A bus accident in Greenville can leave passengers, motorists, pedestrians, or cyclists facing serious injuries and an uncertain path forward. These crashes can become especially complicated when the bus is operated by a government entity, such as Greenlink or Greenville County Schools, because different deadlines and damage limits may apply.
Greenville’s busy corridors, including I-85, I-385, US-123, and Woodruff Road, bring buses into frequent contact with heavy traffic. When a collision happened, South Carolina law allows injured parties to recover from the parties at fault, generally within three years for private operators, but on a much shorter clock when a government entity is involved.
The Arndt Law Firm represents people injured in bus accidents throughout Greenville and Greenville County. Call us at (843) 310-4645 for a free case review, and we’ll discuss the details of your case and what coverage you may be entitled to.
Buses that transport passengers for the public are generally considered common carriers under the law. As common carriers, they owe their passengers a heightened duty of care.
Unlike ordinary drivers, who are generally required to exercise reasonable care, bus operators must take the highest degree of care consistent with the practical operation of the bus to keep their passengers safe. This higher standard recognizes that passengers place significant trust in the carrier when they board the bus.
The heightened common-carrier duty is not a universal rule in South Carolina. When a claim against a school district or the State is framed as a failure to supervise, protect, control, or take custody of a student (a child hurt while boarding or crossing to a bus, or hurt by what happened on board), S.C. Code § 15-78-60(25) bars recovery unless that duty was 'exercised in a grossly negligent manner.'
The South Carolina Supreme Court applied that standard to a student struck by a car after her bus privileges were suspended without notice to her mother, and held that whether the district was grossly negligent was a question for the jury. Gross negligence is the failure to exercise slight care. No South Carolina appellate decision has held that a school bus is a common carrier.
South Carolina holds that 'a common carrier has a duty to exercise the highest degree of care towards its passengers.' Hurd v. Williamsburg County, 353 S.C. 596, 579 S.E.2d 136 (Ct. App. 2003), aff'd, 363 S.C. 421, 611 S.E.2d 488 (2005). That duty runs during the carrier-passenger relationship. Once a passenger steps from a bus into a reasonably safe place on a public highway, the relation ordinarily ends, and the carrier then owes ordinary care not to imperil the passenger by starting up the bus.
Hurd applied this framework to a county transit authority, and its damages were still cut to the Tort Claims Act cap. No reported South Carolina decision applies the common-carrier duty to a school bus.
One of the most important questions in a bus accident case is who operated the bus, because the answer determines which rules and deadlines apply. Buses in the Greenville area fall into several categories, and the differences between them are significant, affecting not only the filing deadline but also the procedural steps, the damage limits, and even whether punitive damages are available.
When the bus is operated by a government entity, the claim falls under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, which imposes shorter deadlines, damage caps, and special procedural requirements. A claim against a government bus operator is fundamentally different from one against a private company, and the differences can be decisive.
Greenlink is the service name. The transit function is administered by the Greenville Transit Authority, a special-purpose district created in 1973 as a joint transit authority for the City and County of Greenville; the City of Greenville manages Greenlink operations under contract with the Authority.
Both are 'political subdivisions' under S.C. Code § 15-78-30, so a Greenlink claim is a Tort Claims Act claim, and S.C. Code § 15-78-70(c) requires the correct entity, not 'Greenlink,' to be named as defendant.
In South Carolina, the school bus fleet is state property. S.C. Code § 59-67-410 vests 'the control and management of all school bus transportation in the State' in the State Board of Education, S.C. Code § 59-67-530 makes the Board responsible for the expenses of operating state-owned buses, and S.C. Code § 59-67-540 makes the Department of Transportation responsible for maintaining them in safe mechanical condition.
Greenville County Schools employs drivers and runs the local routes, but the bus and its upkeep are the State's. A school bus claim may therefore run against the South Carolina Department of Education and the State Board of Education as well as the district, and S.C. Code § 15-78-70(c) requires the correct governmental entity to be named as defendant. Buses owned by a district or by a contractor are handled separately under S.C. Code § 59-67-740.
When the bus is operated by a private company, such as a charter bus, a tour bus, or a private shuttle, the claim proceeds under ordinary negligence principles and the standard three-year deadline, though the common-carrier duty still applies. The distinction is not always obvious from the bus's appearance, since a shuttle that looks private may be operated under contract for a government entity, and a vehicle's markings do not always reveal who employed the driver or owned the bus.
