Who is Liable for Fatal Boat Crashes?
Boating is a fun activity until an accident happens. These accidents often result in fatal injuries, and grieving family members want answers. Contact a San Francisco wrongful death attorney who can help advise you of your options.
The City of San Francisco presents lots of opportunities for fun on the water – in particular, on the San Francisco Bay. However, when boat operators and other individuals and entities are not careful and fail to act reasonably under the circumstances, serious and sometimes fatal boat crashes can unfortunately occur. When that happens, injured boat accident victims could bring a claim or file a lawsuit against all potentially responsible parties. If the boat accident results in a fatality, the accident victim’s surviving family members might be eligible to file a wrongful death claim against the responsible party or parties seeking wrongful death damages.
Filing a claim for wrongful death benefits can be an extremely tedious process. If you have lost a loved one in a fatal boat crash, the knowledgeable and compassionate San Francisco wrongful death lawyers at The Cartwright Law Firm, Inc. can assist you with every step of the process and help you pursue compensation on behalf of your deceased loved one. Although money can never truly compensate surviving family members for the loss of their loved one in an accident, it can bring about a sense of justice and closure. Please speak with us today to find out more about how we could assist you with every aspect of your San Francisco wrongful death claim or lawsuit.
Common Causes of Fatal Boat Accidents and Who Can be Held Responsible for the Damages
Boat accidents that occur in and around the San Francisco Bay Area can occur in a variety of ways. In many instances, these fatal accidents result from a boat operator or owner’s negligence. At other times, fatal boat accidents result from manufacturing defects and other problems. Some of the most common causes of fatal boat accidents include the following:
- Negligent boat operation – Just like motor vehicle operators on a roadway are responsible for obeying all traffic signs, signals, and rules of the road, the same goes for boat operators who operate their boats on various waterways in and around San Francisco. When a boat operator speeds, operates the watercraft aggressively, or otherwise operates it in an unsafe, careless, or reckless manner, the chances are good that an accident will occur that results in serious injuries to one or more individuals onboard the watercraft.
- Distracted boat operation – Operators of boats and other watercraft must devote all of their time and attention to the waterway in front of them. In other words, they must not engage in distracted boat operations by making phone calls, texting, or otherwise using electronic devices while operating their watercraft. Just like motor vehicle operators driving on the road, distracted boat operators could collide with another watercraft – or even a stationary object in the water – simply by operating their boats in a distracted manner.
- Intoxicated boat operation – Boat operators must not operate their watercraft while under the illegal influence of drugs or alcohol. Doing so significantly increases the chances that they will cause a major collision or other accident. Alcohol, for example, is a depressant and significantly slows down the functioning of a person’s central nervous system (CNS). Alcohol intoxication can make a boat operator’s vision blurry and could decrease his or her ability to react quickly to an emergency situation that arises on the water – increasing the chances of a serious accident.
- Manufacturing or design defects – In some cases, fatal boat accidents occur even when boat operators are behaving in a safe and careful manner while out on the water. In these instances, accidents occur when a boat part or piece of safety equipment malfunctions. A mechanical defect, for example, might cause the watercraft to overturn, while a malfunctioning rescue device or life vest could result in a fatal accident while out on the water.
- Failure to maintain the watercraft safely – Boat operators and owners have a duty to ensure that their watercraft is maintained in a safe and careful manner at all times. When watercraft surfaces are not cleaned properly and when known dangers and defects are not promptly repaired, individuals could slip on deck, fall overboard, or suffer some other catastrophic or fatal injury.
The person or persons who are responsible for a fatal boat accident depend upon the circumstances surrounding the accident. For example, if the fatal accident occurred because of a boat operator’s negligence, a decedent’s surviving family members could file a wrongful death claim or lawsuit against the negligent boat operator (and indirectly against the boat operator’s insurance company). If the wrongful death claimants can prove that the fatal boat accident occurred because of some manufacturing or design defect, then the claimant(s) could pursue a claim against the manufacturer or distributor of the defective boat part or piece of equipment.
Bringing a San Francisco Wrongful Death Claim for Damages
Certain surviving individuals are eligible to bring a wrongful death claim on behalf of a loved one who passed away in a fatal boat accident. Those individuals include a surviving domestic partner or spouse and surviving children of the decedent.
If there are no surviving individuals left, anyone who is eligible to recover the decedent’s property by the laws of intestate successions, such as parents or siblings, could bring a claim for wrongful death damages.
Depending upon the circumstances, wrongful death claimants may also be eligible to pursue and recover various damages, including funeral and burial costs, loss of benefits or gifts from the decedent, and any expected financial support that the deceased individual would have likely contributed to surviving family members. Wrongful death claimants could also pursue lost household services of the deceased individual, as well as compensation for loss of companionship, loss of guidance, and loss of intimacy.
Contact a San Francisco Wrongful Death Lawyer about Your Legal Matter Today
The legal team at The Cartwright Law Firm, Inc. could assist you with filing your wrongful death claim arising from a fatal boating accident. To schedule a free case evaluation and legal consultation with a San Francisco wrongful death attorney, please call us at (415) 433-0444 or contact us online today for more information.
