Jury Gives Woman Award For Medical Expenses, But Nothing For Mental Anguish After Collision With School Bus

A jury in Jefferson County, Texas has found a Beaumont Independent School District bus driver to be at fault for a collision in which the driver of the other vehicle suffered personal injuries and has been ordered to pay the other driver’s medical costs.

On April 1, the civil trial of Tina McDaniel vs. BISD began in the 136th Judicial Court of Judge Milton Shuffield. The trial ended the next day, with jurors finding both parties to be partially negligent in the crash.

McDaniel was awarded $2,700 for her past medical costs, but the jury awarded her nothing for future medical costs, lost wages, or mental anguish.

McDaniel filed the suit in June 2007, claiming that her vehicle had been clipped and dragged several feet by a school bus before the bus finally stopped.

The suit said that on May 24, 2006, McDaniel entered the school drop-off zone as she was taking her daughter to school when the bus “came at a high rate of speed and turned,” colliding with the vehicle driven by McDaniel on the right side and dragging it approximately 15 feet.

The suit says that the collision jarred McDaniel’s vehicle and caused her steering wheel to twist, giving her a severe jarring to her neck. She claimed she suffered back and neck injuries.

The suit alleged negligence on the part of the bus driver for failure to make a proper turn, and failure to stay in his lane. The original claim sought damages for past and future medical costs, lost wages, and mental anguish.