Contact a lawyer if you can afford it. Just reporting the issue yourself will drag the issue longer than needed.

You absolutely should complain and make a record of this, whether you pursue it legally or not. Someone that careless shouldn't be driving a bus, period. Passenger and pedestrian safety should be their absolute first priority.

Dude! I don't know what it is about these bus drivers but they're fucking up man. The other day I pressed the yellow tape and said "Back door!" Quiet bus, not even half full...but maybe the driver didn't hear me somehow because they still didn't open the door. I smacked the door, but no dice so I walked to the front and tried to leave through there AND THEY CLOSED THE DOOR ON ME. I don't mean like my arm got stuck or something like that, I mean my body was literally getting squished together by the doors. I literally had to pull myself off the bus because they wouldn't open the doors.

Anyway I was pissed and filed a report through the MTA website. I don't know if that does anything though, all I know is that that was fucked up.

not a lawyer but when you sue for getting hurt it is usually to cover bills, loss of income, significant loss to quality of life, etc. if there is none of that sort of stuff there isnt anything to sue for. r/legaladvice can answer this

About to do the same thing. You got any replies back?

Thanks. I already posted on that sub before I posted here.

I opted not to leave any contact information, which in hindsight I should have because I am curious to know if they take action on this stuff anyway. At the time I was just beyond pissed and wanted to get my two cents in while also being a chickenshit about retaliation for some reason. Keep us updated if they reply!

Wait, was this in Brooklyn? I had a friend have an eerily similar experience.

Will do! Hopefully it will help others too if they do take action on their driver.

Queens

Like Elmhurst area?

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Yea suing unfortunately might not be on the table but i would be blasting the mta twitter page with this story and calling to report them

I would complain. If she’d done this to a small child, for example, it could have a much worse outcome. It’s a stressful job, but you’ve still got to be aware of what the fuck you’re doing with a massive vehicle.

I’m glad you’re mostly okay, OP. I can’t imagine what you must have been feeling.

Get a personal injury lawyer asap. DM me if you need recs

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Have you seen the ambulance chasers in this city? A contractor didn't finish my family's apartment and came after us for the last bit of money we supposedly owed them for work they literally didn't do. Had a lawyer file a mechanic's lien against us and everything. We just got the judge to dismiss it finally this year. This city is full of chumps who graduated last in their law school and will sue anyone for a quick buck.

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Sorry that happened to you. Make a formal complaint of course, but to really garner a response….. you could post what happened to you (with the photos of your injuries and the bus number) on the MTA twitter page. Sadly, I find that may trigger a quicker response than reporting what happened on the mta website

Just as a life lesson don't stick limbs in bus doors,subway doors, elevator doors.

And eight year old me learned trunk door on fingers.

Absolutely do not let this go. Bus drivers truly do not give a fuck about the safety of the people they serve or who may be around them. I can't tell you the amount of times I've seen them run a cycler off the road.

Mental anguish and trama I'm scared to take the bus now

I don't care about the suing part really want the driver to get some consequences. Most important losing her job. Taken a lot of buses and most MTA bus drivers usually look at the rear view mirror to check before they close the door or even drive off. I just want some repercussion to her. If she at least showed some concern I would be fine like some redditors stated I just had a few scraps nothing to serious.

If you ever need to hold down a “closing door” for NYC public metro, You’ll need some arm, core, back muscle strength. Grasp firmly but avoid the fingers. Forearm and elbow muscle can take the door impact, Then brace, pull the door open and pull it backwards towards you in the same motion. HS I was still using two arms but By college I could force it open, keep it open indefinitely one arm which I’ve done a few times like holding it down so an old lady can slowly get in or a some running scramblers. Also the few DMX moments where I’m trying to exit a leaving train last second. Use your foot, knee if you have the space as well. The machines only around 60 lbs of pressure.

You can also force open a moving train door about 4 inches with maybe 150 lbs of strength.

Welcome to New York.

