Smaller, open motorboats accounted for the largest number of accidents and the causes were most often inattention, inexperience, excessive speed and alcohol consumption. But larger vessels also are involved, such as the duck boat tragedy that killed 17 people in Branson, Missouri. A previous duck boat accident, in the Delaware River off Philadelphia, left two people dead and 18 others stranded; the case prompted a civil lawsuit and resulted in a total $17 million settlement.
Tom Kline is considered an expert on mass injury accidents and has been called on to comment on the fatal duck boat accident that occurred in Philadelphia. (See news clip) He was a lead counsel in the Delaware River Pier 34 catastrophe that killed three young women and resulted in dozens of injuries. That case settled for $29.6 million.
If you or a loved one were severely injured or killed in a boating accident, you may want to consider a boat accident lawsuit and should contact a boating accident lawyer for a free evaluation of your case.
Kline & Specter, PC, with more than 50 attorneys, five of whom are also doctors, is exceptionally qualified to investigate and litigate boating accidents. The firm works on a contingent fee basis, which means we only get paid if and when you are financially compensated. We have offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. For cases outside those states, Kline & Specter works with local attorneys in each state as applicable.
According to Coast Guard data, the vast majority of boating deaths occur on boats aboard which the operator had not received formal boating safety instruction. Most of the accidents, roughly seven out of 10, also occur on smaller boats, those less than 21 feet long. Among them were motorboats but also canoes and personal motorized watercraft known as jet skis.
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