Scottsdale Boat Accident Lawyer
Arizona is hot and dry; but it also has numerous lakes, and therefore an unusually long season for water sports and water sports injuries. If you have been to a lake lately, you have probably seen how crowded it can be with boats, boards, skis and personal watercraft. Too bad there are not any certification or licensing requirements for all of those people. With no certification required, anybody can operate a speed/motor boat, jet ski or other "personal watercraft." It's enough to make you very nervous. For the sake of comparison, imagine our highways if there were no driver's license or vision exams, no speed limits, no directional arrows, no lane markings, half of the drivers had been drinking, and half of the cars and trucks had 100-foot ropes swinging back and forth off the back with live people attached!! Got the picture? That, unfortunately, is roughly how unsafe the lakes can be if/when you have: an inexperienced operator, a cooler full of beer, a high-powered boat, a razor sharp propeller, open water, a skier or wake boarder in back, and 1,000 other boaters with similar distractions!!
Our firm represents clients throughout Arizona who have suffered personal injuries or wrongful death in accidents and collisions involving motor boats, jet skis, personal watercraft, water skis, wake boards, etc. These sometimes tragic incidents can happen on the water, beach, dock or even inside the boats. Many factors can contribute to a boating accident either on a privately owned vessel, a personal watercraft (jet ski) or even a ferry. Some of these factors include:
- Driver/Operator error
- Driver/Operator inexperience
- Driving/Boating/Skiing/Boarding while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Equipment failure
- Exhaust fumes & carbon monoxide poisoning (See below)
- Adverse weather and/or water conditions
DON'T BECOME A STATISTIC!
Operators of boats, jet skis and sail boats can be held financially liable for accidents caused by their negligence or drunk driving. If someone drowns due to a lack of life preservers or is injured in an on-board fire, a boat owner can be held responsible for the injuries or fatalities that result. Under Arizona dram shop laws, in cases involving "boating under the influence (BUI)," marinas, bars and other establishments can be held liable if it can be proven that a boat's operator was served alcohol while visibly intoxicated. We also represent clients who have been injured as a result of defective boat parts.
Boating Accidents Caused by Drunk Driving or Negligence We work with investigators to determine why a boating accident happened and what should have been done to prevent it. In BUI cases, we review credit card statements, tabs and restaurant bills to determine how much alcohol someone was served and over what amount of time. We have the investigative resources and knowledge needed to expose negligence and violations of the law in boating accidents.
As a general rule of law a boat or personal watercraft operator and its owner must exercise the highest degree of care to prevent injuries to passengers in or on the craft, swimmers, skiers or others in the waters or boats nearby. We will discuss your situation and go over the options available to you, as well as work with insurance companies and other parties involved in your case to make sure all your needs are handled quickly and appropriately.
Injuries and Boating Accidents
Our law office represents boating accident victims who have suffered:
- Amputations due to propeller accidents
- Head trauma
- Bank and neck injuries
- Brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Lacerations
- Disfigurement
- Drowning
- Other fatalities
Each year, boaters are injured or killed by carbon monoxide. Most occur on older boats, and within the cabin or other enclosed areas. Virtually all of the poisonings are preventable.
Carbon monoxide is a potentially deadly gas produced any time a carbon-based fuel, such as gasoline, propane, charcoal or oil burns. Sources on your boat include gasoline engines and generators, cooking ranges, space heaters and water heaters. Cold and poorly tuned engines produce more carbon monoxide than warm, properly tuned engines.
Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless and tasteless, and mixes evenly with the air. It enters your blood stream through the lungs and displaces the oxygen your body needs. Early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning -- irritated eyes, headache, nausea, weakness and dizziness -- are often confused with seasickness. Prolonged exposure can lead to death.
Carbon monoxide can collect within a boat in a variety of ways. Exhaust leaks, the leading cause of death by carbon monoxide, can allow carbon monoxide to migrate throughout the boat and into enclosed areas. Even properly vented exhaust can re-enter a boat if it's moored too close to a dock or another boat, or if the exhaust is pushed back by prevailing winds. Exhaust can also re-enter boats when cruising under certain conditions -- the station wagon effect -- especially with canvas in place.
IMPORTANT: If an insurance claims agent for the person at fault calls to "interview" you, decline -- at least until you have spoken with an attorney. Despite what the insurance agent might tell you, he is NOT "just trying to help."
WARNING!! Gasoline vapors can EXPLODE! Before starting your engine, operate the exhaust blower for at least 4 minutes and check the engine compartment bilge for gasoline vapors. One fluid ounce of gasoline allowed to vaporize has the explosive force of TWO STICKS OF DYNAMITE!!
Clark Watkin of The Watkin Law Office, P.C. is a Scottsdale bicycle accident lawyer and Scottsdale motorcycle accident attorney who represents serious personal injury and wrongful death clients throughout Arizona, including Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Peoria, Cave Creek, Carefree, Fountain Hills and Paradise Valley.