A charter or tour motorcoach operating in interstate commerce is a commercial motor vehicle under 49 C.F.R. § 390.5T and is subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, with minimum financial responsibility of $5,000,000 for a bus seating 16 or more. South Carolina reaches the same buses intrastate: S.C. Code § 56-5-4240(C)(1) applies the federal regulations to any commercial motor vehicle designed or used to transport 16 or more passengers, including the driver, regardless of weight.
Those rules generate the driver qualification files, hours-of-service records, inspection and maintenance records, and drug and alcohol testing records that often decide a charter bus case. They do not, however, reach a school bus on a home-to-school run or a bus operated by a state or local government: 49 C.F.R. § 390.3T(f)(1) and (f)(2) exempt both.
Whether a bus was operated by the government or a private entity is an important first question because that distinction determines the applicable deadline, procedure, and legal limits. A wrong determination can end a claim before it begins.
When a government entity operates the bus, the South Carolina Tort Claims Act governs the claim, and its requirements are strict. Under the Act, a claim against a government entity is subject to a two-year statute of limitations, shorter than the three years that applies to most injury claims, and that period can be extended to three years only if a verified claim was filed first.
A verified claim for damages may but need not be filed with the State Fiscal Accountability Authority or with the political subdivision, and if it is filed, it must be received within one year after the loss was or should have been discovered, under S.C. Code § 15-78-80. The entity then has 180 days to determine whether the claim is allowed. Filing one extends the deadline to bring suit from two years to three (S.C. Code §§ 15-78-100(a), 15-78-110).
The Act also limits the recovery available. The $300,000 per person / $600,000 per occurrence limits in S.C. Code § 15-78-120(a) are the general Tort Claims Act figures. South Carolina has a separate statute for state-owned school buses: § 59-67-710(3)(a) sets the limits at $250,000 for one person and $500,000 for a single occurrence, and the section likewise bars punitive damages. Which limit controls where both statutes speak has not been settled by a reported South Carolina appellate decision.
Separately, S.C. Code § 59-67-710 provides benefits payable without regard to fault or negligence (a death benefit of not less than $50,000 and medical expenses up to $3,000) for a child injured while boarding, riding, or leaving a state-owned school bus, while crossing the highway at a loading or unloading point, or while traveling between home and the bus stop. That benefit is available even where no one was negligent.
The bar on punitive damages is also notable, since conduct that might otherwise support a punitive award cannot give rise to one when the responsible operator is a government entity.
These rules make a government bus claim a different undertaking from an ordinary personal injury claim. The shorter two-year deadline, the one-year verified-claim step, the damage caps, and the bar on punitive damages all affect the outcome of a claim and require careful attention from the start.
The two-year Tort Claims Act deadline is not absolute where the injured person is a child. S.C. Code § 15-78-110 begins 'Except as provided for in Section 15-3-40,' and § 15-3-40 tolls the limitations period while the injured person is under eighteen, subject to that section's own outer limits, including that it does not extend the period more than one year after the disability ends.
Exactly how the two statutes interact is contested, and whether the one-year verified-claim window in § 15-78-80 is tolled at all remains unsettled. A parent should never assume a child's claim is gone, and should never rely on the tolling either.
A bus accident can injure several different groups of people, each with a path to recovery. Bus passengers are an obvious group, owed the heightened common-carrier duty and able to recover when the operator's negligence causes their injuries. Because passengers on many buses lack seatbelts and ride in a vehicle whose sudden stops and collisions can throw passengers about, their injuries can be serious.
People in other vehicles struck by a bus form a second group. A bus is large and heavy, and a collision with a passenger vehicle can cause severe injuries to its occupants, who can recover from the at-fault bus operator under the applicable rules. Pedestrians and cyclists struck by a bus are a third group, particularly vulnerable given the bus's size, and they too can pursue claims against a negligent operator.
The type of operator affects all of these claimants equally, because it determines the deadlines and limits that apply to any claim arising from the crash. A pedestrian struck by a public transit bus faces the same Tort Claims Act rules as an injured passenger on that bus.
The lack of seatbelts on many buses also contributes to passenger injuries: during a sudden stop or collision, passengers can be thrown forward, sideways, or from their seats, striking seatbacks, rails, windows, or one another, meaning a crash that leaves the bus relatively intact can still seriously injure passengers.
