Handling California Boat Accidents with an Attorney

Boating Accident Statistics

Due to its enormous span of ocean shoreline and several forms of inland waters, California may be considered as one of the greatest destination for recreational boating in the U.S. For some previous years, the state government had been able to register approximately 900,000 boats, many of which had been given free access to different waterways of California.

Because of this growing population of aquatic vessel owners, the accounts of boating related accidents persisted. Although, the records showed a continuous decrease of actual casualties, a considerable number of people still die from these incidents every year.

In 2000 alone, more than 7,000 recreational boating tragedies had been reported. This figure had caused a little less than 800 casualties and approximately 4,300 injuries. This numbers did not even include those incidents that were not reported.

Meanwhile, over half of the accounted deaths were due to capsizing and overboard falls – around 90% of the fatalities were drowned because of the failure in wearing life jackets.

Causes of Boating Accidents

There are several reasons of boating accidents. However, the following are just some of the most common examples:

Capsizing vessels

Overboard falls

Inter-vessel or structure collisions

Engine malfunctions and fires

Boat sinking and /or flooding

Explosion cases

Vessel disappearance

On the other hand, majority of these common causes of boat accident should have been prevented if only these actions had been avoided:

Appointment of inexperienced boat operators

Reckless and imprudent vessel operation

Inattentive operation

Alcohol intoxication during the boat operation

Undue speeding

Failure to employ a person to look out for possible collisions

Boat Accident Prevention

Although most boat accidents happened unexpectedly, these simple tips might help boating enthusiasts to survive such occurrences:

Stay calm – panicking only result to a person’s inability to perform suitable actions in a particular scenario

Be sure to wear life jackets – although many passengers find it uncomfortable to wear, these safety gadgets provide significant functions in cases of capsizing

Travel on safe conditions – it is always necessary to determine with the weather bureau for possible weather disturbances. Never travel routes that were said to be risky for boating.

Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages when operating a boat – it is proven that liquor and other illegal substances hinder a person to think properly in any occasion.

Inspect if the vessel’s distress-alert apparatus and radars are working properly – this is important especially when traveling in the open seas.

Legal Options for Boating Accident Victims

It is indeed disastrous to lose a loved one due to any accident. Thus, the families of the deceased person may avail the legal remedies stated under the prevailing Federal and California laws.

To pursue a legal action, the victim’s close relatives may hire the expertise of California boat accident attorneys who could handle personal injury and wrongful death claims. A credible legal counsel could make sure that the victim’s family would obtain justice and acquire suitable damages due to the loss of their loved one.

In the process, a qualified attorney would determine the parties that could be held liable for the incident and even assess the probable damages that his clients might collect. Afterwards, the able California boat accident attorneys would device a plan to increase the merits of the case. Doing these would certainly intensify the possibility of having successful case verdicts.