My wife and her friend and kids were trying to catch a bus. I get on, her kids get on, and apparently she was too slow as the driver huffed audibly and took off. I asked the driver why he didn’t wait. He ignored me so I told him those weren’t my kids and I was going to call the police and report him for kidnapping. He stopped after that and waited for their mom.

You're obviously not a PI lawyer, or you're lying.

Scraped knees is a personal injury. If op is married, the spouse can be joined as a plaintiff, for loss of consortium. That's just for starters.

@60 Centre there used to be a Transit Part just for lawsuits against the MTA.

OP: take pics of any bruises, and file a police report in the precinct where this occurred.

Obligatory this is not legal advice. This is most definitely actionable.

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What’s the profile description of that bus driver?

You can definitely sue for negligence. Was there any video surveillance next to the place or bus?

Unfortunately this doesn't surprise me. I've seen so many disgruntled drivers who seem to be looking to take it out on a random passenger (the only people they have any power over). Last week I was on a bus on myrtle where the driver wouldn't let anyone on, only off. So she'd refuse to open the front door and only let people off and then would just say "NEXT BUS" and drive to the next stop.

Your language tells me you're not a lawyer.

Damages are awarded for your asserted claims.

Your obviously don't know what loss of consortium means.

Any half decent PI lawyer will draft a complaint that would look like the plaintiff got hit by a train, for a simple trip and fall.

I worked in the City Parts. Tens of thousands of cases are filed against the City every year.

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Let’s put it this way a fun sized white lady. Probably in her 30-40s.

Yes

So get that bitch fired and sue

The MTA would definitely remove the driver from service if this report is credible. They've done more for less

Lol I hope they can get camera footage inside. I’m trying to get a copy.

Same thing happened to me 20 years ago. (Damn I feel old saying that.) At the time I was wearing a bulky Casio G Shock watch and couldn't get my arm out the door. Same thing, I ran along the bus for one block banging on the door until he noticed me. I was a teen and in shape back then so no injuries, but could have been bad.

File the report, and see a lawyer. I know you don't want to but this seems like an easy case of mental distress and trauma. That's how things are changed the MTA hates paying out settlements and this seems like an easy win. Get your money, you're entitled to it

No one holds them accountable. Bus drivers act like assholes

Absolutely make a big stink about this. My great grandfather was hospitalized and nearly killed getting dragged by a bus.

Exactly I was thinking if this was an elder like my grandma who knows what the outcome would be. I'm glad you did better than me and kept up with the bus.

See if you can put a 311 complaint in. If they won't take it they should direct you to the proper channel. I don't think the MTA would take to kindly to this type of behavior.

Don’t those buses all have door cameras? They likely have this on video. Get a lawyer. They will know what to do.

And take some photos of your injuries now, while they are fresh.

Already sent my email to the MTA for a copy of the video. Hopefully they do send me a copy.

It’s in their interest to lose that video or deny its existence. That kind of communication is better done through a lawyer.

I would absolutely pursue this with the MTA. The driver could've killed you with their negligence. That driver shouldnt be a driver! Personally I would also lawyer up too. I know you dont want to do that but it might be the only way for the MTA to take any action.

Get a lawyer.

What bus

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As an attorney, never get legal advice from a Reddit forum. You have countless free services through your local Bar associations that will steer you in the right direction.

r/legaladvice is filled with talking heads, unrelated to the legal field as a whole, who give awful advice.

If you need any direction, I’m happy to give you some numbers and people who will consult with you free of charge

Feel better!

If you can get a camera video from MTA then submitting it to the ABC7, I’m sure it will go big.

https://abc7ny.com/send-a-breaking-news-tip-submit-nyc-in/2599968/

^ this is great advice. You may be ok, but if the driver does something again, and has a record, you will be helping somebody get properly compensated.

Also, if the driver flat out sucks, it will help them get the proper training to fix their obvious flaws

That’s incorrect. This is a personal injury action and it costs OP $0.00 unless he/she gets paid.

If you have a pik of the driver. Post it on Twitter and tag mta. They love twitter...

