Responsibility for a bus crash starts with the operator but rarely ends there: a motorcoach may be owned, operated and maintained by three companies, and an NJ Transit or school bus is a public agency. Which one you face sets your deadline and the insurance available.
Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, P.C. · Edison · New Brunswick · Perth Amboy · AVAILABLE 24/7
350 of 3,724
federally reportable truck and bus crashes in Middlesex involved a bus (9%)
2021–2025, FMCSA crash file
3 crashes, 6 killed
fatal crashes involving a bus in Middlesex
2019–2024, NHTSA FARS
$5 million
federal minimum liability insurance for a for-hire interstate bus seating 16 or more, including the driver
49 CFR 387.33T
90 days
to file a notice of claim against NJ Transit, a school district or another public operator
N.J.S.A. 59:8-8
Buses were in 350 of the 3,724 federally reportable truck and bus crashes in Middlesex County from 2021 through 2025, about 9 percent (FMCSA crash file). This page covers two recent Middlesex bus crashes, the insurance and notice rules, and where the report comes from. Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, P.C. sorts out the operator question and files the notices for you.
Two Middlesex bus crashes
August 9, 2022, New Jersey Turnpike, Woodbridge, near the Thomas Edison Service Area ramp. A double-decker intercity bus overturned after colliding with a pickup truck. Two people were killed. At least four lawsuits were filed against the operator; the latest was filed in Middlesex County Superior Court on January 24, 2024. The driver has alleged a tire blowout and a maintenance failure. We describe the litigation only as filed; nothing here is a statement about its merits or outcome.
January 31, 2024, US 130 and Stults Road, South Brunswick. A car turning left from Route 130 struck a school bus traveling the other way. Three people in the car were killed, and the bus driver was taken to a hospital. We list this as a bus-involved crash. It is not a claim against the bus, and the federal file counts it among the five fatal crashes on US 130 in these years (2021–2025, FMCSA crash file).
The Turnpike crash shows why bus cases spread across several companies: the owner, the operator, the maintenance contractor and the tire supplier can each hold part of the answer. The Route 130 crash shows the other side: a bus can be the vehicle that was hit, and its passengers’ claims run against the car’s driver and insurer.
Buses in the Middlesex crash data
Reportable crashes involving a bus
350 of 3,724 (9%)
2021–2025, FMCSA crash file
Bus vehicles by size in those crashes
236 buses with 16 or more seats; 117 with 9 to 15 seats
2021–2025, FMCSA crash file
Fatal crashes involving a bus
3 crashes, 6 people killed (2019, 2022, 2024)
2019–2024, NHTSA FARS
Reportable truck and bus crashes on the Middlesex stretch of the Garden State Parkway
30
2021–2025, FMCSA crash file
Why buses are on the Parkway
Commercial vehicles over 10,000 lb are barred from the Parkway north of Interchange 105, which covers all of Middlesex, but buses are exempt
N.J.A.C. 19:9-1.9, amended effective January 6, 2025
Data note
Involving a truck does not mean the truck caused the crash. The same applies to a bus.
FMCSA and FARS count involvement, not fault
Bus insurance minimums by seat count
Bus
Who sets the minimum
Minimum liability
For-hire interstate bus, 16 or more seats including the driver
Federal, 49 CFR 387.33T
$5,000,000
For-hire interstate bus, 15 or fewer seats
Federal, 49 CFR 387.33T
$1,500,000
New Jersey-registered bus designed for 16 or more passengers
State, N.J.S.A. 39:6B-1 as amended by P.L.2023, c.276 (policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2024)
$1,500,000 combined single limit
School-only trips (students and teachers to and from school; district-contracted extracurricular trips)
Excluded from the federal passenger minimum (49 CFR 387.27)
State and district requirements apply instead
Passenger carriers subject to the federal rule attach a Form MCS-90B endorsement, which requires the insurer to pay a final judgment for public liability up to the minimum even where a policy exclusion would otherwise apply. The federal minimums apply to for-hire interstate carriers; a public transit operator’s coverage has to be confirmed in the individual case.
Public operator or private company: why it matters
If the bus was run by NJ Transit, a school district, a county or another public body, the New Jersey Tort Claims Act applies. A notice of claim must be filed within 90 days of the crash; suit may follow six months after the notice; and the claim is barred if two years pass. A judge may allow a late notice within one year only on a showing of “extraordinary circumstances” (N.J.S.A. 59:8-8, 59:8-9). Public entities also pay no punitive damages and no pre-judgment interest, and pain-and-suffering damages are limited to permanent injuries with medical expenses over $3,600 (N.J.S.A. 59:9-2).
Most federal motor carrier safety rules do not apply to buses operated by a government (49 CFR 390.3T), though CDL drug and alcohol testing still does (49 CFR 382.103). A private contractor driving a district’s students is a private defendant even though the trip is public. Identifying which one you are dealing with is the first task, and the 90-day clock is the reason it cannot wait.
Private carriers keep maintenance records for only one year (49 CFR 396.3). Tire and brake records matter in a case like the 2022 Turnpike crash, where a blowout and a maintenance failure have been alleged, so the preservation letter goes out as soon as we are retained. Our court and venue page explains where a bus case is heard; the 2022 Turnpike suits were filed in Middlesex County Superior Court at 56 Paterson Street in New Brunswick.
Where the report comes from
Bus
Investigating agency
How to get the report
NJ Transit bus, anywhere in the county
NJ Transit Police
Email the Records Division with your name, phone, the incident date and a copy of photo ID; release takes five to ten business days. Records: (973) 491-8770, Mon–Fri 8 to 4.
Any bus on the Turnpike or Parkway
NJ State Police, Troop D
NJSP portal, $5 for a toll-road report. Fatal crashes: NJTR-1 through the NJTA OPRA form; the investigation file by subpoena.
Any bus on US 1, US 9, US 130, NJ 18 or a local road
The town police department
See our town-by-town guide: /crash-reports/. For US 130 in South Brunswick, BuyCrash, $8.
Bus on a Rutgers campus road
Rutgers University Police
BuyCrash, usually 5 to 7 days.
Buses often carry an NJTR-1M attachment listing additional occupants. Ask for it; it lists the passengers.
What’s hard to do alone
Telling a public operator from a private one, and filing the 90-day notice with every public body that might be involved.
Many passengers, one policy. A full motorcoach can produce dozens of claims against the same $5 million, and the order and quality of those claims matter.
Maintenance and tire records that are kept for only a year and sit with a contractor, not the company whose name is on the bus.
Three different report systems, depending on whether the bus was NJ Transit, on the Turnpike or on a town road.
“Our team is committed to delivering compassionate support and strong legal representation, so you can focus on recovery while we fight for justice on your behalf.”
Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, P.C.
The Turnpike in Woodbridge near the Thomas Edison and Grover Cleveland service areas (August 2022 bus crash) and US 130 at Stults Road, South Brunswick (January 2024). Points are approximate.
