bus. Car insurance PIP covers people in a private car, and a bus used to carry the public is not a private car under that law.

So the law gives bus riders their own cover. A private bus company registered or garaged in New Jersey must carry no-fault medical cover up to $250,000 per person for riders hurt on board, getting on or getting off.³

That $250,000 rule does not cover buses owned and run by NJ Transit, school buses, or paratransit vans. Our sources do not settle what pays first for an NJ Transit rider, so send the bills to your health insurance and ask NJ Transit's claims office, in writing, before day 90.⁴

On a private bus, pain and suffering is limited too: only for death, dismemberment, significant scarring, a displaced fracture, loss of a pregnancy or a permanent injury, backed by a doctor's certification.⁵

I fell getting off the bus. Does that count as a bus accident?

It can. The bus rider law covers people hurt "entering into or alighting from" a bus, and a fall caused by where the bus stopped is a claim against whoever runs it.

She is not unusual. Of 12 people hurt on government property whose date we know, 7 signed with a lawyer after day 90.⁷

I fell getting out of the Uber (or a car). Is that a car accident claim in NJ?

It can be. New Jersey PIP pays for injuries "while occupying, entering into, alighting from or using an automobile", and alighting means getting out.

During an Uber or Lyft trip, insurance for the ride must also be in place, with at least $1.5 million for injuries the driver causes. Whether your fall counts depends on the facts, so describe exactly where the car stopped and what happened.⁸

Riders in an Uber or Lyft crash have more on our rideshare crash help page for Hudson County and the New Jersey passenger accident help page.

What if I fell at a bus stop, a station or on an escalator?

A station or stop run by a public body is public property, so the same 90-day notice applies. Nothing is "just a fall" if it happened there.

The falls in our data were serious. Among falls and other non-car injuries with details, 58 percent went to the ER or hospital, 38 percent had a fracture and 24 percent needed surgery. Not one of 58 had a warning sign posted.⁹

What should I write down after getting hurt on or near a bus?

Write it down the same day, while you still remember it.

1. The bus number, inside and outside, the route, the stop and the time.
2. Photos of the step, the curb gap, the ramp or the spot where you fell. Only 26 of 58 people who fell took any.
3. One witness's name and phone number. Among car crash callers, only 28 percent had one.
4. Who wrote a report. Police came to only 9 of 58 falls, yet 20 of 53 people said there was a "police report", often meaning a store, driver or ambulance note.
5. The date. Count 90 days from it.¹⁰

If NJ Transit Police handled it, the report comes from them, not your town. Our NJ crash report finder shows how to request it.

Hurt on a bus months ago? See what happened to NJ crash victims who waited, and the first steps on our New Jersey car accident help page.