Knowing there is a camera is hopeful but the MTA sending it to me that their employee was negligent the hopefulness is low.

I’ve seen this happen before. What happens is people would just rush in the back of the bus when people get on and not even pay their fair and I don’t blame them.

Wish I did but I was shaken up. I took photo of the front of the bus inside that showed the driver on the rear view mirror and the license plate with the bus number.

There's is no consequence unless you force it. You can only force it by making it public or having a lawyer get mat/NYC to settle. And that will be hard

Yeah, but it’s still unacceptable for what happened. they are just doing damage control for not letting it go big. Probably nothing will happen to the driver.

Still post it on Twitter with your story and tag MTA

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The only thing r/legaladvice is good for is pointing you in the right direction of the actual legal services. The mods frequently pin their own comments with bad advice and flair themselves as "Quality Contributors".

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Stop posting online on how you are doing. Delete this and get a lawyer

I pinged someone high up in bus management about this (a few bosses up), this is quite a serious allegation and it's not how the bus drivers should act. You'll likely hear from someone higher up tomorrow. If not, DM me.

I appreciate it. If I can get footage inside the bus that would be awesome but I appreciate your help.

As a bus driver I can tell you customer complaints WILL be heard and will be looked into. Whether it’s bs reports of us not saying good morning or egregious reports such as this, this driver will have to explain himself and will likely face a suspension. As a driver I’m sorry this happened to you and stuff like this shouldn’t happen. This will be considered a 1-3 (bus / person accident). Kind of serious.

Reports on the MTA website and via the nyctbus twitter account are for sure heard and looked into. I know Reddit likes to shit on the MTA but one thing nyct division of the MTA do is listen to customer complaints. It’s really guilty until proven innocent here and this is not acceptable tbh

Appreciate the response! Do you think I will get camera footage of the incident? You think they will give me a copy?

Tbh I don’t know. Damn near all the buses have cameras especially if it’s a bus with a blue color scheme as those are usually newer.

Now just because it’s recorded doesn’t mean the recording will be given to you (I honestly do not know as it’s above my pay grade).

I hope you’re okay, this honestly sounds terrible. I’ve closed the door on a lady before before quickly reopening it (was hidden behind a large man and came to the bus last second), mistakes happen for sure and I was remorseful but this mistaken is crazy because you def should check mirrors b4 driving off.

Hit one of the local news stations

If I had a bus driver like you that showed some type of compassion after they dragged me with my arm inside closed doors I would at least feel better. Tbh they don’t even need to give me a copy, just video evidence so they know this happened instead of my word against the driver.

Might do that if I can’t get some response out of MTA. Just need them to hold the driver accountable but if they don’t news station do a good job at pressuring them.

Lmao not gon lie I’m a decent driver but I’m just doing my job lol. But trust and believe if you made a report it will be heard. Any incident with a customer must be called in on the radio no matter what. If a drunk crackhead falls on the bus we need to call it in and not move that bus regardless if it’s rush hour and the crackhead is long gone. this is absolutely serious and WILL be taken serious. If the operator is a probie (like me) they’ll likely be fired if they didn’t self report it. Trustttt me, the operator will be taken out of customer service and will face discipline.

I’d let it go. MTA employees are only human like the rest of us and these things just happen. You’re fine and probably wouldn’t get much without a fight anyways.

You the driver? What’s your badge number and name? Lol idk the driver didn’t seem concerned what happened to me.

This exact situation happened to my friend years ago. I want to say it took ~5 years to settle with the MTA. Maybe it was more like 4 years. They refused to provide the camera footage from the bus. If you are patient it’s worth it. Personal injury lawyers work on contingency so they’ll take 30% of your cut. Also helps if you have health insurance because a lawyer will want you to go to lots of follow up doctors appts.

I’m just saying what I would personally do. Feel free to ignore my opinion.

Don’t take advice from a kangaroo court type lawyer like you

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A bus pillaged my village and burned down my ancestral home.

