School bus driver faces manslaughter charge in death of motorcyclist

Authorities in South Carolina upgraded charges against a school bus driver to manslaughter from a collision with a motorcycle that occurred in November.  The bus driver had been charged with failure to yield the right of way in the motorcycle accident which claimed the life of the 18 year old high school student who was riding it.

This is yet another sad tale of a car failing to yield the right of way to a motorcycle.  However, despite the many ways in which motorcycle accidents are different from car accidents, one thing remains the same: the legal doctrine of respondeat superior applies.

This doctrine states that an employer will be help liable for the negligent acts of its employee when the employee is acting in  the course and scope of his employment.  That means that in this case, the employer of the school bus driver will also be held liable for the death of the motorcycle rider.

Determining whether the at-fault driver was doing anything employment-related at the time of an accident makes a substantial difference in the kind of recovery that the victim of a motorcycle accident makes.  This is why as experienced Chicago motorcycle accident lawyers, we always require an at-fault driver to provide us with an affidavit that they were not doing anything employment related, including talking on a cell phone, at the time the accident occurred.