What Happens if You Get Into an Accident With a Bus in Denver? A Denver Bus Accident, Step by Step

This page provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always consult a licensed attorney for advice specific to your situation.

At the Scene: What Colorado Law Asks of Every Driver

In the minutes after a bus crash, you may feel shaken, and the scene is rarely orderly. Colorado law still puts a few duties on every driver involved, including the bus driver.

A driver in a crash causing injury or damage to an occupied vehicle has to give “the driver’s name, the driver’s address, and the registration number of the vehicle he or she is driving,” show a license on request, and, where practical, give reasonable assistance to anyone hurt (C.R.S. 42-4-1603(1)). A driver in a crash involving injury or death also has to “immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of such accident or as close to the scene as possible” (C.R.S. 42-4-1601).

There’s a reporting duty on top of that. The driver has to “provide immediate notice of the location of such accident” to the nearest office of the police authority (C.R.S. 42-4-1606(1)).

What helps your claim later, if you’re able:

• Write down the bus number, the route number, and the operator’s name
• Photograph the bus, its markings, the position of the vehicles, and the street
• Get names and phone numbers for other passengers and for anyone on the sidewalk
• Note the exact intersection and the direction each vehicle was traveling
• Ask for medical attention at the scene, even if you feel able to walk away

Reporting the Crash in Denver

Denver’s own guidance says that, in all cases except when an accident alert has been declared, you must stop and report the crash by calling your local police station or 911.

An accident alert is declared when conditions such as severe weather stop officers from responding to every crash. During one, all drivers involved exchange name, license, registration, and insurance information, and the crash is reported as soon as possible.

To order a crash report later, Denver directs people to its Records page, and they can obtain a case number for the crash report by calling the Denver Police Records Section at (720) 913-6029, Monday through Friday. Our guide on what to do after a car accident in Colorado provides the same information for a typical collision.

Who Owns the Bus, and Who Employed the Driver

Answer this one first. The deadline, the cap and the defendant all follow from it.

Type of bus	What that means for a claim
A public transit bus owned by a transit district	Generally a public entity claim, with the 182-day notice and the recovery limit, if a public employee was driving
A public school district bus	Also a public entity; school districts are named in the definition (C.R.S. 24-10-103(5))
A state-operated coach	A public entity claim and notice goes to the attorney general (C.R.S. 24-10-109(3)(a))
A private charter, tour or shuttle bus	An ordinary injury claim against the company and its insurer
A hotel, casino or airport shuttle	An ordinary injury claim, generally with commercial coverage
A transit bus driven by a private contractor’s employee	Mixed, and the cap may not apply to the driver or the contractor

Colorado defines a public entity broadly. It includes “the state, the judicial department of the state, any county, city and county, municipality, school district, special improvement district, and every other kind of district, agency, instrumentality, or political subdivision thereof organized pursuant to law” (C.R.S. 24-10-103(5)).

You can’t tell from the paint. A private company may operate a vehicle in transit colors under contract, and that changes the analysis.

The 182-Day Notice for a Government Bus

If a public entity is involved, the 182-day notice is the deadline to put in your calendar today.

Anyone claiming an injury caused by a public entity or its employee “shall file a written notice as provided in this section within one hundred eighty-two days after the date of the discovery of the injury, regardless of whether the person then knew all of the elements of a claim or of a cause of action for such injury” (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). Compliance is “a jurisdictional prerequisite,” and failure “shall forever bar any such action.”

The statute also sets out what the notice has to contain:

1. Your name and address, and your attorney’s name and address if you have one
2. A concise statement of the factual basis of the claim, including the date, time, place, and circumstances
3. The name and address of any public employee involved, if known
4. A concise statement of the nature and extent of the injury claimed
5. A statement of the amount of money being requested

Where the notice goes also matters. A claim against the state goes to the attorney general; a claim against any other public entity goes to “the governing body of the public entity or the attorney representing the public entity,” and it is effective when mailed by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or on personal service (C.R.S. 24-10-109(3)(a)).

There’s one more step before you can file suit. No action may be commenced until the claimant has received notice that the entity denied the claim, or until 90 days have passed after the notice was filed, whichever comes first (C.R.S. 24-10-109(6)).

The Limit on What a Public Entity Pays

Colorado caps what can be recovered from a public entity, and the figures are adjusted every four years by the Secretary of State.

When the claim accrues	Limit for one person	Limit for a single occurrence
On or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2026	$424,000	$1,195,000
On or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2030	$505,000	$1,421,000

Two points about the occurrence limit. Where two or more people are hurt in the same crash, the total is capped, and “no person may recover in excess of” the single-person figure. A bus carries many people, so the shared limit can matter a great deal in a serious collision.

A public entity also can’t be held liable, directly or by indemnification, for punitive or exemplary damages or for damages for outrageous conduct (C.R.S. 24-10-114(4)(a)). Our explainer on punitive damages in a Denver personal injury case explains where those damages apply.