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Ok “lawyer” , sue me

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Anybody would let it go if the driver just admitted the mistake or apologized. I don’t feel any empathy for a “human” who doesn’t have it.

Absolutely complain. I respect and appreciate the MTA workers that get us to where we need to go (24 hours a day) but this is unacceptable and could have been bad. The fact that they lacked any remorse reinforces that you should file a formal complaint or whatever.

Let’s not generalize every single bus driver please. There are some good bus drivers in this city who do care and get New Yorkers to where they need to go safely. We should report the ones who are reckless and dangerous.

A very similar thing happened to me about a year ago so I filed a complaint on their website with the bus and license numbers and the time/route. Someone from the MTA got back to me the next day via email stating they had investigated the situation, identified the driver and took "appropriate action" but I have no idea what that actually entailed

MTA drivers are terrible.

One time as I was getting off at the front door by myself, the bus driver closed the door on me as I was half way out, and started driving! Half my legs were out, but my upper body was still in the bus. I fell down, ended up sitting on the floor of the bus as I screamed at the driver. And he IGNORED me, until another passenger yelled out telling him to stop. He opened the door, I was able to get off, but no apology.

Another time, I missed the bus by 1 second and the door closed in front of me. Understandable, since they could be on a tight schedule. Seeing the next stop is just a couple blocks away, and I see that the traffic light was just turning red, I ran to the next stop. I got there on time, nobody else was at the stop, and add the bus got near, the bus driver just stared at me as he drove past the stop without stopping.

These happened about 10 years ago, and I will forever avoid taking the bus no matter what.

Was about to comment with the same, Twitter is the way to go with the MTA in my experience.

A few weeks ago on the 2 train the conductor was closing the door as quickly as they could at every stop, even crowded ones. Like literally they'd close it before the automated announcement finishes saying what station is next, smacking everyone trying to go in and out. God damn infuriating.

did the G Shock make it?

delete facebook, hit the gym, and lawyer up.

You need to file a claim for your injuries and damages. You will most certainly win. They have cameras and can verify. Know where you were, when, and what route. As a "common carrier" they owe you the highest level of care and what you describe is definitely a breach of that standard.

Don’t dismiss a lawsuit. You can get money and maybe get the driver suspended with pay.

During my Greyhound training we were told to live in our mirrors, move around in the seat to make sure you caught all your blind spots (of which there are many). I was trained at MTA on the old RTS’s and all we had on the right side was the inside mirror pointed at the right side windows and a mirror smaller than a dinner plate pointed at the rear tire. That’s why it was so important that no one stood forward of the white line. But if left to their devices, supervision would load you up with passengers standing in the front stairwell.

I’ve heard that a lot of senior instructors have left recently and there’s a serious brain drain at Zerega. This does not bode well for the operators coming up.

They put a lot of pressure on trains to keep to the schedule. But the one thing the union should be telling train operators & conductors is fuck the schedule, safety is more important and dare supervision to write anyone up.

A screw scraps?!? Chill get that pay day don’t be a fool

Pretty much taught the same thing here. 2 mirrors on the right side , convex shows your right side, and we have the mirror we place to see the rear wheel area. Also taught to cover our right side for the most part. The middle mirror inside the bus is to show the r/s as well and the space right behind the door. From my experience this set up is highly effective. Haven’t driven any RTSes so can’t speak on them.

Was taught to always check mirrors before moving and to basically live in my mirrors. If you follow what’s taught at zerega you will be safe. You’ll likely provoke a ton of ppl on here to make posts complaining about how slow bus service is but you’ll be safely operating the bus.

Tbh we have zero incentive to rush. Seems like operator in this case was rushing. We literally get overtime for anything that’s unscheduled. If we’re late to lunch or to go home all that extra time is unscheduled. And there’s 0 incentive to rush if you’re not on your lunch or go home trip.

How’s life over at Greyhound?