Most buses have no seat belts, and South Carolina law does not require them on school or transit buses. That absence is not held against an injured passenger: S.C. Code § 56-5-6540(C) provides that a violation of the seat belt article 'is not negligence per se or contributory negligence, and is not admissible as evidence in a civil action.' The belt statute does not reach buses in the first place; § 56-5-6510 defines the covered 'motor vehicle' as a passenger car, truck, van, or recreational vehicle.
Each injured person's path to recovery and the operator-specific rules that apply must be identified as part of handling a bus accident case. These cases can involve many claimants from a single incident, each with an individual claim arising from the same event.
South Carolina follows modified comparative negligence. An injured person who is 50 percent or less at fault still recovers, with the award reduced by their own percentage; at 51 percent or more, they recover nothing. The rule derives from the South Carolina Supreme Court's decision in Nelson v. Concrete Supply Co., 303 S.C. 243, 399 S.E.2d 783 (1991), rather than from a statute.
When a governmental entity and a private defendant are both sued, S.C. Code § 15-78-100(c) requires the jury to return a special verdict specifying each defendant's proportion of liability.
Bus accidents in the Greenville area arise from the same kinds of failures as other crashes, and are influenced by the area's roads and traffic. Driver error, including distraction, fatigue, failure to yield, and improper maneuvers, causes many bus crashes, and the size of a bus means that a driver's mistake can have serious consequences. Inadequate maintenance of brakes, tires, and other systems can cause or contribute to a crash, breaching the carrier's duty to keep the bus safe.
Greenville County recorded 250 fatal and serious-injury collisions in 2025, according to preliminary data published by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety; statewide, there were approximately 136,044 collisions resulting in 48,685 injuries. Greenlink and Greenville County Schools buses run the same corridors that generate those numbers (I-85, I-385, US-123, and Woodruff Road), and a bus making frequent scheduled stops re-enters that traffic dozens of times a day.
The area's roads and traffic contribute to the risk of bus crashes. Public transit and school buses operate on the same corridors that carry the area's traffic, including the interstates, the major arterials, and the local streets serving the city's neighborhoods, and the frequent stops buses make create points of conflict with other traffic.
The congestion on corridors like Woodruff Road and the heavy traffic on the interstates add to the hazards buses face, and the area's growth means more vehicles share the roads with buses.
School buses present their own context in an area with many families. The Greenville County School District, the largest in South Carolina, operates buses on local routes in the morning and afternoon, and crashes can involve children, whether as passengers or as pedestrians around a stopped bus. These crashes raise the same questions for operators, since school buses are government operations. They carry the particular concern of injuries to children, along with the danger posed by motorists who ignore a stopped school bus's signals.
The frequent stops a school bus makes are themselves a source of risk because each time the bus pulls over and re-enters traffic, it creates a point of potential conflict, and the children crossing the road to reach or leave the bus are vulnerable to drivers who fail to stop. Regardless of bus type, the local traffic and road conditions shape how these crashes occur.
Bus accidents cause a wide range of injuries, from the bruises and sprains of a sudden stop to the catastrophic harm of a serious collision. Passengers thrown about an unbelted bus can suffer head injuries, fractures, and spinal injuries, and occupants of a vehicle struck by a bus, or a pedestrian or cyclist hit by one, can suffer the most severe injuries given the bus's size and weight.
When a serious bus crash occurs in the Greenville area, the most critically injured are treated at Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital, the Upstate's Level I trauma center, which also operates the region's only pediatric trauma center.
South Carolina law allows recovery for the full range of harm caused by a bus accident, though the limits depend on the operator. Economic damages cover medical expenses, future treatment, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity, and non-economic damages compensate for pain and suffering and the loss of enjoyment of life. For a private operator, the recovery follows ordinary rules, while for a government operator, the Tort Claims Act caps apply and punitive damages are unavailable.
Where a bus crash is fatal, the wrongful death claim runs from the date of death, not the date of the collision, which matters when a passenger survives the crash by weeks or months. If the operator was a government entity, the Tort Claims Act periods still apply: two years from the date the loss was or should have been discovered, or three if a verified claim was first filed under S.C. Code § 15-78-80.
