Area residents enjoy hitting the local lakes for fishing, watersports, or a day of quiet relaxation. Too often, irresponsible boat owners or operators cause harmful accidents that result in property damage and injuries.
A Mesa boat accident lawyer represents people who have suffered losses in preventable boat accidents. They can investigate the incident, identify the responsible parties, and hold them accountable for the losses you suffered. Reach out to the Phillips Law Group today to begin working with a trusted personal injury attorney who has been serving the local community for over three decades.
How Negligence Causes Boat Accidents
The legal meaning of negligence is failing to use a reasonable degree of caution when the lack of caution directly causes an injury to another person. When an injured person seeks compensation for injuries suffered in an accident, they must prove another party was negligent.
Many boaters do not use their watercraft regularly and are not skilled enough to handle unexpected situations or challenging conditions. A Mesa injury attorney could demonstrate that their carelessness or bad judgment caused or contributed to a boating accident. Any violation of a safety law or regulation is evidence of negligence and could lead to liability. For example, when a boat operator is intoxicated in violation of Arizona Revised Statutes § 5-395, they are negligent and owe compensation to anyone injured in an accident.
Sometimes a boat rental operation is negligent for inadequately maintaining a vessel, renting it to an unqualified person, or hiring an unsuitable captain or crew. A marina could be negligent if conditions at the facility contributed to the accident. Any party whose negligence contributed to a preventable boat accident could be liable to pay compensation to an injured person.
Conditions on Boats Can Lead to Severe Injuries
Boats are especially dangerous places to be when an accident with injuries occurs. Collisions could knock a passenger overboard, where they risk drowning or serious injury if they contact the vessel’s propellers. Serious collisions could damage a vessel so much that it sinks, also creating a drowning risk.
Pleasure boats often have unsecured items like fishing gear, grappling hooks, watersports equipment, and other items on the deck. A person could get hit or cut if the equipment flies loose in an accident. Exposure to the boat’s surfaces and the water, which might be contaminated with microbes, increases the chances a wound might become infected.
Boating injuries are also dangerous because help is rarely near at hand. Depending on where the accident occurred, it could be several hours before an injured person receives professional medical attention. Despite the inconvenience, it is critical for anyone who was in a boat accident to seek medical care as soon as possible.
Seek Legal Representation Right Away
The law allows an injured person to file a lawsuit seeking compensation up to two years after the accident date. It is unwise to wait that long, and injured people are typically more successful in obtaining reasonable compensation for their injuries if they hire a lawyer immediately.
Boat accidents are more challenging to investigate than car accidents. Police do not attend the scene of boating accidents, and Arizona law is lax about accident reporting requirements. Operators must report a fatality or injury to the Game and Fish Department within 48 hours and have five days to report an incident that caused at least $500 in damage to a vessel. That gives a negligent operator plenty of time to hide, alter, or destroy evidence.
When an injured person engages a Mesa attorney immediately, the legal professional can investigate before evidence is lost or destroyed. Tracking down potential witnesses is easiest when the incident is recent. The attorney can follow up with the appropriate authorities to ensure the negligent boat operator made the proper incident reports. With proof of an operator’s negligent conduct, their insurance company is more likely to engage in good-faith negotiations that result in an appropriate settlement.
Get Compensation for Boating Accident Injuries With a Mesa Attorney
When a nice day on the water turns into a nightmare that leaves you or a loved one with injuries, contact a Mesa boat accident lawyer immediately. Our legal professionals could investigate the incident, identify the responsible parties, and ensure they pay adequate compensation for the harm they caused.
Do not try to manage a boat accident claim alone. Call the Phillips Law Group today.
