Posted on 07/31/2018 6:41:26 AM PDT by golux
...The boats, modeled on the amphibious landing craft used in the D-Day invasion, have a checkered history including more than three dozen fatalities on water and land, including the Branson sinking, according to the complaint.
“This tragedy was the predictable and predicted result of decades of unacceptable, greed-driven, and willful ignorance of safety by the Duck Boat industry in the face of specific and repeated warnings that their Duck Boats are death traps for passengers and pose grave danger to the public on water and on land,” the complaint said.
Robert Mongeluzzi, an attorney for the families, told a news conference, “The quest for justice includes doing everything within our power to ban duck boats once and for all,” according to a statement.
Mongeluzzi represented the families of two people killed when a duck boat crashed into a barge and sank in Philadelphia in 2010, winning a $17 million settlement.
Seven other members of Coleman and Ly’s families were killed in the incident, and Mongeluzzi’s law firm said in the statement that its lawyers plan to file lawsuits on behalf of other victims.
Ripley Entertainment declined comment on the lawsuit, but said it was “deeply saddened” by the incident.
The suit alleges that Ride the Ducks endangered passengers by letting the boat out onto the water after the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the area, and that passengers were not told to put on life jackets. It also cites a 2017 report from a private inspector who concluded that duck boats were prone to engine failure in bad weather...
(Excerpt) Read more at gcaptain.com ...
Duck boat tour of Boston was probably my favorite tour of all time. Leave it to bottom feeding lawyers to ruin it.
“Wear your life jacket.”
What I understand is the roof created an enclosure where all the windows and doors would not allow someone wearing a life jacket to exit. (too small) also if you were wearing one and the boat sank you would float up to the roof and drown.
They also chose to do the water portion first instead of the normal land portion first implying foreknowledge of the dangerous weather. Trying to beat the storm instead of refunding the tickets.
The USA numbers for 2016 are:
2016 37,461 deaths
The captain told the passengers NOT to put on the life jackets!
This sinking, like many, was a combination of bad weather and bad decisions.
1.3 Million do not die in auto crashes each year, not sure where you found that number, but its WAY WAY OFF...
Annually its between 30,000 and 40,000 a year.
No because shyster lawyers want to wipe out an entire industry that has carried millions of passengers over decades.
“No because shyster lawyers want to wipe out an entire industry that has carried millions of passengers over decades.”
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I agree-——people can make their own decision on whether to get on a duck boat-————there have been accidents on ferris wheels and roller coasters too.
More nanny state crap.
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It is terrible that this happened.
But an average of 50 people a year are killed on tour buses. In an equivalent 20 year period, there were 15-20 people killed each year driving golf carts...that is a thousand people in that 20 year time frame.
And I would be pretty sure that only includes people killed who were ON a bus, not people in other vehicles who were killed due to things like “poor sight lines” on land where three of the fatalities included were due to accidents on land in traffic with the duck boats...but they include those in the “dangerous” statistics which I think is deliberately misleading and tells me something about the people who want to shut them down.
By my count via Internet searches for Duck Boat accidents, there may have been 40-50 people maximum killed in duck boat accidents in and out of the water in the last 20 years total.
That is 40-50 people TOTAL in 20 years in Duck Boats compared to thousands of deaths in tour buses and golf carts.
Granted, in golf carts (where 1000 people have died in twenty years) your life is generally in your own hands and is completely voluntary, but when riding a tour bus, you are relying on the driver and company to maintain the bus properly, much as people do in a duck boat.
The problem with these is that the statistics are hard to find.
Searching for duck boat accident statistics seems similar to searching for “assault rifle statistics” where all you get are the hysterical media reports, money grubbing lawyers looking for a payday, and nanny state legislators who want another feather in their cap by banning duck boats.
I looked up one duck boat operator, Boston Duck Tours (that I have actually patronized as a paying customer on multiple occasions) who has been operating since 1994, they have had one land based fatality in a collision with a scooter.
Boston Duck Tours boasts an annual ridership of 600,000 riders a year.
Personally, I think what happened in the accident in MO is awful. I think safety can always be improved, including not going out into areas with imminent or active thunderstorms, etc. But most of this hand wringing just pisses me off.
The roofs are not original and were added - ban the roofs, wear life jackets, all is well........no need to ban the Ducks.......the roofs should be outlawed.........
I was in Branson with a cousin about a month ago. She wanted to do the Duck boats and after one look I said...he!! no! I like real boats and just don’t get the Duck boat thing. So you can drive from the terminal into the water. So what? I just didn’t like the looks of them and I’ve been on plenty of real boats since we have a sailboat. I’m out on the ocean all the time in various boats that friends in the marina own. Duck boats? mmmm NO!
But most of this hand wringing just pisses me off.
And, me too.
“Duck boats? mmmm NO!”
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Exactly-——let people make their own decision———many enjoy them,so they shouldn’t be banned.
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>>This was not a freak squall. It was accurately forecast — hours in advance of when it hit. NWS tracked the squall line and predicted exactly what happened. It was gross negligence on the part of the boat operator not to monitor weather forecasts and radar. <<
I went back and saw the timeline and see what you say. The real question is still going to rest on what the standards are. A weather warning is NOT a small craft advisory and I don’t see one of those.
It was visually clear.
This is NOT open and shut as you seem to think. Given the clean history of this operation it seems you are jumping to conclusions.
I learned my lesson about that in the Zimmerman incident and now am very hesitant to proclaim guilt or innocence (or liability) based on partial data.
I think there are a few factors working against the duck boats. Insurance and coast guard certification for commercial use. If either one gets yanked the rides are over. It will probably be a year before the NTSB comes to a conclusion. Who would get on one these boats before the investigation ends and a cause is determined?
...and take some swimming lessons. Unless the boat owner has $100M in insurance the survivors won’t see much of a settlement. I can just about guess that most duck boat owners aren’t millionaires or anywhere close to it.
Golf carts can actually be quite dangerous under a lot of scenarios—quick lighting storm, drunk drivers (yup, a lot of golfers are partying hardy during the round), and some golf-courses have very hilly terrain and/or water hazard bridges that are old and rotting.
Is that good enough to pass the plaintiff’s bar exam? :-(
Did the Duck Tour in Boston a couple of times and had a great time.
Like you, and am sick to death of nanny-statism. Every aspect of it, from soda bans and other government mandated food restrictions “for your good” just drive me nuts.
(BTW, I am all for reasonable oversight of food preparation industries and such)
This was a freak squall that could NOT be avoided.
There's also a report, based on interior video aboard the boat that sank, of the captain reviewing weather radar a half-hour before shoving off - and telling the rest of the crew that they were going to "...do the water portion of the tour first", or words to that effect. Sounds like he saw the threatening weather approaching, but tried to beat it.
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