Articles Posted in Boating Accidents

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Spring has officially sprung bringing warmer weather with it. These weather conditions encourage people to jump back into their beloved outdoor activities, especially boating. Whether it be a weekend trip to the lake or a spring break trip to the beach, it is important to keep in mind a few safety procedures as you head back onto the water after a long winter:

  • While boating, be on the lookout for piers, docks, swim platforms, boat lifts, buoys, and markers, in order to prevent collisions.
  • It is good practice to always wear a life jacket or, at the least, be sure to have the required number of life jackets on board at all times. All states have different age requirements for life jackets, so be sure to check what those laws are depending on where you are boating. In Louisiana, all persons 16 year of age and younger much wear a life jacket while on a vessel less than 26 feet long.
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On Monday, 17-year-old Madison Bradley was riding on a pontoon boat in Blind River, driven by 33-year-old David Crowe.

Bradley, along with a male passenger, was standing on the front of the boat past the guard rails when they struck the wake of a nearby boat. They both fell overboard into the water, with the male having minor injuries; Bradley was hit by the vessel’s propeller, suffered severe injuries, and did not resurface.

Authorities were informed that there was a missing boater and Bradley’s body was found around 8 P.M.

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On Sunday, August 9, 2021, a party barge reportedly operated by a Lafayette resident hit a group of children on an inner tube on False River. The children ranged in age from 8 to 14. The boater(s) reportedly fled the scene of the accident. Investigators say that the driver of the boat went home and refused to take a sobriety test.  The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is investigating the incident.  Although there were no fatalities, one of the children was airlifted to a Baton Rouge hospital and may face prolonged recovery time.

Broussard, David & Moroux reminds boaters and spotters to be vigilant when operating a vessel and/or pulling a tube. Further, please take boater education safety courses offered for free at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries website: https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/boater-education.

The attorneys at Broussard, David & Moroux have the knowledge and experience necessary to handle boating and tubing incident cases and will fight to obtain fair compensation for the injuries of yourself or your loved ones. If you, or a loved one has suffered harm because of the fault of another, contact the attorneys at Broussard, David & Moroux to discuss your legal rights at (337) 233-2323 (local) or (888) 337-2323 (toll-free).

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Six of the nineteen people onboard a 129-foot commercial lift boat that capsized off the Louisiana coast Tuesday afternoon have been rescued so far. The vessel, the Seacor Power, had left port less than two hours before the accident and encountered rugged seas on its way out to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Coast Guard was on the scene within 30 minutes and several other good Samaritan vessels have been assisting the Coast Guard in the search and rescue operation.

Broussard, David & Moroux offers their thoughts and prayers to family and friends of the missing crewmembers in this difficult time and hope that all crewmembers are safely rescued.

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An average of 16,500 car accidents occur daily across the United States. In the blink of an eye, a rear-end car accident can completely turn one’s life upside down by causing life-altering injuries. Such an event can leave one lost as to what to do next, scared as to the daunting recovery process that lies ahead, and confused as to where to even begin. Some insight into the expected process of legal settlements may aid you or a loved one in making important decisions following a tragic accident.

In Louisiana, a car accident resulting in an injury, death, or property damage resulting in over $500 requires the parties by law to contact the local police department. Following the accident, an injured party should seek legal assistance. This will significantly offset the post-accident burdens of both filing a claim with the negligent party’s insurance company and gathering  supporting evidence like medical examinations, photos, and witness testimony.

Further, an attorney can file suit against a negligent party, thereby holding that party liable for their actions. The lawsuit must be brought within 1 year of the date of the accident or else the claim is forever lost. Once the legal process begins, parties will work tirelessly to reach what is known as a settlement. A settlement resolves the dispute by dropping the claim before reaching trial in return for a monetary compensation. Settlement processes can last anywhere from a few months to a few years depending on the severity of the injuries and the accident. In the settlement process, the injured party seeks recompense for physical pain and suffering, repair or replacement of their car, medical expenses, mental anguish from the accident, lost wages, as well as other forms of damages.

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On March 6, around 7 p.m. The Coast Guard received word that a boat struck the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge in Lake Pontchartrain. There were five people on board at the time of the incident. Four passengers were located and transported to a New Orleans area hospital by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries as the Coast Guard searched for the fifth.

On Sunday March 7, the body of the fifth passenger on board was located in Lake Pontchartrain by St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office, Coast Guard, and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries were all involved in the search for the fifth passenger following the incident. The four other passengers that were involved in this incident sustained serious injuries but are said to be in stable condition.

Broussard, David & Moroux offer their condolences and sympathy to the family and friends during this difficult time.

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ST. MARTINVILLE, LA – November 11, 2019

A Jones Act seaman was injured on January 29, 2016, when his coworker was piloting an Oceaneering survey vessel at high speeds while on his phone and slammed into a piling in the Empire Canal (Plaquemines Parish). The plaintiff was on the back deck of the vessel, an admittedly common practice at Oceaneering at the time, and he was slammed into the cab upon impact injuring his back.

