Boating Accident Lawyer Los Angeles
Eighty thousand people are injured each country on our waterways, be it on a ferry, jet ski, commercial boat, or private motor- or sailboat. Because of the geography and weather we enjoy in California, we have the second highest rate of boat accidents. As in motor vehicle accidents, forty percent of boating accidents can be attributed to the consumption of alcohol.
Injuries occur most frequently when one boat collides with another. Also, someone slipping and falling on a boat frequently causes injuries. Many of the worst injuries occur when a boat’s often strikes a snorkeler, swimmer, or scuba divers. Severe head or spinal cord injuries, or even wrongful death are often the result of such underwater impact injuries. The common denominator of all of these scenarios is operator error, which can be attributed to recklessness or inexperience.
Legal Questions to Address
Because boating is so highly regulated, especially in California, and because there are so many activities that can comprise the context in which a boating accident occurs, the legal questions to be addresses are quite complicated.
Boating accidents can occur in a business, commercial, or personal context, piquing different standards to which the owner and/or operator are held. If there is a commercial renter, different rules may apply. Also, certain safety equipment must be present, and in proper condition. Owners and/or operators must be trained in emergency protocol including first-aid and notification procedures.
Because of this high degree of regulation, in boating accidents the doctrine of negligence per se frequently arises. This doctrine holds that if someone is in violation of a particular regulation and there is a resultant injury, the law holds the owner and/or operator liable, period, if the injury is the sort the regulation was designed to prevent. This definitively establishes legal responsibility, leaving only the questions of causation and damages. By way of example, if a boat owner and/or operator does not have the safety lights in working order, and there is a collision after dusk, then the owner and/or operator is deemed liable for resulting injuries.
What Compensation is Available
Medical bills accrued and wages lost because of the boating accident are recoverable. In addition, future medical bills and future lost wages can be recovered, as long as they can be ascertained with reasonable certainty. Compensation for lost earning capacity is also available. For example, if a carpenter is injured so he or she can no longer work in the field and no longer has the possibility of becoming a foreman, then the foreman-pay may be recoverable, if the carpenter can show he or she had a likely chance of getting the promotion, until the boating accident occurred.
In addition, a victim of a boating accident can be monetarily compensated for his or her pain and suffering, both past and future. Typically, this figure includes compensation for experiencing fear of imminent harm or death, physical pain, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Although no amount of money can make up for the loss of a loved one, if the victim of a boating accident dies, California’s Wrongful Death statute allows surviving family members to recover for loss of financial support, medical expenses, funeral expenses, loss of consortium, and loss of comfort and care. If nothing else, these awards will ease the financial burden imposed on the family, simultaneously forcing the at-fault person to bear some of the responsibility.
Finally, when a person acts in conscious disregard of the rights and safety of others, the law may impose what is called punitive damages. This is a sum of money paid to the injured person that is intended to punish the at-fault, in proper circumstances. Oftentimes, this award is far greater than the compensation for medical bills and lost wages.
How to Get That Compensation
Because there are unique legal issues to analyze when a boating accident occurs, including jurisdictional questions, conflicts of laws rules, complicated boating regulations, and many sources of liability; and because the measure of damages is often quite complicated, it is important that you contact an experienced attorney if you or a loved one has been injured in a boating accident.
At the Law Offices of
Slaughter & Slaughter, we understand not only the potential severity of boating accident injuries, but also the severity of the impact these injuries have on the daily lives of the victim and his or her family members. Although no amount of money can truly compensate, we are experienced in assessing the wide range of effects these injuries can have. We are willing to fight for your rights and seek the maximum compensation the law will provide. If you or a loved one has suffered an injury in a boating accident, call The Law Offices of
Slaughter & Slaughter today.
Get a FREE consultation and an HONEST evaluation of your claim.
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Long Beach, San Bernardino, Encinitas, Chula
Vista, San Diego, or anywhere else in Southern
California, The Law Offices of Slaughter &
Slaughter can help.
The Law Offices of
Slaughter & Slaughter
Don’t delay, call today for more information and a free evaluation of your claim.
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