I worked Greyhound before coming to Transit. Being on call sucks ass. I was called in on my 8s every day so subtracting my travel time to and from the depot (2 hours there and back), I was getting 4 hours of sleep a day. I was having micro-sleeps while driving. Scared the shit out of me so I quit. Plus the pay wasn’t all that great.

I’m so glad I started driving before GPS was a thing. The union told us that the schedule means nothing… safety first. Now there’s so much pressure to meet these horribly timed schedules with so much discipline. Nothing good ever comes from rushing down the line.

Get out the seat at both ends no matter how “late” (no such thing) you are. Not only is it a safety thing to check the bus but getting out the seat keeps you healthy. I used to go round and round and could barely walk for my swing. My right knee still hurts. I totally jacked it up on those RTSs my first year.

This happened to me as a child and it was traumatic as fuck, get what you deserve man you almost died.

You'll only get the camera footage if you sue. PM me to discuss.

Welcome to New York

I saw this article the other day that might explain why it's happening

https://gothamist.com/news/new-mta-bus-drivers-cause-increase-in-bus-collisions

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i got banned for factually pointing out that a large chunk of the mod team are cops who routinely give out bad advice. like when they told someone accused of raping someone under their care to just submit their DNA if they were innocent…

as an attorney, do you honestly think they could get any kind of settlement or judgement for this?

> Dude! I don't know what it is about these bus drivers but they're fucking up man.

My bus driver told me he put a big chunk of his life saving into Btc and Tesla stock. That was back in April.

Why does that bother the bus drivers? They get paid regardless

Great way to get a copy is suing.

This is very interesting! Thank you for sharing.

What is "8s on call", sounds terrible!

What does it mean to "walk for my swing"?

Thank you!!

My ex’s father was an MTA bus driver. Any incident is investigated pretty thoroughly (unless COVID has changed this). If you can evidence it via witnesses and/or visible injuries you should report it.

But not sure what the end result would be.

Cause ridership is down and non payments are going up, so the mta might start making cuts.

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Here is a fact about buses: nearly 100% of all fatal accidents involving buses happen OUTSIDE of a bus, which is why bus drivers are trained to be incredibly cautious when arriving/departing a stop. This driver fucked up in a way that should cost them their license.

Source: I’m a teacher who hold a CDL with Bus and Passenger endorsements.

Yes. But time is of the essence. You have 90 Days to file a formal claim or you are shit out of luck.

It’s always good to get looked at, especially if you can have a soft tissue injury. Since it happened with a vehicle, in operation, your medical treatment is covered under No-Fault so you won’t have out of pocket expenses.

Good luck. You can either sue or file a complaint but either way the driver will keep his job. There is one way for you to get compensation.

What Union do you belong to?

That's nothing and MTA driver threatened to empty a whole bus because the Subway was having issues. And they weren't informed that they were going to have to honor the fares. And she pretty much threatened violence on me and threatened to empty out the bus. Maybe in the bigger person just opted to get out of the bus and avoid that altercation altogether. I ended up filing a report so we'll see if they actually take any charge and accountability for their driver's actions.

You could try a FOIA request and see if that gets you anywhere.

Yeah no, I'm going to generalize, because they are by far the most dangerous entities on the road. Even when I had a job where I drove in the city we knew to give them a wide berth. They're insured and have a cushy city job, they truly don't give a shit. I have personally had closer calls as far as accidents with them than anyone else.

They don't look when pulling into a stop, they don't look when pulling out, they'll turn despite oncoming traffic without checking for cyclists, now this guy gets dragged down the block by his arm. And hell, if you really want to get me on my soapbox, take a look at how many of them (and other MTA workers) fudge overtime to make $300k plus a year, wasting your taxes for their terrible and dangerous service.

Twitter is definitely the way to go … do both , via their website and let them know on twitter , twitter will get a much quicker response especially with photos.

Different scenario but shows the power of twitter, my friend had a package stolen from inside her apartment building. The police did nothing after she filed a report, until she posted a video, that her super had downloaded from the house security cameras, on the local precinct’s twitter page . Then the community affairs police officer immediately reached out to her. The package was not an Amazon box but a package from her mother, with a hand sewn sweater for her birthday inside. The guy who stole it was a doordash delivery guy. She never got the sweater back but doordash gave her $250 but at first they gave her the runaround too.

