Anyone who enjoys the water can find various water-related experiences in and around their community. This includes spending the day out on the lake, traversing many rivers, or enjoying recreational boating. Unfortunately, the high number of water-related opportunities and the amount of recreational boaters in Rhode Island increases the potential of motorboat, boat accident and sailboat accidents. Some of these Newport, Barrington or Bristol accidents are quite serious and cause significant injuries or death. Sadly, the majority of boating accidents in Tiverton, Narragansett or East Greenwich are preventable.
Law and statistics | RI boat accident
By law, boat operators In Coventry and East Greenwich are required to exercise the highest level of care to avoid injury to passengers, swimmers are others enjoying the boat or water. Anytime someone is injured on a boat due to the negligence of another, the person at fault can be held legally accountable for compensation.
The number of motorboat and sailboat accidents across the United States and in the Ocean state are on the rise. Statistics maintain by Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard indicate that over 650 individuals lost their lives in boating accidents in 2013, out of the more than 4500 accidents nationwide. In addition, there was more than $38 million worth of property damage of recreational motorboats and sailboats caused by a number of factors that led to an accident that year.
Numerous factors contribute to most boating accidents In Rhode island and Providence Plantations that occur on personal watercraft and privately owned vessels. These can include:
• Piloting errors
• Inexperience at the helm
• Operating the motor vessel or sailboat while intoxicated or on drugs
• Adverse water and/or weather conditions
• Defective equipment
• Malfunctioning components
Many accidents and collisions in Portsmouth, Newport and Middletown involving sailboats and motorboats are caused by negligence, where an individual operating the vessel harms or kills others through careless or reckless behavior. As a result, injured victims in Narragansett, Wakefield and Warren and surviving family members will file a claim for compensation, seeking recovery for their damages, losses and injuries. However, these types of boating negligence cases and boat accident are complicated and difficult to litigate. Because of that, many will hire a RI personal injury attorney or RI boat accident lawyers who specializes in motorboat and sailboat accidents.
Proving Negligence in a Rhode Island boating wreck
Injured victims seeking compensation for a boating accident are required by law to prove how their injuries occurred because of another’s negligence. By RI law, negligence refers to the failure of someone acting with reasonable care. A skilled Providence boat crash attorney or RI personal Injury Attorney who concentrates in boating accidents must prove how the parties at fault failed to act reasonably, and through negligence, hurt the victim.
Negligence and boating mishaps
Building a claim on negligence in Rhode Island often involves identifying main elements of the incident. Any number of factors could have caused the pleasure boat accident including:
• Another party’s boat hit the victim’s boat
• The wake of the passing vessel hit the victim’s boat
• The victim’s boat hit the wake of a passing vessel
• The victim’s vessel became grounded or hit a submerged rock or object
• Another party’s boat struck the victim while in the water
• The victim fell overboard because of the piloting boat captain’s erratic behavior
Colliding with Other Vessels and Objects | boat accident
Collisions between two sailboats and motorboats often make it difficult to determine exactly which party is at fault. Because of that, injured passengers residing on either vessel might be able to file a legal case against the captains of both boats. This is because captains of a vessel must follow safe boating practices to ensure that their motorboats, sailboats and other watercraft keep out of the way of all other vessels.
Even under the best weather conditions and far view visibility, can run aground or strike submerged rocks or objects. When victims seek financial compensation for these types of accidents, the operator of the vessel can be held legally liable based on certain circumstances. This is especially true if the captain is traveling at a fast speed in dense fog without the guidance of GPS or charts.
Nearly all motorboat and sailboat accidents in RI involve some type of negligence. Many victims can be seriously injured or killed if they fail to properly use safety equipment kept on board such as life jackets.
http://www.uscgboating.org/assets/1/AssetManager/2013RecBoatingStats.pdf
http://www.dhs.gov/how-do-i/practice-boating-safety
