Jacksonville Transportation Authority hasn't paid medical bills of woman hit by JTA bus

A Gainesville woman who was hit by a JTA bus and injured tells Action News Jax nearly a year and a half after the crash, JTA still hasn't paid her a dime toward her medical bills.

The collision occurred on Sept. 1, 2016.

MaryAngela Trobis, now 19, said it was her first day with a driver's license.

The report from the Florida Highway Patrol states Trobis was heading down JTB near Southside Boulevard when she stopped for two cars ahead that had crashed.

The report states the JTA bus behind her didn't stop, and it rear-ended Trobis, who was driving her uncle in his Ford SUV.

“She didn't see me slow down or anything, [and at] 70 miles per hour, [she] just hit the back of our Excursion,” Trobis said.

“I woke up in the hospital,” she added.

Trobis still remembers the impact vividly.

“I knocked out, I hit my face on the steering wheel, I got stitches [on my eye lid], my passenger had to get surgery on his shoulder, he also had glass in his head,” Trobis said.

Trobis said she still has issues with her vision.

“We had spun out and hit a couple of cars, and hit the wall,” Trobis said.  “The trunk was literally touching the passenger side seat.”

In the 17 months since, Trobis said her medical bills are stacking up.

“[It's] up to like $30,000 in bills and everything,” Trobis said.

Trobis said she has seen nothing from JTA since, despite the bus driver being cited for careless driving.

In an email, a JTA representative said, ‘the driver is no longer employed with the JTA,’ but they ‘do not comment on personnel matters.’

JTA wouldn't agree to an interview or take any questions, only saying, 'this matter is a pending claim and we do not comment on open claims.'
Trobis' family has an attorney, but hasn't sued.

“All I know is that they haven't paid my medical bills,” Trobis said.

“Do you think they will?” reporter Russell Colburn asked.

“I hope they do because I don't have the money to afford them,” Trobis said.

Cox Media Group