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I always wondered how the hell RTS drivers were able to change lanes with those ridiculously small mirrors.

Was the bus full?

Honestly this is not my experience at all. As a born an raised NYC resident, I've found city buses to be some of the most observant and careful drivers I encounter, as a pedestrian, driver or cyclist.

The quality of service on the other hand often leaves things to be desired...

Nope, lots of seats. Someone asked her why she wasn't letting people on and she barked at them to not talk to her while she was driving. I've also seen bus drivers decide "no more" randomly and close the door on people and just pull away when there was still a line. Most drivers are fairly chill but you definitely see head-cases from time to time who really shouldn't be operating a vehicle that large.

I have a story a lot like the second one but even more extra. I was in Staten Island, where the buses are quite awful and the bus blew past the stop I was at. Next stop was close so I gave chase alongside the bus yelling something along the lines of hey where ya going?

Beat the bus to the next stop where he had to stop at a stop light, but he still refused to let me on. I stuck my hand into his door and held him there for a few red lights until I finally felt bad for the other passengers and just let it go. but I was close to the dispatch at the ferry terminal, so I walked down there with the bus number and filed and in person complaint.

I was informed that the bus driver was forced to show up at a hearing with a union rep, but ultimately got away with it because the act of me chasing after the bus that refused to stop for me was "creating a dangerous situation."

Honestly though, I was satisfied. The driver wasted like an hour of my time, and I think I probably wasted more of his time and caused him more stress then he caused me so I considered it a fair trade.

All you will get is “We took the necessary actions and we can’t disclose what it was because it is private.” I had two separate incidents and on the second I didn’t even care to go through all this after I got this response on my first complaint.

Was it a jam packed bus? Back in middle school the bus driver told me the bus was full and I decided to try and get on anyway and had a similar encounter.

Why was your hand caught between the doors? Did you procrastinate and believe everyone was supposed to wait for you?

Whether it's the subway or the bus and the doors are closing, please do not run up to the doors and put a body part in its path! That bus driver also has to look for traffic when they're leaving the bus stop and believes the door has been closed. You have to realize that the bus driver is basically customer service rep, a token booth clerk, a train operator and a conductor all rolled up into one! That's four jobs they have to perform at every instance they're driving that bus!

you could’ve died. fuck that driver.

Fuck that sue.

frankly my friend is an attorney for the city who deals with cases like this and he doesn't think there are damages, so, good luck lol

A “Swing” is the meal break. I could barely walk up the stairs to the swing room. The human body is just not designed to sit in a chair doing repetitive motions for hours on end.

I came from driving coaches at Greyhound so the first time I got on the RTS I asked the instructor, “How in the hell am I supposed to see anything?!?” I was flabbergasted.

City pension workers will always deflect liability. Always. Admitting wrongdoing is not in their DNA.

Twu 100

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Report it to Mta and police. She needs to get fired.

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You should still sue the city. Like you said, you could’ve VERY easily been killed.

They would get it during discovery. OP should absolutely sue, they could’ve been killed.

Yup. I'd love to take that case. Easy win.

Should call a newspaper this honestly has page 1 written all over it. Post a photo of the driver so people can be warned about this dangerous asshole

Sorry to hear about this incident. This is an extremely dangerous situation. I’m also a NYCT bus operator and as much as mistakes do happen, something like this could fatally injure someone. Even if you don’t sue the bus operator in question needs to be reprimanded and/or retrained. Definitely reach out in twitter and 511. Hopefully you’re not in too much pain.

Lol thanks for the comment. I thought I was good but the next day but the soreness and pain really came in for a surprise.

That’s why you always seek medical attention. Just in case. I hope you get a speedy resolution and recovery.

You won't get footage directly sent to you as that's only released to NYPD/lawyers during investigation. Did you contact transit and the police?