Personal Injury
Muni, BART and Bus Accident Claims in San Francisco
A claim against a public transit agency follows a different timetable from an ordinary injury claim — and a much shorter one.
A claim against Muni, BART or another public agency generally has to be presented in writing within six months of the injury.
Not two years. Six months. Missing that requirement usually ends the claim regardless of how strong it otherwise was — which is why this page begins with it rather than mentioning it in passing.
Why transit claims work differently
California treats claims against public entities as a separate process. Before a lawsuit can be brought, a written claim generally has to be presented to the entity itself, and for personal injury that presentation deadline is ordinarily six months from the date of the injury.
In San Francisco and around the Bay, the operators most people encounter are public entities: Muni — formally the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency — along with BART, AC Transit, SamTrans and Golden Gate Transit. A collision involving any of them puts you in this process rather than the ordinary one.
The requirement applies to how you were hurt as much as to who you are. Passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and people in other vehicles are all subject to it when a public agency is involved.
What the process looks like
Presenting the claim. A written claim goes to the agency, setting out what happened, when, and what is being claimed. Agencies generally have their own claim forms and their own submission requirements, and getting the detail right matters.
The agency’s response. It may accept the claim, reject it, or say nothing. A formal rejection typically starts a further deadline for filing suit that is shorter again than the original six months.
Litigation, if it is needed. Where a claim is rejected and the matter is worth pursuing, proceedings follow — for a San Francisco matter, in the San Francisco Superior Court.
These rules have exceptions, and there are situations in which a late claim can still be pursued. But they are exceptions, and relying on one is a far weaker position than meeting the deadline in the first place.
What helps, and what to do now
Note the vehicle and route, the date and time, and the direction of travel. Report the incident to the operator. Get medical attention and let the clinician record what happened rather than only what hurts. Photograph anything that will not be there next week. If other passengers saw it, their names are worth more than their sympathy.
Then get advice about the deadline. Everything else on this page can be worked through later; that one cannot.
Questions
Common questions
- How long do I have to make a claim against Muni or BART?
- Claims for personal injury against a California public entity generally have to be presented to that entity in writing within six months of the injury — not the two years that applies to an ordinary claim. Muni (the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency), BART, AC Transit, SamTrans and Golden Gate Transit are all public entities. Because six months passes quickly and a late claim is often fatal to the case, this is worth confirming immediately rather than eventually.
- What happens after I present the claim?
- The agency reviews it and either accepts, rejects, or does not respond. If it sends a formal rejection, a further and considerably shorter deadline to file a lawsuit is usually triggered by that notice. The timetable after rejection is short enough that it is easy to miss without advice.
- I was hit by a bus while walking or cycling. Does the same process apply?
- Yes. The claim requirement attaches to the public entity, not to whether you were a passenger. Pedestrians, cyclists and people in other vehicles are all subject to the same claim-presentation process when a public agency is involved.
- I was hurt on a bus but no other vehicle was involved.
- A sudden stop, a fall on boarding or alighting, a door closing on a passenger, or a defect on the vehicle can all give rise to a claim. Carriers of passengers owe a high standard of care to the people they carry. Report it, get medical attention, and get advice about the claim deadline promptly.
- Does a private bus or shuttle work the same way?
- No. A private operator — a tour bus, a company shuttle, a private coach — is not a public entity, so the six-month claim requirement does not apply and the ordinary deadline generally does. Establishing which kind of operator was involved is one of the first things to settle.
Consultation
Talk to Susan about a transit injury
If a public agency may be involved, the claim deadline is measured in months. It is worth making the call sooner rather than later.