Connecticut Injury Attorney Blog

The parents of two Hungarian students who died when a barge collided with their tour boat in Philadelphia settled their wrongful death lawsuit against the companies that operated the two vessels and the city. The settlement occurred after two days of trial in federal court, after the judge urged the attorneys to try to settle the case. The defendants had asserted caps on liability based on federal maritime law.

The two students, 16 year-old Dora Schwendtner and 20 year-old Szabolcs Prem, drowned after an eighty-yard barge collided with their tour boat in July 2010. The tour boat, an amphibious "duck boat" that could both drive on land and water, had become disabled. Someone had reportedly left a radiator cap off of the engine, causing it to overheat in the 103-degree weather. The captain dropped anchor in the middle of a busy channel on the Delaware River near downtown Philadelphia, having mistaken steam coming off the engine for a fire. The duck boat reportedly lacked a radio and an emergency air horn. Thirty-seven passengers and crew were on board.

A tugboat was pushing the barge in the same channel. The tugboat captain, reportedly distracted by a family medical emergency, had moved to a part of the boat where he could not see the river in order to use his cellphone. He therefore did not see the duck boat, which was dead in the water in the barge's path. The barge crashed into the duck boat, causing it to capsize and sending thirty-five passengers and crew into the water. Schwendtner and Prem were trapped on the boat, where they drowned. At least twenty-six people were injured. The tug pilot pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in November 2011 and received a one-year prison sentence.

Continue reading "Settlement Reached in Wrongful Death Lawsuit over 2010 Boat Accident" »

A Greenwich, Connecticut man recently received a sentence of probation over a 2010 boating accident off the coast near Madaket in Nantucket. The August 2010 accident, described as a "hit-and-run boating collision," injured two people, sending both to the hospital.

Nearly a year later, in July 2011, prosecutors in Nantucket County charged the operator of one of the boats, 21 year-old James Sternlicht, with multiple offenses. These included unsafe operation of a motorboat and failure to report a motorboat accident. Because Sternlicht was under the age of 21 at the time of the accident, prosecutors added a charge for alcohol possession. They also charged him with operating a motorboat without a proper identification number. Massachusetts law, like the laws of Connecticut and other states, requires registration of boats, and requires that boats to have proper documentation.

In March 2012, a Nantucket District Court judge sentenced Sternlicht to one year of pretrial probation for the unsafe operation of a motorboat charge. The court fined Sternlicht $500 for failing to report the accident, and $50 for operating the boat without identification. Prosecutors dismissed the charge of alcohol possession. Sternlicht must also complete a boating safety class through the United States Coast Guard before he may operate a boat or any other water vessel again.

Boating accidents are a serious problem throughout the country. The U.S. Coast Guard identified 4,789 boating accidents in 2008. These accidents caused 709 deaths and 3,331 injuries, and caused about $54 million in property damage. Ninety percent of the fatalities did not have a life jacket on, and ninety percent occurred with boat operators who had not received safety training. The Coast Guard found that alcohol was the main factor in seventeen percent of boating accident deaths that year.

Connecticut requires a Safe Boating Certificate (SBC) in order to operate a recreational vessel such as a boat. For jet skis, described by state law as "personal watercraft," the state requires a Certificate of Personal Watercraft Operation (CPWO). To obtain either certificate, an applicant must complete a basic boating course and an examination. Children under the age of 16 may operate a boat, but not a personal watercraft, if an adult age 18 or older with a SBC supervises them. Children under the age of 16 may operate a personal watercraft if an adult with a CWPO accompanies them.

Continue reading "Connecticut Man Sentenced in Boating Accident Case That Injured Two People" »

Last weekend, a woman from Yonkers water skiing in a lake near Newton, Connecticut, was killed when her line got tangled in the propeller of the boat towing her.

The victim was taken to a hospital in Danbury Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

While the full details of how this accident unfolded were not reported, the tragedy reinforces the importance of following important safety precautions while water skiing - a popular sporting activity during the summer.

Continue reading "Water Skier Killed in Connecticut Boating Accident Last Weekend" »