Oceaneering contested liability arguing that the plaintiff should not have been on the back deck of the vessel while traveling at high speeds. Plaintiff successfully recovered under the Jones Act and unseaworthiness claims based on evidence that the pilot was on the phone, the crew was improperly trained, and that Oceaneering failed to have rules regarding phone use while operating vessels, having a lookout, or passengers working on the back deck while moving.

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A Louisiana man is suing a Texas fishing captain following injuries suffered while working on the captain’s vessel. David Robling, the plaintiff, was working aboard the fishing boat, Red Bull, on February 20, 2019, when he suffered injuries resulting from the negligence and unseaworthiness of the ship-captain, Delbert E. Bull, Jr. The suit, filed in the Galveston County District Court, is in accord with the Jones Act, specifically 46 U.S.C. §30104, which protects seamen injured in the course of their employment and which affords them the right to legal action and a trial by jury against the ship’s owner.

According to Robling’s complaint, the ship’s captain, Bull, turned on the boat’s winch without warning the crew. As a result, the boards, nets, and tickler chains were thrown overboard. Without time to react, Robling found himself in the path of the chains, which wrapped around his chest and violently threw him to the deck of the boat. Unable to free himself, Robling was then struck by other falling equipment leading to injuries and mental anguish.

This is not Robling’s first legal encounter with Galveston’s maritime industry. In 2015, Robling filed a complaint against a shipping company after he tripped on equipment that the previous crew had left behind. The fall left Robling with serious and disabling injuries that could have been avoided had the ship’s owner or crew properly maintained the ship and its equipment or warned him of the existing hazards on deck.

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The Louisiana Sportsmen Coalition is in a battle with the Louisiana oil industry over rights to use coastal marshwaters for their respective enterprises. Representatives of local fisherman argue that oil companies who own nearby lands have unjustly also claimed ownership of adjacent waters that flow in and out of manmade channels. The sportsmen state that the waters, though very good for fishing, are being treated as off-limits, and the fishermen themselves are being treated as trespassers. Specifically, they say, “It has gotten to the point where [oil companies] are having local law enforcement agencies, like the sheriff’s office and justices of peace, write criminal trespassing tickets to people.”

The conflict came to a head last year when a professional Bassmaster fishing tournament was held in these areas. The world-renowned fishermen, individuals who make a living by these tournaments, unknowingly wandered into “privately owned” waters and were met by authorities. Following the tournament, the Bass Angler Sportsmen Society (B.A.S.S.), the national organization responsible for the well-known Bassmaster tournaments officially announced that it would no longer schedule professional tournaments in Louisiana tidewaters, a decision that will, without doubt, negatively impact the state’s fishing industry. Thus, as the sportsman’s coalition argues, the battle over water access is more than a debate about who can travel where; it is actually a battle over the prioritization of industries, and favor traditionally lies with the oil industry.

Unfortunately for the fishermen, a recently proposed bill that would have granted public access to the marshwater failed in Louisiana’s House of Representatives. The bill argued that because the waters are “running waters”—they freely flow into positively public waterways such as the Gulf of Mexico—they cannot be partitioned as either public or private, and therefore, their default status would be considered public. Opponents of the bill argued that just as one can claim ownership of dry land, one can claim ownership of the bottomlands underneath the water, for coastal erosion is constantly converting dryland into bottomland. The House’s vote reinforces Louisiana’s status as one of the only coastal states that does not consider tidal waters open for public use.

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A wrongful death suit has been filed against Royal Caribbean Cruises, LTD following a zipline incident wherein a 27-year-old woman was seriously injured and her newlywed husband was killed. The incident occurred as a part of a shore excursion in Roatan during the journey of the Allure of the Seas, though the excursion was operated by an independent contractor, Extreme Caribe Zip Line Tour.

The 24-year-old husband, Igal Tyszman, did not survive his injuries after his wife, Shir Frenkel, became stuck halfway down the zipline, and he had already begun his descent. Tyszman had no way of stopping or slowing down, and he collided with Frenkel in midair. Records indicate that the zip line operators could not communicate to each other when one person had completed their ride and, thus, it was safe for the next person to begin, communication that could have prevented the tragedy.

The suit alleges that Extreme Caribe has a history of zip line incidents, citing more than ten, one of which led to a woman having both of her legs severed, and it asserts that Royal Caribbean was well aware of this and other incidents involving the excursion operator but failed to make those issues known to the participants. Additionally, the cruise ship misled the family to believe that the excursion was operated by the cruise company, itself. The plaintiff’s attorneys state, “These newlyweds were expecting a fun excursion with the highest safety standards, and that is obviously not what they received; and the consequences in this case proved tragic.” In addition to Frenkel’s physical injuries—multiple rib fractures, splenic fracture, multiple transverse fractures, and more—she also will have to undergo treatment for the emotional and mental trauma resulting from her husband’s death.

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