How a Contractor-Driven Bus Changes the Limit

Here’s the part that’s deceptively simple to get wrong, and the Colorado Supreme Court has addressed it directly.

In Henisse v. First Transit, Inc., a driver hit a car while driving an RTD bus. He worked for a private company that contracted with the transit district to supply drivers.

The court held he was not a “public employee” under the immunity act because the definition excludes an independent contractor, and the damages cap therefore did not apply to him. His employer, liable only through him, was not covered by the cap either.

So an RTD bus accident can be a capped claim or an uncapped one, and the answer sits in the paperwork. Who employed the driver is a factual question, answered by looking at:

• The contract between the transit agency and the operating company
• The driver’s own employment and payroll records
• Who trained, scheduled, and supervised the driver
• Which company’s insurance covers the route

That work should be done in the first weeks of a case, while the records are still available.

Passenger, Pedestrian or Driver: How the Claim Differs

Where you were sitting or standing shapes what insurance is available.

• A passenger on the bus. You generally have no fault in the crash. Your claim may run against the bus operator, against another driver, or against both.
• This could be a driver or passenger in another vehicle. Fault is determined between the drivers, and your own coverage may apply if the responsible party has insufficient coverage. See our piece on car accidents with an uninsured driver in Colorado.
• A pedestrian or cyclist. If you were hit by a bus on foot or on a bike, the case turns on right-of-way, sight lines, and the bus’s turning path, and the injuries tend to be severe.
• A person who is hurt while boarding or getting off. The facts of the stop, the curb, and the door are important, and one can contest whether the injury arose from operating the vehicle.

If a crash took a life, the people who may bring a claim are set by Colorado statute. Our article on who is allowed to sue in a Denver fatal crash explains the order.

The Deadlines in a Denver Bus Accident Claim

Situation	General Colorado rule
Notice to a public entity	Written notice within 182 days after you discover the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1))
Waiting period before suit against a public entity	Until the claim is denied or 90 days pass after notice, whichever is first (C.R.S. 24-10-109(6))
Bodily injury from the use or operation of a motor vehicle	Generally three years (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n))
Tort claims in general	Generally two years (C.R.S. 13-80-102)

An action under the immunity act still has to be commenced within the period in articles 80 and 81 of title 13, “or it shall be forever barred” (C.R.S. 24-10-109(5)). The 182-day notice doesn’t replace the filing deadline; it’s an extra step on top of it, and both have to be met.

For more, see how long after an accident you can sue in Denver, and have a lawyer confirm the dates that apply to you.

What Can Reduce What You Recover

Colorado uses a comparative fault rule. Being partly at fault doesn’t automatically end a claim, but it does cut the award.

Under C.R.S. 13-21-111, contributory negligence does not bar recovery if your negligence “was not as great as the negligence of the person against whom recovery is sought,” and any damages allowed “shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to” you. Our post on comparative negligence in Colorado explains how that plays out.

Other things that can hold a bus claim back:

• Missing the 182-day notice where a public entity is involved
• Gaps in treatment, which insurers read as evidence the injury was minor
• A recorded statement given before you knew the extent of your injuries
• No record of the bus number or route, which makes identifying the right defendant harder
• Video that’s overwritten because no one asked for it in time

That last one is the reason to act early. Transit and school bus videos can be kept for a limited period, and a written request is what stops it being lost.

How We Look at a Denver Bus Crash

We start by identifying the bus, its owner, and the employer of the driver, because that decides which deadline and which limit apply. Then we look at the video, the maintenance and training records, and the police investigation.

What gets requested first:

• A written preservation request for onboard and station video
• The crash report and any supplemental reports
• The driver’s training file and hours before the crash
• Maintenance and inspection records for that vehicle
• The route assignment and the operating contract, if a contractor was involved

We read the file before talking about numbers. What a bus case is worth depends on the injuries, the coverage available, and whether a statutory limit applies; none of that is knowable in a first phone call.

Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). CGH Injury Lawyers, formerly Cheney Galluzzi & Howard, was founded in Denver in 2016 and prepares each case as if it will be tried. If Spanish is your first language, you can reach us at (303) 835-9177.

Serious injuries from a metro crash are treated at facilities like Denver Health Medical Center, listed by the state as a Level I designated trauma facility (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment). Keep every record from that visit.

Talk to a Denver Bus Accident Lawyer

If you were hurt in a crash involving a bus, a Denver bus accident lawyer can identify the owner, preserve the video, and track the notice deadline while you focus on treatment. Call (303) 209-9395 or use our contact page for the Denver office and tell us what happened. You can also read more about bus accident claims in Colorado.

Frequently Asked Questions

Written by CGH Injury Lawyers.

Last reviewed: September 25, 2026.

Attorney Advertising. CGH Injury Lawyers.