The available recovery depends heavily on the type of operator and the applicable caps, so identifying the operator and the governing rules is essential to understanding what a bus accident claim can recover and to protecting it from the shorter deadlines imposed by a government claim.
A private party's insurance is not subject to the Tort Claims Act cap, but South Carolina limits how much of the shortfall that party can be made to absorb. Under S.C. Code § 15-38-15, a tortfeasor whose share of the total fault is less than 50 percent is liable only for its own percentage. The exception in subsection (F), wilful, wanton, reckless, or intentional conduct, or conduct involving the illegal or illicit use, sale, or possession of drugs, restores full liability; note that the version effective January 1, 2026, removed 'grossly negligent' and the alcohol clause from that exception. Section 15-78-100(c) requires a special verdict apportioning liability between the governmental entity and any joint tortfeasor.
South Carolina requires uninsured motorist coverage on every auto policy (S.C. Code § 38-77-150) and requires carriers to offer underinsured motorist coverage (S.C. Code § 38-77-160).
UIM is optional, not mandatory. It is worth checking, because § 38-77-160 defines UIM to cover damages in excess of the liability limits carried by an at-fault insured or underinsured motorist or in excess of any damages cap or limitation imposed by statute, language that speaks directly to the Tort Claims Act limits.
Minimum liability limits in South Carolina are $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident (S.C. Code § 38-77-140), which a bus crash with several injured passengers can immediately exhaust
After a bus crash, the first priority is medical care, both for health and to document the injuries at their origin. Injuries can range widely, and some, including head and internal injuries, may not be immediately apparent, so accepting evaluation matters even when an injury seems minor.
Documenting the crash helps establish what happened and, critically, who operated the bus. If you are able, note the bus's markings, route, and operator, whether it was a school bus, a transit bus, or a private company's vehicle, since that determines which rules apply.
Photographs of the bus, the scene, and any vehicles involved can preserve key evidence, while the names and contact information of other passengers and witnesses can preserve their accounts. A law enforcement response and official crash report can also create a valuable record, especially when many people were involved.
In the period that follows, the most important consideration is the deadline. Keep all medical records and documentation of expenses, be cautious about giving recorded statements before understanding the claim, and seek advice early, since the shorter government deadlines and the verified-claim step leave less room for delay than an ordinary injury claim.
| Type of bus operator | Governing rules |
| Public transit (government) | Tort Claims Act: 2-year deadline, 1-year verified claim, damage caps |
| Public school bus (government) | Tort Claims Act rules apply; crashes may involve children |
| Private charter, tour, or shuttle | Ordinary negligence, 3-year deadline; common-carrier duty applies |
| Common-carrier duty | Heightened duty of care owed to passengers in all cases |
Yes, enormously. A government operator, like a school bus or public transit, triggers the Tort Claims Act's shorter two-year deadline, one-year verified-claim step, and damage caps. A private operator follows ordinary rules.
A bus carrying passengers is generally a common carrier and owes a heightened duty to use the highest degree of care consistent with practical operation to protect its passengers.
For a private operator, generally three years. For a government operator, a two-year deadline applies, with a verified claim generally required within one year.
For a government operator, a per-occurrence damage cap may have to be shared among the injured, which can limit each person's recovery. Identifying every responsible party is important.
A bus accident suit is filed in the Court of Common Pleas. Greenville County lies wholly within the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, and the courthouse is at 305 East North Street in Greenville. Where the defendant is a government entity, venue is not a matter of convention: S.C. Code § 15-78-100(b) requires the action to be brought in the circuit court of the county in which the act or omission occurred.
The Arndt Law Firm approaches every Greenville bus accident claim by first determining who operated the bus, since that fact dictates the applicable deadlines, procedures, and limits. Our firm then establishes any breach of the heightened common-carrier duty, documents the injuries, and meets the shorter deadlines that may apply to a government claim.
Because attorney Arndt previously defended insurers and institutional clients, he understands how these claims are evaluated and contested and builds each case to protect the available recovery under the applicable rules.
If you were injured in a bus accident in Greenville or anywhere in Greenville County, prompt action is especially important. The consultation is free, and our firm handles bus accident cases on a contingency basis, with no fee unless there is a recovery. Reach out to schedule a consultation.
Last reviewed: June 2026
This page was reviewed by Jonathan S. Arndt, licensed in South Carolina since 2018.
Content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed South Carolina attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
