If you or a family member are seriously injured in a boating accident in California, then it is important for you to understand how maritime law operates. This article is a case study of a vessel collision between a small inflatable power boat and a water ski boat that illustrates boat accident law.
A maritime legal analysis is performed in order to illustrate boat accident negligence and vessel collision legal principals. This is a recreational boating accident in California.
A Case Study - A Boat Accident on Mission Bay
Picture this, a typically beautiful chamber of commerce weekend on Mission Bay in San Diego. It's Saturday morning at the beginning of spring, so the water park is busy, but not the zoo it will be in a few hours.
A ski boat is slowly towing a young girl and is going in the proper counter-clockwise rotation flow of traffic. As is usually the case in recreational boat accidents, a day of pleasure quickly turns to danger and danger in turn quickly turns to disaster.
A small inflatable power boat pops up from behind an anchored luxury yacht. The inflatable boat is going the wrong way. That is, clockwise, against the flow of traffic. Further, the inflatable boat is going way too fast. The ski boat driver takes the proper evasive maneuver to starboard and turns the ski boat in order to pass the inflatable boat port to port.
After passing the ski boat the inflatable boat driver takes a radical turn to port - - apparently in an effort to try and "catch air" over the ski boat's wake. The young girl's skis go under the inflatable boat, launching her and slamming her into the inflatable boat's engine, seriously injuring both of her legs and right arm.
Maritime Law Analysis: Rules of the Road Violations:
Federal Navigational Rules are also referred to as "Rules of the Road." The following is a thumbnail analysis of the Rules of the Road violations presented in this Case Study.
The young girl has a strong liability case against the operator of the inflatable boat. The inflatable boat operator is in violation of the following Navigational Rules:
Rule 5 - - Lookout
The vessel failed to keep a proper look-out.
Rule 6 - - Safe Speed
The vessel proceeded at a speed too fast for the conditions.
Rule 10 - - Traffic Separation Schemes
The vessel failed to proceed in the appropriate traffic lane in the general direction of traffic flow for that lane.
Rule 18 - - Responsibilities between Vessels
The vessel failed to keep out of the way of a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver.
Defeating the Limitation Action
The inflatable boat was launched from the luxury yacht and is owned by the yacht owner. The yacht owner filed a Limitation of Liability Action in Federal District Court. The Limitation Action was defeated because the yacht owner was deemed to have privity and knowledge of the inflatable boat driver being up partying hard the night before and drinking 2 hours before the collision. The inflatable boat driver blew a.09 on the Breathalyzer and was booked by the San Diego Police for boating while under the influence.
Applying the Pennsylvania Rule
Under maritime law, when a vessel violates one of the Rules of the Road the burden rests upon the violating vessel to show not merely that their fault might not have been one of the causes, or that it probably was not, but that it could not have been. This is called the Pennsylvania Rule, or as I like to call it, "Check Mate." The Pennsylvania Rule is used to establish liability for boat collisions. Used properly, the Rule is a powerful weapon in boat collision lawsuits.
Case Result:
The insurance company for the yacht / inflatable power boat owner paid a high six figure settlement to the Guardian ad Litem of the young girl.
Disclaimer:
The foregoing is a California boat accident case study. It is not legal advice. Any resemblance to actual events, persons and/or vessels is purely coincidental. I am simplistic in order to achieve clarity. Each boat accident case is different and has separate challenges, difficulties and/or nuances. There is no guarantee that your boating accident case will have a similar result as discussed in this vessel collision case study.
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